Mark the letter A, B, or D to indicate the correct option that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

The concept of time zones was invented to solve a pressing issue (26)____ in the 19th century. (27) ____, each city operated on its own local time, usually set according to the position of the sun. This was practical for local scheduling but created chaos for scheduling trains (28)____.

The man credited with the invention of time zones is Sir Sandford Fleming. A Canadian engineer, Fleming proposed a worldwide system of time zones in 1879 after missing a train in Ireland because its printed schedule listed a PM time as an AM. His proposal divided the world into twenty-four hour-long segments, (29)____.

Initially, Fleming's idea was met with resistance. (30) ____ as rail and telegraph networks expanded. The International Meridian Conference, held in Washington D.C. in 1884, adopted his system. As a result, the world's major countries agreed to use a single meridian, running through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, (31)____.

Today, time zones are an essential part of our global society, facilitating everything from travel to international business. Fleming’s contribution remains a prime example of practical problem-solving which leads to a revolutionary change in how the world operates.

1 Is there a problem with litter where you live? Read the opinions below. Who do you think should be responsible for reducing litter?

(Nơi bạn sống có vấn đề về rác thải không? Đọc các ý kiến dưới đây. Bạn nghĩ ai sẽ chịu trách nhiệm giảm thiểu rác thải?)

A load of rubbish?

1. One thing I can't stand is all the litter outside fast food restaurants. What they should do is employ extra staff to help clean up the streets. Rob K
2. The people that I blame are the teenagers - it's them who cause all the problems. The town where I live is full of youngsters, hanging around in gangs and leaving rubbish everywhere - it's a disgrace. Daniel
3. There's so much plastic packaging nowadays. All the government needs to do is force companies to use biodegradable or recyclable materials in their products and the problem will be solved. Bex

2 Read the text. Is it generally in favour of or against online campaigns?

(Đọc văn bản. Nhìn chung nó ủng hộ hay phản đối các chiến dịch trực tuyến?)

Hashtag activism - worth clicking on?

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are being used more and more to raise awareness of social issues and to campaign for good causes. There have been several examples of successful campaigns in recent years. For instance, the #IceBucketChallenge proved a viral success in raising awareness and funds for ALS, a disease that progressively paralyses the body. Not only did people all over the world post videos of themselves tipping a bucket of iced water over their heads, but they also nominated other people to do the challenge, as well as donating to the Association. It is not always clear how effective many of these social media campaigns actually are. Critics claim that 'hashtagging' a cause is more about copying the crowd than showing true commitment. They say that clicking on a hashtag trend is easy and doesn't initiate a real desire for change. Though there may be some truth in this, raising awareness is surely the first step to a successful campaign.

1 Read the text. Are there any similar charities or events in your country?

(Đọc văn bản. Có tổ chức từ thiện hoặc sự kiện tương tự nào ở nước bạn không?)

In 2015, the charity Comic Relief celebrated its 30thanniversary. They started 'Red Nose Day', a day when people across the UK buy red noses and all of the money from this goes towards Comic Relief. The money raised by Comic Relief helps people living in difficult conditions in the UK and around the world, and it's estimated that over 50 million people would be worse off today if the charity hadn't been set up. The number of children attending primary school in Africa might not have increased by 60 million if the charity didn't exist. In 2015, the British public donated a staggering £78.1 million, bringing the total raised by Comic Relief in its thirty-year history to over £1 billion. But it couldn't have achieved all this if it didn't have the support of the comedians who take part and inspire the public to give so generously.

1 Read the text. How can a social media campaign help the business?

(Đọc văn bản. Chiến dịch truyền thông xã hội có thể giúp ích gì cho doanh nghiệp?)

Nowadays, social media can be used for marketing effort known as a social media campaign. In a campaign, businessmen determine what their goal is. Common goals in business may include having users give feedback, getting customers to have more concern for the brand or making sales figures increase. The businessmen would prefer more audience to access their products through suitable media platforms. Of course many free social media marketing apps have been made to track shares, replies, likes and keywords related to a brand. Moreover, certain media services are built to combine with social media accounts to see who is seeing media posts and how they are responding. These tools get users to interact with social media posts, ask questions, provide reviews, and even enter contests. Positive interaction, personal attention and prizes are quite important in a campaign because they get the audience to be more involved in the campaign. And this, in turn, helps businessmen a lot in adjusting their business strategies.

Reading Strategy

Read all the text once and then read the questions. Match any questions that are immediately obvious, and identify and note the parts of the text that contain the evidence for your answers. Then carefully read each section of the text again and look for the answers to the remaining questions.

(Chiến lược đọc

Đọc toàn bộ văn bản một lần và sau đó đọc câu hỏi. Ghép bất kỳ câu hỏi nào dễ thấy ngay, đồng thời xác định và ghi chú các phần của văn bản chứa bằng chứng cho câu trả lời của bạn. Sau đó đọc kỹ từng phần của văn bản một lần nữa và tìm câu trả lời cho các câu hỏi còn lại.)

2 Read the articles. What do Wilson To and Rene Silva have in common?

(Đọc các bài viết. Wilson To và Rene Silva có điểm gì chung?)

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

A

Wilson To was beginning his final year at school when he decided to get a school Facebook page started. Nothing unusual about that, you might think, but Wilson's motivation for setting up the page wasn't to discover the latest school gossip. He believed that Facebook could help him take on a problem that was making life difficult for a few schoolmates: bullying.

Without mentioning his plans to his friends, Wilson launched 'A-tech compliments', a Facebook page which invited students to send in anonymous compliments about each other, their teachers and their school. At first, Wilson wasn't expecting much of a response and he monitored messages closely in case unpleasant comments or racism appeared. However, Wilson needn't have worried. 'A-tech compliments' was an instant success and quickly had five hundred regular followers, all of them being positive. It seems that the students were just waiting for the opportunity to say nice things about each other and their school!

Although everybody wanted to know who had thought up this great idea, Wilson kept s his identity secret until the end of the school year, when the school intercom asked the creator of the Facebook page to reveal himself. Wilson stepped forward to receive the applause and thanks of the whole school. He was also given one last job to do: train a new administrator so the page could continue after Wilson stepped down. Today, the idea has also spread to high schools across the country.

B

VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY

A teacher spotted Rene Silva's talent for writing when he was just eleven and encouraged him to set up a community newspaper. Rene accepted the challenge and took on publishing Voz da Comunidade (Voice of the Community) and he soon realised that the monthly newspaper could help his neighbourhood. Rene lives on the edge of Rio de Janeiro in a favela, a poor town that used to be controlled by armed drug gangs. Rene's newspaper quickly became a vehicle for protest about the poor conditions in the favela and gave a voice to local residents who were campaigning to make the community a safer and better place to live.

But one Saturday morning, Voz da Comunidade was transformed from a small local newspaper into Brazil's most popular source of information. The government had decided to force the drug dealers out of the favela and had sent soldiers onto the streets. Journalists from the mainstream media waited outside the favela for news, but Rene and his team of teenage reporters were in the middle of the action. Using their mobile phones to film and take photos, the Voz da Comunidade Twitter account suddenly had thousands more followers than usual and Rene's reporting was praised by the mainstream media. More importantly, it started a debate about how the government should help the inhabitants of Brazil's hundreds of favelas. Rene and the Voz da Comunidade brought positive change to the community.

3 Read the Reading Strategy. Then look at the question below. Which text matches with it? What is the information in the text that helps you answer it?

(Đọc Chiến lược đọc. Sau đó nhìn vào câu hỏi dưới đây. Văn bản nào phù hợp với nó? Thông tin nào trong văn bản giúp bạn trả lời?)

Who started their project because they had already identified a need?

(Ai bắt đầu dự án của họ vì họ đã xác định được nhu cầu?)

4 Match two texts with questions (1-5) below. Each of the texts can match more than one question.

(Nối hai văn bản với câu hỏi (1-5) dưới đây. Mỗi văn bản có thể phù hợp với nhiều câu hỏi.)

Who...

1 offered some training to others?

2 was given an idea by someone else?

3 published something?

4 worked in the most dangerous conditions?

5 worked anonymously?

5 Decide if the statements (1-5) are true (T), false (F), or the information is not given (NG).

(Quyết định xem các câu (1-5) là đúng (T), sai (F) hay thông tin không được cung cấp (NG).)

1 Wilson To was worried that his Facebook page would attract the wrong type of comments.

2 Wilson has left the school, but continues with his job as administrator of the school page.

3 Wilson didn't let anyone know he was the creator of the page because he was too modest.

4 Rene Silva got the funding for his newspaper from local residents.

5 Rene's reporting has had a big impact outside the favela.

2 Read the task above and the report. Answer the questions.

(Đọc nhiệm vụ trên và báo cáo. Trả lời các câu hỏi.)

1 Which points in the report did you also mention in exercise 1?

2 Are there any other points in the report that you think are good?

Introduction

The aim of this report is to assess the plan to ban traffic from the town centre. I have interviewed a number of local people and visitors, and my conclusion and recommendation take their views into account.

Advantages

Most visitors were of the opinion that the town centre would be a quieter and more pleasant place to spend time if there were no traffic. An added benefit mentioned was a reduction in air pollution. Finally, it was thought that the roads would be safer for cyclists.

Disadvantages

According to some local shopkeepers, banning cars from the centre would damage trade as shoppers would have to park some distance away and carry heavy shopping to their cars. What is more, visitors would also have to park outside the town and this might discourage them from paying a visit.

Conclusion

Although opinion seems to be divided on the desirability of the scheme, people expressing opposition to the proposal were in a minority, would suggest that the council press ahead with its plan as it will improve the quality of life of both residents and visitors.

2 Read the text. Check your answers in exercise 1. What do you find most impressive about Sophia?

(Đọc văn bản. Kiểm tra câu trả lời của bạn ở bài tập 1. Bạn thấy điều gì ấn tượng nhất về Sophia?)

Humanoid robots, eminent characters in science fiction novels and sci-fi films, are becoming a reality. Sophia, as an example, was first activated on Valentine's Day in 2016. One month later, she had her premiere in Texas, USA and has made multiple public appearances around the world since then. At one such event, Sophia was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship in October 2017 and even became the first Innovation Champion of the United Nations Development Programme later that year. During Sophia's trip to Viet Nam in 2018, she addressed the Industry 4.0 Summit and Expo.

Sophia the Robot is the latest humanlike robot created by a Hong Kong-based company whose combined efforts in Al research, engineering and design have given birth to robots. Undoubtedly, Sophia together with other Hanson robots represents the rapid advancement in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence. She has been designed to assist humans in healthcare, customer support and education.

Sophia's physical appearance is inspired by both the famous actress Audrey Hepburn and the creator's wife. She has cameras for eyes and microphones for ears, allowing her to see and hear like a human. But what makes her more lifelike than other robots is the patented artificial skin called Frubber, which has the feel and flexibility of human skin.

Sophia amazes the world with her ability to communicate naturally. The Sophia Intelligence Collective, which is a combination of AI and human input, and other sophisticated perception techniques enable Sophia to recognise human faces and identify human emotions and gestures. Equipped with machine learning algorithms, Sophia can understand human speech and interact with people. Questions and jokes are pieces of cake to her whereas sarcasm is intelligible. What distinguishes Sophia from other humanlike robots is her social behaviour, i.e. her facial emotions, hand movements and conversation skills, and most importantly, her learning capability. Sophia is programmed to learn from experiences and adapt to new situations.

3 Read the text again. Are the sentences true or false? Write T or F. Correct the false sentences.

(Đọc văn bản một lần nữa. Những câu sau đúng hay sai? Viết T hoặc F. Sửa các câu sai.)

1 Sophia has been introduced at different places around the world.

2 Sophia is the one and only humanlike robot developed by the Hanson Robotics.

3 Sophia shows how much robotics and Al have progressed.

4 Sophia has been designed to give support to humans.

5 Sophia understands whatever a person says.

4 Write a short summary of the text from the following phrases.

(Viết một bản tóm tắt ngắn của văn bản từ các cụm từ sau đây.)

born in 2016

visit many countries

be granted citizenship

show the rapid development of Al

aid humans in various fields

have artificial skin

engage in conversations

recognise people's faces

respond to new situations

Read paragraphs (A-C) and questions (1-6). Match the paragraphs with the questions. Each paragraph matches with two questions.

(Đọc đoạn văn (A-C) và câu hỏi (1-6). Nối các đoạn văn với câu hỏi. Mỗi đoạn phù hợp với hai câu hỏi.)

In which paragraph does the author mention a breakthrough which...

1 relieves a painful condition?

2 has an impact on a life-threatening situation?

3 is used in particular areas of the world?

4 replaces a device already available?

5 needs to be used for a short period daily?

6 helps people do things they couldn't do before?

Medical breakthroughs

A

After twenty years of research, scientists have finally succeeded in developing a vaccine for dengue, a viral disease found in tropical areas. The illness causes high fever and severe joint pain, and in some cases, it can be fatal. According to the World Health Organisation, each year between 50 and 100 million people develop dengue, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. The commercialised vaccine can protect children in Asia and Latin America against the virus.

B Artificial limbs have been around since ancient times, but no prosthetic has been as lifelike as the Bebionic small hand. The appliance not only looks like a hand, but it also works like one. Electrical impulses triggered by the user's muscle movements connect to individual motors and powerful microprocessors in each finger, causing it to move. Specifically aimed at women and teenagers, the artificial hand enables the user to perform a range of activities previously unmanageable, such as using cutlery and riding a bike.

C

Good news for migraine patients - a special device is available. The battery-driven headband sits across the forehead and over the ears and has a self-adhesive electrode, which helps it stay in place. This electrode applies an electric current to the skin and tissue below the headband stimulating the nerves which are said to trigger the headaches. By wearing the headband for the recommended twenty minutes per day, users are said to experience significantly fewer migraines.

8 a even so

b for instance

c by the way

Reading Strategy

Read all the text once and then read the questions. Match any questions that are immediately obvious, and identify and note the parts of the text that contain the evidence for your answer. Then carefully read each section of the text again and look for the answers to the remaining questions.

(Chiến lược đọc

Đọc toàn bộ văn bản một lần và sau đó đọc câu hỏi. Ghép bất kỳ câu hỏi nào dễ thấy ngay, đồng thời xác định và ghi chú các phần của văn bản chứa bằng chứng cho câu trả lời của bạn. Sau đó đọc kỹ từng phần của văn bản một lần nữa và tìm câu trả lời cho các câu hỏi còn lại.)

3 Read the Reading Strategy. Match sections (A-C) in the extract with questions (1-5) below. Each section may be matched with more than one question.

(Đọc Chiến lược đọc. Nối các phần (A-C) trong đoạn trích với các câu hỏi (1-5) bên dưới. Mỗi phần có thể được kết hợp với nhiều hơn một câu hỏi.)

Which section...

1 gives examples of violent racism? ¨

2 talks about the number of interviews that Miss Skeeter wants to do? ¨

3 mentions Miss Skeeter realising that the situation is more difficult than she imagined? ¨

4 talks about not telling anyone about the plan? ¨

5 suggests that Miss Skeeter's behaviour is rude? ¨

The Help

Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help is set in the 1960s, a time when the Civil Rights movement is campaigning all across the USA for equal rights for African Americans. Skeeter Phelan, a white woman, wants to write a book to protest against the unfair treatment of African Americans-a book about the experiences of African American maids who work for white families. In this extract, Skeeter asks Aibileen, a black maid, if she can interview her.

A

"What can I do for you?"

"I have an idea. Something I want to write about. But I need your help."

I let all my breath out. I like Miss Skeeter, but come on. Sure, a phone call would a been nice. She never would a just shown up on some white lady's step without calling. But no, she done plopped herself down like she got ever right to barge in on me at home.

"I want to interview you. About what it's like to work as a maid." (...)

"Like the Miss Myrna column?" I say, flat as a pan. "Bout cleaning?"

"Not like Miss Myrna. I'm talking about a book," she say and her eyes is big. She excited. "Stories about what it's like to work for a white family. What it's like to work for, say ... Elizabeth."

B

I turn and look at her. This what she been trying to ask me the past two weeks in Miss Leefolt kitchen. "You think Miss Leefolt gone agree to that? Me telling stories about her?"

Miss Skeeter's eyes drop down some. "Well, no. I was thinking we wouldn't tell her. I'll have to make sure the other maids will agree to keep it secret, too."

I scrunch up my forehead, just starting to get what she's asking. "Other maids?"

"I was hoping to get four or five. To really show what it's like to be a maid in Jackson." (...)

C

She looks excited, like this is some kind of game. For a second, I think I might be more mad than I am tired.

"Miss Skeeter," I whisper, "do that not sound kind a dangerous to you?"

"Not if we're careful-"

"Shhh, please. Do you know what would happen to me if Miss Leefolt find out I talked behind her back?"

"We won't tell her, or anyone." She lowers her voice some, but not enough. "These will be private interviews."

I just stare at her. Is she crazy? "Did you hear about the colored boy this morning? One they beat with a tire iron for accidentally using the white bathroom?"

She just look at me, blink a little. "I know things are unstable but this is-"

3 Read the text below and choose the correct answers (a-d).

(Đọc đoạn văn dưới đây và chọn câu trả lời đúng (a-d).)

1 The most shocking thing about Amina Arraf is that

a she disappeared and remains missing.

b she wasn't a real person.

c she wasn't afraid to express her views online.

d she was very close to an American man.

2 The reason why Tom MacMaster blogged under a false identity was

a to find out what his fellow countrymen and women thought.

b to deceive people into taking sides with the USA.

c to appeal to both men and women in the Middle East.

d to give credibility to his radical ideas.

3 Debbie Swenson created Kaycee Nicole because

a she enjoyed sharing her medical knowledge.

b she wanted advice on how to treat her daughter's illness.

c she needed to feel popular with other people.

d she felt like showing her support for cancer sufferers.

4 The sock puppet Mary Rosh was used by John Lott

a to give him the voice of authority.

b to criticise his opponents.

c to make out that he was married.

d to encourage others to look on his work favourably.

5 The writer of the article concludes that

a everybody should be wary of people they come across online.

b the police should create more sock puppets to combat crime.

c social media sites are safer than they used to be.

d terrorists pose a bigger threat on the internet than they do in real life.

Who are you?

On 6 June 2011, the media reported the kidnapping of a female Syrian- American blogger called Amina Arraf. Regarded as a daring political rebel, the 35-year-old had become popular for her blogs protesting about the lack of freedom in Syria, where she was supposedly living at the time. Yet only two days after her disappearance, it was discovered that Amina had never existed at all. She was a fictional character created by a forty-year-old American man called Tom MacMaster, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh.

MacMaster's invention of the blogger is an example of sock puppetry: the use of false identities to deceive others. The false identity is known as a sock puppet, and its creator, a puppet master. MacMaster created Amina to enable him to express his strong views on Middle- Eastern affairs without offending other Americans, who may not have approved. Writing as Amina Arraf gave him the authority to be able to say what he wanted to. But this is not the only reason for using sock puppetry.

At the turn of the millennium, an American woman named Debbie Swenson created the fictional character Kaycee Nicole, a teenage girl suffering from terminal cancer. Her blog, Living Colours, described in detail Kaycee's fight for survival, and it attracted millions of readers. When Kaycee 'died' on 14 May 2001, her fans were devastated. But their distress turned to anger when they discovered that Kaycee was not a real person. The character had been developed by Ms Swenson to get the attention and sympathy she craved.

While Amina and Kaycee were used as a means to meet the needs of their creators, other identities have been invented to make a profit. American gun advocate John Lott made up a fake student, Mary Rosh, to defend his writing online and give him positive reviews. Mystery writer RJ Ellory went further and fabricated a whole team of sock puppets, not only to praise his own books, but also to criticise those of his rivals. Well-respected British historian Orlando Figes lost face completely when he had to publicly apologise for doing the same.

Yet none of these stories can compete with the large-scale sock puppetry in existence today. It is understood that the New York City Police Department has several false identities hanging out on social media sites in order to catch criminals. The US military is said to have a number of sock puppets online searching for potential terrorists. While most of us are unlikely to have dealings with these organisations, the stories of Amina, Kaycee and the fake reviewers are much closer to home. It is clear that the internet is a minefield today and we all have to step very carefully in order not to get hurt.

3 Read the article. Match sentences (A-G) with gaps (1-5) in the article. There are two extra sentences.

(Đọc bài viết. Nối câu (A-G) với chỗ trống (1-5) trong bài. Có hai câu bị thừa.)

A As a result, Kuapa Kokoo received only half of the cocoa they had paid for and had no money left to buy more.

B The income they received from cocoa was vital for paying for school fees and medical costs.

C Now the company comprises around 85,000 small-scale farmers, and it has its own chocolate brand, Divine.

D Then, they replaced all of the weighing scales to ensure that they hadn't been fixed to give the farmers a lower price.

E This time, they received a much larger loan to work with and the banks were back to normal, so the farmers could cash their cheques.

F As the weeks progressed, recorders began to hire their own private trucks, taking on more responsibility.

G Genuinely concerned about poorer farmers, he recruited experienced cocoa people, who he knew and trusted, and found an office for the company in the city of Kumasi.

SUCCESSFUL ETHICAL TRADING: KUAPA KOKOO

Most people in the cocoa business used to laugh at the idea that farmers could have their own company. That was before the cocoa farmers' co-operative Kuapa Kokoo - literally 'best farmer cocoa'- was established in Ghana in 1993. ¹____ It is one of the most successful members of the fair trade group, the movement that promotes ethical trading. But the situation hasn't always been like this.

International development agencies became aware of the need for a company protecting small farmers in Ghana when the government was obliged to hand over control of the cocoa trade to private companies. Kuapa Kokoo was set up under the management of Nana Frimpong, who was an engineer and a farmer, and also a friend of the Ghanaian President. ²____ Kuapa Kokoo now had a base and a team.

The first challenge facing the new company was corruption, which the management refused to tolerate. First, they made contact with independent recorders in each village - that is, the people who manage the relationship with the farmers and take the cocoa to be weighed.

³____ Finally, they trained the recorders to the same level as the government's quality control officers, who had previously looked down on them and declared the produce low quality unless they were given a 'tip. It looked as if Kuapa Kokoo was ready to do business.

The next problem was money - or lack of it. The cheques the company had been planning to pay the farmers with could not be exchanged for cash because the regional banks had run out of banknotes. So the Kuapa management had to withdraw from the bank in Ghanaian currency most of the £100,000 loan they had been given. Because of the competitive trading environment in the villages at the time, there was much confusion over the cocoa that had been promised to each company. ⁴____ The first season had been an absolute disaster.

Fortunately, the company had the support of the agencies to try again the following year. ⁵____ The company's new 'Pick Up and Pay' system, by which the recorders from each village would collect the cocoa and receive payment for it every two weeks, was a success. At the end of the second season, Kuapa Kokoo was officially identified as the most efficient of the new cocoa companies. Since then, it has never looked back.