CHUYÊN ĐỀ ĐỌC HIỂU: BÍ QUYẾT LÀM BÀI ĐỌC HIỂU
BÀI TẬP VẬN DỤNG
TOPIC: ENTERTAINMENT
Most of us tend to think of production when we think of mass media industries. After all, it is the output of this production – the papers we read, the cable TV shows we watch – that grab our attention, make us happy or angry, interested or bored. Moreover, most public discussion about mass communication tends to be about production. The latest gossip about that actor will be in what film, the angry comments a mayor makes about the violence on local TV news, the newest CDs by an up-and-coming group – these are the kinds of topics that focus our attention on the making of content, not its distribution or exhibition.
Media executives know, however, that production is only one step in the arduous and risky process of getting a mass media idea to an audience. Distribution is the delivery of the produced material to the point where it will be shown to its intended audience. The activity takes place out of public view. We have already mentioned the NBC acts as a distributor when it disseminates television programming via satellite to TV stations. When Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. delivers its Philadelphia Inquirer to city newsstands, when Twentieth – Century – Fox moves its Musicland stores, they are involved in distribution to exhibitions.
Question 1. In this passage, “arduous” means .
A. difficult
B. lucrative
C. lengthy
D. free
Question 2. The passage states that people tend to focus on production because .
A. it takes place out of public view
B. mass media companies do not own production divisions
C. the output of mass media is intended to grab our attention
D. companies can function as both producers and distributors
Question 3. In this passage, to “disseminate” means to __ .
A. create
B. send out
C. take in
D. fertilize
Question 4. This passage states that distribution is .
A. the first step in mass media production
B. the most talked-about step in mass media production
C. /data/image/Icon/pdf.pngat least as important as production
D. not as important as exhibition
Question 5. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to .
A. tell an interesting story
B. define a concept clearly
C. describe a scene vividly
D. argue with the reader
Exercise 2: [●○○]
Curious about which digital camera is best for you? Where you can hear reggae music in Toronto? Or what the distance is to Mars? Question-and-answer sites offer an alternative to the ubiquitous search engine: a place to post a question – and then wait for another Internet user to respond.
The idea isn’t new: Usenet newsgroups have let us do this for years. But Q&A sites offer features that enhance and simplify the process. All offer eBay-like feedback, where users rate the helpfulness of experts: over time, these scores become a benchmark score for determining how trustworthy someone’s answers are. Question-and-answer sites also e-mail you when an expert has responded, and they offer personalized page where you can see the questions you’ve asked, the people who have responded, and what they’ve had to say.
Question 1. In this passage, “ubiquitous” means .
A. difficult
B. new
C. common
D. expert
Question 2. The organization pattern of the second paragraph of the passage may be best described as __
A. cause/effect
B. example/ illustrations
C. description
D. classification
Question 3. The tone of this passage can best be described as .
A. negative
B. hysterical
C. opinionated
D. objective
Question 4. The main idea of this passage is that .
A. Question-and-answer sites have alternative to search engines.
B. Usenet newsgroups have been around for years.
C. The idea of question-and-answer sites is not new.
D. People have a lot of questions to be answered.
Question 5. The author’s purpose is writing this passage is to .
A. tell a story
B. give information
C. persuade
D. entertain
Exercise 3: [●○○]
When we were in England last year, I went fishing with my friend, Peter. Early in the morning we were sitting quietly by the side of the lake when we had an unpleasant surprise. We saw a duck come along with three ducklings padding cheerfully behind her. As we watched them, there was a sudden swirl in the water. We caught a glimpse of the vicious jaws of a pike – a fish which is rather like a freshwater shark – and one of the ducklings was dragged below the surface.
This incident made Peter furious. He vowed to catch the pike. On three successive mornings we returned to the vicinity and used several different kinds of bait. On the third day Peter was lucky. Using an artificial frog as bait, he managed to hook the monster. There was a desperate fight but Peter was determined to capture the pike and succeeded. When he had got it ashore and killed it, he wieghed the fish and found that it scaled nearly thirty pounds – a record for that district.
Question 1.Why do you think Peter was sitting quietly by the lake?
A. He was watching the
B. He wasn’t very
C. He was waiting for the pike to appear.
D. He was fishing
Question 2. To what does surprise in line 3 probably refer?
A. to the duck.
B. to the ducklings.
C. to the action of the pike.
D. to the time of the day.
Question 3. What were Peter’s feelings about the incident two days later?
A. He caught and killed the
B. He remained determined to catch the
C. He vowed that he would catch the remaining ducklings
D. He caught a frog and used it as bait for the pike.
Question 4. How much was the pike worth?
A. about thirty pounds.
B. about two hundred and forty dollars.
C. the passage contains no information on this point.
D. the passage says that the fish scaled nearly thirty pound.
Question 5. Which of the following titles best sums up the whole passage?
A. Mysterious disappearance of
B. Revenge on a
C. Record pike caught by an angry fisherman.
D. Huge pike caught by fisherman after desperate struggle at sea.
Exercise 4: [●●○]
Animation traditionally is done by hand-drawing or painting successive frame of an object, each slightly different than the proceeding frame. In computer animation, although the computer may be the one to draw the different frames, in most cases the artist will draw the beginning and ending frames and the computer will produce the drawings between the first and the last drawing. This is generally referred to as computer-assisted animation, because the computer is more of a helper than an originator.
In full computer animation, complex mathematical formulas are used to produce the final sequences of pictures. These formulas operate on extensive databases of numbers that defines the objects in the pictures as they exist in mathematical space. The database consists of endpoints, and color and intensity information. Highly trained professionals are needed to produce such effects because animation that obtains high degrees of realism involves computer techniques from three-dimensional transformation, shading, and curvatures.
High-tech computer animation for film involves very expensive computer systems along with special color terminals or frame buffers. The frame buffer is nothing more than a giant image memory for viewing a single frame. It temporarily holds the image for display on the screen.
A camera can be used to film directly from the computer’s display screen, but for the highest quality images possible, expensive film recorders are used. The computer computers the positions and colors for the figures in the picture, and sends this information to the recorder, which captures it on film. Sometimes, however, the images are stored on a large magnetic disk before being sent to the recorder. Once this process is completed, it is replaced for the next frame. When the entire sequence has been recorded on the film, the film must be developed before the animation can be viewed. If the entire sequence does not seem right, the motions must be corrected, recomputed, redisplayed, and rerecorded. This approach can be very expensive and time – consuming. Often, computer-animation companies first do motion tests with simple computer-generated line drawings before selling their computers to the task of calculating the high-resolution, realistic-looking images.
Question 1: What aspect of computer animation does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The production procession
B. The equipment needed
C. The high cost
D. The role of the artist
Question 2: According to the passage, in computer-assisted animation the role of the computer is to draw the .
A. first frame
B. middle frames
C. last frame
D. entire sequences of frames
Question 3: The word “they” in the second paragraph refers to .
A. formulas
B. objects
C. numbers
D. database
Question 4: According to the passage, the frame buffers mentioned in the third paragraph are used to ____
A. add color to the images
B. expose several frames at the same time
C. store individual images
D. create new frames
Question 5: According to the passage, the positions and colors of the figures in high-tech animation are determined by .
A. drawing several versions
B. enlarging one frame at a lime
C. analyzing the sequence from different angles
D. using computer calculations
Question 6: The word “captures” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to .
A. separates
B. registers
C. describes
D. numbers
Question 7: The word “Once” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to .
A. before
B. since
C. after
D. while
Question 8: According to the passage, how do computer-animation companies often test motion?
A. They experiment with computer-generated line
B. They hand-draw successive
C. They calculate high-resolutions
D. They develop extensive mathematical
Question 9: The word “task” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to .
A. possibility
B. position
C. time
D. job
Question 10: Which of the following statement is supported by the passage?
A. Computers have reduced the costs of
B. In the future, traditional artists will no longer be
C. Artists are unable to produce drawings as high in quality as computer
D. Animation involves a wide range of technical and artistic
Exercise 5: [●●○]
Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the country’s impressive population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were over five in 1966. In September 1966 Canada’s population passed the 20 million mark. Most of this surging growth came from natural increase. The depression of the 1930s and the war had held back marriages, and the catching-up process began after 1945. The baby boom continued through the decade of the 1950s, producing a population increase of nearly fifteen percent in the five years from 1951 to 1956. This rate of increase had been exceeded only once before in Canada’s history, in the decade before 1911, when the prairies were being settled. Undoubtedly, the good economic conditions of the 1950s supported a growth in the population, but the expansion also derived from a trend toward earlier marriages and an increase in the average size of families. In 1957 the Canadian birth rate stood at 28 per thousand, one of the highest in the world.
After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling until in 1966 it stood at the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births during the depression and the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people were staying at school longer, more women were working; young married couples were buying automobiles or houses before starting families; rising living standards were cutting down the size of families. It appeared that Canada was once more falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that had occurred all through the Western world since the time of the Industrial Revolution.
Although the growth in Canada’s population had slowed down by 1966 (the increase in the first half of the 1960s was only nine percent), another large population wave was coming over the horizon. It would be composed of the children who were born during the period of the high birth rate prior to 1957.
Question 1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Educational changes in Canadian society
B. Canada during the Second World War
C. Population trends in postwar Canada
D. Standards of living in Canada
Question 2. The word “five” in bold refers to
A. Canadians
B. years
C. decades
D. marriages
Question 3. The word “surging” in bold is closest in meaning to
A. new
B. extra
C. accelerating
D. surprising
Question 4. The author suggests that in Canada during the 1950’s
A. the urban population decreased rapidly
B. fewer people married
C. economic conditions were poor
D. the birth rate was very high
Question 5. The word “trend” in bold is closest in meaning to
A. tendency
B. aim
C. growth
D. directive
Question 6. The word “peak” in bold is closest in meaning to
A. pointed
B. dismal
C. mountain
D. maximum
Question 7. The author mention all of the following as causes of declines in population growth after 1957 EXCEPT
A. people being better educated
B. people getting married earlier
C. better standards of living
D. couples buying houses
Question 8. It can be inferred from the passage that before the Industrial Revolution
A. families were larger
B. population statistics were unreliable
C. the population grew steadily
D. economic conditions were bad
Question 9. The word “it” in bold refers to
A. horizon
B. population wave
C. nine percent
D. first half
Question 10. The phrase “prior to” in bold is closest in meaning to
A. behind
B. since
C. during
D. preceding
Exercise 6: [●●○]
For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming back to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called “latchkey children”. They are children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.
Lynette Long was once the principal of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put the keys inside shirts. There were so many keys; it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned that they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had keys. They learned of the effect working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear was the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being frightened. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. They may hide in a shower stall, under a bed or in a closet. The second is TV. They often turn the volume up. It’s hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs have learned. Most parents are slow to admit that they leave their children alone.
Question 1: The phrase “an empty house” in the passage mostly means .
A. a house with no people inside
B. a house with no furniture
C. a house with nothing inside
D. a house with too much space
Question 2: One thing that the children in the passage share is that .
A. they all watch TV
B. they spend part of each day alone
C. they are from single-parent families
D. they all wear jewelry
Question 3: The phrase “latchkey children” in the passage means children who .
A. close doors with keys and watch TV by themselves
B. like to carry latches and keys with them everywhere
C. are locked inside houses with latches and keys
D. look after themselves while their parents are not at home
Question 4: The main problem of latchkey children is that they .
A. are also found in middle-class families
B. watch too much television during the day
C. suffer a lot from being left alone
D. are growing in numbers
Question 5: What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
A. How kids spend free time.
B. Why kids hate going home.
C. Bad condition of latchkey children.
D. Children’s activities at home.
Question 6: Why did a lot of kids have chains around their necks with keys attached?
A. They had to use the keys to open school
B. Schools didn’t allow them to wear jewelry, so they wore keys
C. They were fully grown and had become
D. They would use the keys to enter their houses when they came
Question 7: What do latchkey children suffer most from when they are at home alone?
A. Fear.
B. Tiredness.
C. Boredom.
D. Loneliness.
Question 8: Lynette Long learned of latchkey children’s problems by .
A. visiting their homes
B. delivering questionnaires
C. interviewing their parents
D. talking to them
Question 9: What is the most common way for latchkey children to deal with fears?
A. Hiding somewhere.
B. Talking to the Longs.
C. Having a shower.
D. Lying under a TV.
Question 10: What might be the purpose of this passage?
A. To encourage children to stay home alone because more than six million children have the same
B. To show parents that they need to pay more attention to their
C. To suggest TV station having better shows for children staying at home
D. To persuade teachers to allow children to wear
Exercise 7: Video games [●●○]
The habits of those who constantly play video games are very important to people working in video- game industry. If video games are going to be one of the most attractive features of future interactive systems, it is essential for producers to know what types of games to make, how best to present such games on interactive video and how to ensure that such games maintain their fascination for people. Above all, it is vital to build up detailed profiles of people who are addicted to video games.
Until recently, the chief market for video games has been boys aged eight to fifteen. The fascination for interactive video games is seen in its purest form in this group. Video games appeal to some deep instinct in boys who find it impossible to tear themselves away from them. Schoolwork is ignored, health is damaged and even eating habits are affected. Girls of the same age, however, are entirely different, demonstrating far greater freedom from the hold of video games. Quite simply, they can take video games in their stride, being able to play them when they want and then leave them alone.
Question 1. Producers of video games are keen on .
A. developing computer techniques in making such games
B. learning about drug to which people are addicted
C. designing ways to change their video games into television programs
D. finding the best ways of continuing to attract people
Question 2. The people who are most attracted to video games are .
A. young adult women
B. girls between eight and fifteen
C. boys from eight to fifteen years old
D. both boys and girls between eight and fifteen.
Question 3. have different attitude towards playing video games.
A. Adult men and women
B. Girls and boys below eight
C. Girls and boys above fifteen
D. Boys and girls from eight to fifteen
Question 4.The addiction to video games can be so powerful that it can .
A. make people relaxing
B. destroy people’s instincts
C. separate boys from girls
D. make people physically ill
Question 5. Compared with boys of the same age, girls are .
A. more addicted to video games
B. more intelligent than boy
C. more concentrated on video games
D. less influenced by video games
Exercise 8: Women in the written history of America[●●○]
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, almost nothing was written about the contributions of women during the colonial period and the early history of the newly formed United States. Lacking the right to vote and absent from the seats of power, women were not considered an important force in history. Anne Bradstreet wrote some significant poetry in the seventeenth century, Mercy Otis Warren produced the best contemporary history of the American Revolution, and Abigail Adams penned (viết, sáng tác) important letters showing she exercised great political influence over her husband, John, the second President of the United States. But little or no notice was taken of these contributions. During these centuries, women remained invisible in history books.
Throughout the nineteenth century, this lack of visibility continued, despite the efforts of female authors writing about women. These writers, like most of their male counterparts, were amateur historians. Their writings were celebratory in nature, and they were uncritical in their selection and use of sources.
During the nineteenth century, however, certain feminists showed a keen sense of history by keeping records of activities in which women were engaged. National, regional, and local women’s organizations compiled accounts of their doings. Personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, and souvenirs were saved and stored. These sources from the core of the two greatest collections of women’s history in the United States one at the Elizabeth and Arthur Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College, and the other the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. Such sources have provided valuable materials for later Generations of historians.
Despite the gathering of more information about ordinary women during the nineteenth Century, most of the writing about women conformed to the “great women” theory of History, just as much of mainstream American history concentrated on “great men.” To demonstrate that women were making significant contributions to American life, female authors singled out women leaders and wrote biographies, or else important women produced their autobiographies. Most of these leaders were involved in public life as reformers, activists working for women’s right to vote, or authors, and were not representative at all of the great of ordinary woman. The lives of ordinary people continued, generally, to be untold in the American histories being published
Exercise 9: American Music – 1800’s [●●○]
American music, in most of its various forms, can be traced back to the music of the earliest African- Americans. Even though these Americans came here under the worst of circumstances, they still brought with them traditions, and developed new traditions of their own, that have grown into what is recognized around the world today as American music.
Musicians, like other artists, are usually quick to give credit where credit is due. Just as a writer quotes his sources, a musician credits those musicians who inspired him. In the case of the early African-Americans, that is not always easy. Many of the slaves who brought musical traditions from Africa will never be known by name. No one wrote their history. Many of the slaves who sang work songs in the fields will never be known by name. No one wrote their history either.
However, there is a lot that we do know.
The first well-recognized form of African-American music was spirituals. Spirituals are religious songs. They are songs that tell a story or express emotions. Spirituals have a strong rhythm. They are often sung by a group, sometimes with a leader who sings a line or two alone and a chorus that sings the refrain. Spirituals originated in the Southern United States. Spirituals sung by slaves often expressed the hope for freedom that was so important in their lives. Well know spirituals include “Go Down Moses,” “Deep River,” and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”
After slavery ended, spirituals began to spread to other parts of the United States. Harry Thacker Burleigh was one of the first singers to perform spirituals on stage in a concert. Marian Anderson, well known for her classical singing, helped spirituals to gain a wider audience too. Spirituals influenced the development of another well-known form of American music – the blues.
The blues were a more individual style of music than spirituals. Blues were often sung solo, and sometimes they were accompanied by guitar music. As the name suggests, the blues were often about sadness and facing troubles. However, the blues could also be funny, positive, and even defiant. One blues singer, loved for her strong, beautiful voice, was Bessie Smith. Another early blues musician was W. C. Handy. Handy was not only a musician, he also wrote music, promoted concerts, and published blues songs.
During the time that the blues were spreading across the country, another style of music was also quickly gaining in popularity. Ragtime was energetic music with a complicated, syncopated beat. Often played on the piano, ragtime was the latest and most sophisticated in American popular music. The best-known ragtime musician was probably Scott Joplin, who wrote many hit ragtime pieces for the piano including “Maple Leaf Rag.”
Eventually, elements from all of these forms of music and more came back together. In their own kind of melting pot, African rhythms, slave work songs, spirituals, blues, ragtime, and other influences recombined to form the beginnings of that truly American art form – jazz. In the late 1800’s jazz was just beginning, but not long after the turn of the century, it would be the most popular American music. It would go on from there to worldwide popularity. Jazz would branch out into many forms, and it would influence future styles of American music.
Many musicians today credit earlier musicians such as Scott Joplin or Bessie Smith with inspiring their music. It’s a shame that they can’t also name the earliest African-Americans who really began the traditions that led to the American music of today.
Question 1: According to the passage, who introduced the early form of American music?
A. American natives
B. Harry Thacker Burleigh
C. slaves from Africa
D. people from the South of the United States
Question 2: According to the passage, why is it easy to forget the people who first brought musical tradition to America?
A. because slaves were not considered as proper persons thus nobody cared to record their lives
B. because singers like Anderson and Burleigh were more famous than earlier artists
C. because new traditions brought by foreigners were not welcomed in the United States during that time
D. because their history was so long that few people can remember about them
Question 3: Which has the closest in meaning to the phrase “give credit where credit is due”?
A. pay off the debt before it is out of date
B. believe in someone because of his reputation
C. give money to people who deserve the money
D. acknowledge someone’s contribution because he deserves it
Question 4: Which type of music is often involved with piano accompaniment?
A. spirituals
B. ragtime
C. blues
D. jazz
Question 5: What is NOT true when talking about blues?
A. they could be amusing and optimistic
B. a well-known blues musician was Scott Joplin
C. they gained popularity near the time ragtime became popular
D. they were a more individual style of music than spirituals
Question 6: When did jazz become the most popular American music?
A. sometime in the early 20th century
B. when elements from other American music combined
C. after the hit “Maple Leaf Rag” was written
D. in the late 1800s
Question 7: Scott Joplin and Bessie Smith were .
A. famous ragtime musicians
B. people who really began the American musical traditions
C. artists who inspired many musicians today
D. songwriters who wrote blues songs
Question 8: What is the closest meaning to the word “chorus” used in the passage?
A. a group of singers that sing together
B. the main part of a song
C. an accompanying singer
D. none of the above
Question 9: The word “they” in the last paragraph refers to .
A. today’s musicians
B. Scott Joplin and Bessie Smith
C. the musicians’ music
D. the names of the earliest African-American singers
Question 10: What is the main idea of the passage?
A. today’s style of American music is mostly influenced by African-rooted songs
B. it is hard to exactly recognize the people who started the American musical tradition
C. spirituals, blues and ragtime are the major components that formed jazz
D. American’s musical history was built by several famous musicians
Exercise 10: The Allied Power [●●●]
Almost as soon as World War II ended, the debate began over who had actually done the most on the Allied side to ensure the defeat of the Axis powers. The Russians only needed to point to their twenty million plus war dead to justify their rights in Eastern Europe and their new position as a great power on the world stage. Yet, Americans could also claim that they had done as much, if not more, as the Russians to defeat the Axis enemy. In hindsight, it is obvious that despite its greater number of dead, the Russian effort ranks second place to the American. In particular, the American effort seems greater in light of three crucial points: it was fighting at extreme distances from its home territory; it simultaneously fought three different enemies on a multitude of complex fronts with air, naval, land forces; and finally, it supplied many other fighting forces, including the Russians, with massive amounts of material.
The main fronts of World War II were in North Africa, Italy, Western and Eastern Europe, the Pacific Ocean, China, and India. The United States military forces fought on or supported every front, all of which were at extreme distances from the continental United States. A great logistical effort required to support both its own forces and those of many other nations. Above all, supply ships were essential because without the supply ships, all would have been in vain. Keeping the world’s sea lanes free was one of the great accomplishments of the United States Navy and her allies, especially the British and Canadians. This allowed ships to traverse great distances and bring American and other Allied fighting forces to face the Axis powers. The Russians, on the other hand, were fighting in their own country for much of the war and were close to their supply lines. They fought on one continuous font and did not have to travel far to meet the enemy.
The United States fought all three great Axis powers during the war: Germany, Japan, and Italy. While it cannot be denied that the Russian did the lion’s share of the fighting against Germany and the lesser Axis powers of Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria for a longer time, it was not until the last days of the war that Russia attacked Japan. As for the Italians, the Russians only met the reluctant few whom Hitler managed to coerce for his Russian campaign. Another area to take into consideration is the strategic bombing campaign that the Americans and British waged against German industry, something that the Russians did not take part in at all. Finally, with the exception of the Baltic Sea, the Russian navy played a very minor role in the war compared to American’s navy. Despite significant aid from the British, Australians, and New Zealanders, the Americans bore the brute of the Pacific fighting.
The Chinese tied down a massive number of Japanese troops on the Asian mainland, but they were supplied almost exclusively by the United States. American arms, support equipment, food, and clothing went to the four corners of the world during the war even before American officially entered it in 1941. Indeed, the Russian Red Army rode into Eastern Europe on the wheels of over 300,000 American trucks, fed itself on a diet of American canned ham, and wore American boots. Coupled with all this were billion-dollar loans with generous terms of interest, which America gave to its allies. American was the only Allied nation that did not need to borrow any money during the war.
Russia’s combat dead were approximately eight million. American’s number of combat deal was nowhere near the equal of the Russia’s comprising less than five percent of the number of Russian combat deaths. This is not only a reflection of the intensity of the fighting in Eastern Europe, but it is also a reflection of the American and Russia commanders’ battle tactics, with the former being more with saving lives. If the dead alone counted for effort, then Russia surely would be considered the greatest Allied power of the World War II. Yet, one only has to consider if Russia would have even able to achieve its victory over Germany without America as a supplier and fighting friend.
Question 1. According to paragraph 1, all of the following were a result of World War II for Russia Except:
A. The country incurred a great number of the dead during the
B. The country assumed a greater influence in world
C. The country began a simmering conflict with
D. The country began expanding into Eastern
Question 2. The word “crucial” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. special
B. important
C. diverse
D. complex
Question 3. According to paragraph 2, all of the fronts American forces fought on were
A. located at far distances from the American mainland
B. only local in the countries of Europe and Asia
C. in country belonging to nearby American allies
D. located at various sites near the American homeland
Question 4. The world “traverse” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. cross
B. bypass
C. carry
D. sail
Question 5. The word “they” in the passage refers to
A. American and other allied fighting forces
B. Axis powers
C. Russians
D. supply lines
Question 6. The word “reluctant” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. enthusiastic
B. fearful`
C. unwilling
D. brave
Question 7. According to paragraph 3, most of Russia’s fighting was done with
A. its navy in the Baltic Sea against shipping
B. its army against the European Axis powers
C. its air force against German industries
D. its army against the Japanese forces
Question 8. According to paragraph 4, America’s greatest support for the Russians was in providing
A. different types of clothing
B. a variety of the weapons and ammunition
C. a great number of supply ships
D. means of land transportation
Question 9. It can be inferred from paragraph 5 that Russian battle tactics
A. included civilians in the fighting
B. took advantage of greater numbers
C. were wasteful of human lives
D. were similar to tactics
Question 10. According to paragraph 5, the number of American combat dead was
the greatest of all the Allied countries
much less than the number of dead Russians
equal to the number that the Russians lost
slightly less than the number of dead
Exercise 11: The Soloist [●●●]
An idea came to me, and I turned off the lights in the studio. In the dark ness, I put the cello’s spike into a loose spot on the carpet, tightened the bow and drew it across the open strings. I took off my shirt and tried it again; it was the first time in my life I’d felt the instrument against my bare chest. I could fell the vibration of the strings travel through the body of the instrument to my own body. I’d never thought about that; music scholars always talk about the resonating properties of various instruments, but surely the performer’s own body must have some effect on the sound. As I dug into the notes I imagined that my own chest and lung were extensions of the sound box; I seemed to be able to alter the sound by the way I sat, and by varying the muscular tension in my upper body.
After improvising for a while, I started playing the D minor Bach suite, still in the darkness. Strangely freed of the task of finding the right phrasing, the right intonation, the right bowing, I heard the music through my skin. For the first time I didn’t think about how it would sound to anyone else, and slowly, joyfully, gratefully, I started to hear again. The note sang out, first like a trickle, then like a fountain of cool water bubbling up from a hole in the middle of the desert. After an hour or so I looked up, and in the darkness saw the outline of the cat sitting on the floor in front of me, cleaning her paws and purring loudly. I had an audience again, humble as it was.
So that’s what I do now with the cello. At least once a day I find time to tune it, close my eyes, and listen. It’s probably not going to lead to the kind of come back I’d fantasized about for so long – years of playing badly have left scars on my technique, and, practically speaking, classical musicians returning from obscurity are almost impossible to promote – but might eventually try giving a recital if I feel up to it. Or better yet, I may pay for Dr. Polk if our date at the concert goes well. Occasionally I fell a stab of longing, and I wish I could give just one more concert on the great stage before my lights blink off, but that longing passes more quickly now. I take solace on the fact that, unlike the way I felt before, I can enjoy playing for myself now. I fell relaxed and expansive when I play, as if I could stretch out my arms and reach from one end of the apartment to the other. A feeling of the completeness and dignity surrounds me and lifts me up.
Question 1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. A musician’s feelings when he plays the cello
B. A musician’s desire to return to his former profession
C. A musician finding joy in playing music again
D. A musician playing the cello for his cat
Question 2. According to paragraph 1, what relationship does the cellist experience between his body and the music?
A. His body affects the sound.
B. His body improves the
C. His body becomes tense as he
D. His body stops the vibrations as he
Question 3. Based on the information in paragraph 1, what can be inferred about the effect of a performer’s body on musical sound?
A. The cellist had not read about it
B. The cellist thought scholars had talked about
C. The cellist had previously written about
D. The cellist had experienced it
Question 4. In paragraph 1, what does the world it refer to in the sentence, “I took off my shirt and tried it again.”?
A. Drawing the bow across the strings
B. Turing off the lights in the studio
C. Talking of the shirt
D. Tightening the bow
Question 5. In paragraph 2 the author’s primary purpose is
A. to explain the cellist’s feelings of playing before an audience
B. to describe the sound when the cellist plays next to his skin
C. to identify specific pieces of music that the cellist plays
D. to describe the cellist’s experience of playing next to his skin
Question 6. All of following are mentioned in paragraph 2 as part of the cellist’s new way of playing EXCEPT
A. playing the instrument in the dark
B. thinking of how the music sounded to others
C. “hearing” music through his bare skin
D. not worrying about finding the right phrasing
Question 7 What can be inferred from paragraph 3 about the cellist?
A. He had away enjoyed playing for himself
B. He had continually performed over the years
C. Previously, he had never played before an audience
D. Previously, he only wanted to play for an audience
Question 8. Based on the information in paragraph 3, what can be inferred about the cellist’s attitude toward playing?
A. He feels optimistic.
B. He is discouraged.
C. He feels
D. He is
Question 9. The word blink off in paragraph 3 in closest in meaning to
A. wink
B. flicker
C. twinkle
D. turn off
Question 10. How long did it take the author to play music with his shirt off in the darkness for the first time?
A. Once a day
B. A night
C. Exactly one hour
D. About an hour
Exercise 12: The Opening of Japan [●●●]
The Japan of the mid-nineteenth century was a shadow of the modern economic juggernaut that is now one of the world’s leading traders. For hundreds of years, Japan had been secluded from the outside world by the strict policies of the rulers of Japan, the Tokugawa shoguns. With the exception of one Dutch ship per year at the port of the Nagasaki, the Japanese refused to deal with foreign ships or nations. Sailors shipwrecked on the Japanese islands were treated harshly and often imprisoned. Passing vessels were refused food, water, and other provisions. With a goal to right these wrongs and to open Japan to trade, in 1853, the United States sent its most capable man, Admiral Matthew Perry, and four warships to open Japan to the rest of the world. The consequences of those actions are still being felt today.
In the seventeenth century, the Japanese had opened their doors briefly to the Dutch and allowed a trading station and Christian enclave in Nagasaki. Guns were imported as part of this trade, and they were one of the reasons for a great upheaval that engulfed Japan for many decades, as a civil war raged between powerful shoguns, or warlords. Finally, Tokugawa emerged as the victor and claimed the lordship of Japan. During these upheavals, the emperor and his family had stood by wielding no power and existed merely as a figurehead. Soon after the civil war, the Japanese abandoned the use of guns and the art of the gun making. When Admiral Perry and his fleet arrived in 1853, they were defenseless against his awesome firepower.
Perry had three main purposes when he arrived in Japan: open the country to American trade, get an agreement to use Japan as a coaling and provisioning station for American vessels, and provide guarantees that Japan would aid shipwrecked American sailors. He wished to deal only with the highest officials and rebuffed Japanese attempts to foster lower-level emissaries on him. He sailed away to examine further the coast of Taiwan as a possible coaling station but returned to Japan the following spring in March 1854. This time, under threat of naval bombardment, the Japanese relented and finally signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854. In addition to the three main items, the Japanese agreed to allow an American consulate to be established. At first, only Nagasaki was open to American trade, but the treaty stipulated that, after five years, other ports would be opened.
The consequences of these events were far reaching for Japan and the world. Within a few years, foreign currency began to flow to Japan, which upset its economy and caused rising inflation. This was a precursor to the fall of the Tokugawa shoguns and the return of the emperor as the leader of Japanese affairs in 1868. The Emperor Meiji then set a clear path for his nation, not wanting Japan to be under the heel of the foreigners who now clamored at the heel of the foreigners of his land. Meiji sent sailors to England to learn how to build ships and fight a modern naval war, invited German army officers to train his soldiers, and made deals with many companies to modernize Japan’s industry, transportation, and communications. In fact, the efforts were so successful that, by the 1980s, the world began to view Japan as one of the great powers, more so after it defeated both China and Russia on land and at sea in two local wars. The Russian defeat was even more astonishing since the Europeans were unused to losing to those they considered their inferiors.
Japan’s rapid industrialized and militarization had dreadful consequences for Asia, as Meiji’s grandson Hirohito led the nation down the path to world war, which ultimately saw the destruction of much of Japan. The shock of this defeat still echoes through Japanese history, as does the arrival of Perry and his warships so long ago. His efforts opened Japan to the world. Unknowingly, he unleashed a powerful force, with the Japanese not willing to be subjugated to foreign domination. In the long run, Japan has become part of the global culture and has offered more to the world than could have ever been imagined when Perry’s ships first dropped anchor on that fateful day in the pest.
Question 1. The world “secluded” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. removed
B. hidden
C. isolated
D. reserved
Question 2. According to paragraph 1, all of the following are correct about Japan’s dealings with foreigners in the mid-nineteenth century EXCEPT:
A. No ships were allowed to visit
B. Shipwrecked sailors were badly treate
C. Ships in need were not helped by
D. They had a very limited foreign
Question 3. According to paragraph 2, during the Tokugawa shogun period, the Japanese emperor
A. was a symbol and not the real ruler of Japan
B. shared power with the shoguns but was secondary
C. did not challenge the power of the shoguns
D. was quite unknown to the Japanese people
Question 4. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that the Japanese abandoned gun making because guns
A. were the products of foreigners and thus forbidden
B. were blamed for helping cause the long civil war
C. went against the Japanese idea of a warrior
D. were difficult and expensive to make in Japan
Question 5. The word “they” in the passage refers to
A. powerful shoguns
B. the emperor and his family
C. the Japanese
D. dmiral Perry and his fleet
Question 6. According to paragraph 3, Admiral Perry’s mission to Japan eventually
A. achieved exactly what he wanted
B. failed to achieve any concrete objectives
C. achieved some but not all of his objectives
D. achieved more than he had expected
Question 7. According to paragraph 3, the Treaty of Kanagawa was agreed to by the Japanese
A. because they wanted to have relations with American
B. against wishes under the threat of force of arms
C. in order to gain an advantage over the Americans
D. because the realized they could not be secluded forever
Question 8. The word “relented” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. resisted
B. yielded
C. improved
D. decided
Question 9. According to paragraph 4, in order to modernize Japan, Emperor Meiji relied on
A. the expertise of his own people
B. educating his people in new skills
C. experts from outside of Japan
D. the capital from trade links
Question 10. The word “domination” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. control
B. law
C. dogma
D. monopoly
Exercise 13: The Illusion of Film [●●●]
THE ILLUSION OF FILM
Film is an illusion because the moving pictures seen on the screen are not moving at all. A film is actually a series of tiny still pictures, or flames. They appear to be moving because the retina of the human eye retains the impression of an object for a split second after that object has actually disappeared. This principle is known as
the persistence of vision. When we look at a single frame of film, the image persists in the brain’s visual center for a fraction of a second. Then, the next frame comes along and the brain has to catch up with the new image. Thus, our eyes and brain trick us into thinking that we see a smoothly moving image rather than a series of still ones.
Another illusion of film is known collectively as special effects, the tricks and techniques that filmmakers use when makeup, costume, and stunts are still not enough to make a scene convincing. Special effects artists apply science to filmmaking, showing us things that no plain camera could ever photograph. Even since the introduction of computer graphics in recent decades, the films of today still rely on some special effects that have existed since the early years of
One category of special effects is called optical or visual effects, tricks made with the camera. One of the pioneers of optical effects was the French filmmaker Georges Méliès, who invented a technique called stop-motion photography. With this technique, a scene is filmed, the camera is stopped, the scene is changed in some way, and then the camera rolls Stop motion photography can create th.e illusion of an actor disappearing on screen. In one short film, an actor’s clothes keep returning to his body as he tries to get undressed. Méliès also invented a technique known as split screen. By putting a card over the camera lens, he prevented half of the frame of film from being exposed. He filmed a scene on the uncovered half of the frame and then backed up the same strip of film in his camera. For the second shot, he covered the exposed half and took another series of pictures on the half that had been covered the first time. With the technique of split screen, it is possible to achieve illusions such as having the same actor play twins.
Mechanical effects are another category of special effects. Mechanical effects are objects or devices used during the filming to create an illusion, such as feathers or plastic chips to simulate snow, and wires to create the illusion that people are flying. Many sound effects are mechanical effects. Wood blocks create a horse’s hoofbeats, and a vibrating sheet of metal sounds like thunder. During the silent film era, the music machine called the Kinematophone was popular because it could produce the sounds of sirens, sleigh bells, gunfire, baby cries, and kisses-all at the press of a
Other mechanical effects are puppets, robots of all sizes, and tiny copies of buildings or cities. To reduce the cost of studio sets or location photography, special-effects technicians create painted or projected backgrounds, which replace the set or add to it. For example, in a long shot of a town, the set might be only a few feet high, and the remainder of the town is painted onto a sheet of glass positioned in fiont of the camera during filming. In a 1916 silent film called The Flying Torpedo, mechanical effects created the appearance of an enemy invasion of the California seacoast. Technicians threw small contact-rigged explosives into toy cities, scattering the tiny buildings into the An artist painted a row of battleships on a board that was only six feet long. Carpenters drilled small holes in the ships, which were filled with small charges of flash powder to simulate guns. An electrician wired the charges so they could be fired on cue from a small battery. For audiences of the time, the effect was of a real fleet of ships firing on the California coast.
Sometimes optical and mechanical effects are used together. For the original 1933 version of King Kong, the filmmakers wanted to show the giant ape climbing the Empire State Building in New York City. To show Kong’s climb, the special-effects technicians built a tiny movable model of the ape and a proportionately small model of the Empire State Building. Then, stop-motion photography was used to create the illusion that Kong was moving up the building.
Question 1. Why does the author discuss the principle of persistence of vision in paragraph 1?
A. To introduce a discussion of human vision
B. To explain how we remember images
C. To support the idea that film is an illusion
D. To compare two types of special effects
Question 2. The phrase “catch up with” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A. hurry to process
B. put aside
C. search for
D. obtain from memory
Question 3. The author primarily defines special effects as
A. phenomena that cannot be explained logically
B.techniques and devices to create illusions in film
C.sounds and images that cause an emotional response
D.methods used by filmmakers of the silent film era
Question 4. The word rolls in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A. changes
B. operates
C. breaks
D. reverses
Question 5. The word simulate in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to
A. make it easier to film
B. put on top of
C. improve the texture of
D. create the appearance of
Question 6. It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that silent films
A. were projected by a machine called the Kinematophone
B. relied more on special effects than on acting ability
C. used sound effects to make scenes more convincing
D. are still very popular with movie audiences today
Question 7. All of the following would necessarily involve mechanical effects EXCEPT
A. using wires to make objects fly
B. filming each half of a frame separately
C. hitting a sheet of metal to create thunder
D. building a small model of a town
Question 8. Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph 5?
A. The most effective way to lower the cost of a film is to replace location photograph3 with studio sets or backgrounds.
B. Special effects technicians build painted or projected backgrounds that appear more realistic than location photography.
C. One way to reduce costs is to repaint old studio sets and use them again; this also adds to the number of available
D. Painted and projected backgrounds are special effects that improve or replace sets, thus making filming less expensive.
Question 9. The word which in paragraph 5 refers to
A. carpenters
B. holes
C. ships
D. guns
Question 10. What point does the author make in paragraph 6 about the 1933 film King Kong?
A. The film combined two different types of special
B. The filmmakers trained a giant ape to climb up a
C. Stop-motion photography was invented during the
D. King Kong remains very popular with audiences
Exercise 15: Children and advertising [●●●]
Young children are trusting of commercial advertisements in the media, and advertisers have sometimes been accused of taking advantage of this trusting outlook. The Independent Television Commission, regulator of television advertising in the United Kingdom, has criticized advertisers for “misleadingness’ – creating a wrong impression either intentionally or unintentionally – in an effort to control advertisers’ use of techniques that make it difficult for children to judge the true size, action, performance, or construction of a toy.
General concern about misleading tactics that advertisers employ is centered on the use of exaggeration. Consumer protection groups and parents believe that children are largely ill-equipped to recognize such techniques and that often exaggeration is used at the expense of product information. Claims such as “the best” or “better than” can be subjective and misleading; even adults may be unsure as to their meaning. They represent the advertiser’s opinions about the qualities of their products or brand and, as a consequence, are difficult to verify. Advertisers sometimes offset or counterbalance an exaggerated claim with a disclaimer-a qualification or condition on the claim. For example, the claim that breakfast cereal has a health benefit may be accompanied by the disclaimer when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast. However, research has shown that children often have difficulty understanding disclaimers: children may interpret the phrase ‘when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast” to mean that the cereal is required as a necessary part of a balanced breakfast. The author George Comstock suggested that less than a quarter of children between the ages of six and eight years old understood standard disclaimers used in many toy advertisements and that disclaimers are more readily comprehended when presented in both audio and visual formats. Nevertheless, disclaimers are mainly presented in audio format only.
Fantasy is one of the more common techniques in advertising that could possibly mislead a young audience. Child-oriented advertisements are more likely to include magic and fantasy than advertisements aimed at adults. In a content analysis of Canadian television, the author Stephen Kline observed that nearly all commercials for character toys featured fantasy play. Children have strong imaginations and the use of fantasy brings their ideas to life, but children may not be adept enough to realize that what they are viewing is unreal. Fantasy situations and settings are frequently used to attract children’s attention, particularly in food advertising. Advertisements for breakfast cereals have, for many years, been found to be especially fond of fantasy techniques, with almost nine out of ten including such content. Generally, there is uncertainty as to whether very young children can distinguish between fantasy and reality in advertising. Certainly, rational appeals in advertising aimed at children are limited, as most advertisements use emotional and indirect appeals to psychological states or associations.
The use of celebrities such as singers and movie stars is common in advertising. The intention is for the positively perceived attributes of the celebrity to be transferred to the advertised product and for the two to become automatically linked in the audience’s mind. In children’s advertising, the celebrities are often animated figures from popular cartoons. In the recent past, the role of celebrities in advertising to children has often been conflated with the concept of host selling. Host selling involves blending advertisements with regular programming in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish one from the other. Host selling occurs, for example, when a children’s show about a cartoon lion contains an ad in which the same lion promotes a breakfast cereal. The psychologist Dale Kunkel showed that the practice of host selling reduced children’s ability to distinguish between advertising and program material. It was also found that older children responded more positively to products in host selling advertisements.
Regarding the appearance of celebrities in advertisements that do not involve host selling, the evidence is mixed. Researcher Charles Atkin found that children believe that the characters used to advertise breakfast cereals are knowledgeable about cereals, and children accept such characters as credible sources of nutritional information. This finding was even more marked for heavy viewers of television. In addition, children feel validated in their choice of a product when a celebrity endorses that product. A study of children in Hong Kong, however, found that the presence of celebrities in advertisements could negatively affect the children’s perceptions of a product if the children did not like the celebrity in question.
Question 1 Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as being a difficult judgment for children to make about advertised toys?
A. How big the toys are
B. How much the toys cost
C. What the toys can do
D. How the toys are made
Question 2. The word “Verify” in the passage is closest in meaning to?
A. establish the truth of
B. approve of
C. understand
D. criticize
Question 3. In paragraph 2, what is one reason that claims such as “the best” or “better than” can be misleading?
A. They represent the opinions of adults, which are often different from those of
B. They generally involve comparisons among only a small group of
C. They reflect the attitudes of consumer protection groups rather than those of actual consumers
D. They reflect the advertiser’s viewpoint about the
Question 4. Cereal advertisements that include the statement “when part of a nutritionally balanced breakfast” are trying to suggest that
A. the cereal is a desirable part of a healthful, balanced breakfast
B. the cereal contains equal amounts of all nutrients
C. cereal is a healthier breakfast than other foods are
D. the cereal is the most nutritious part of the breakfast meal
Question 5. According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of disclaimers made in advertisements EXCEPT
A. They are qualifications or conditions put on a
B. They may be used to balance
C. They are usually presented in both audio and visual
D. They are often difficult for children to understand.
Question 6. The word “adept” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. responsible
B. skillful
C. patient
D. curious
Question 7. Paragraph 3 indicates that there is uncertainty about which of the following issues involving children and fantasy in advertising?
A. Whether children can tell if what they are seeing in an advertisement is real or fantasy
B. Whether children can differentiate fantasy techniques from other techniques used in advertising
C. Whether children realize how commonly fantasy techniques are used in advertising aimed at them
D. Whether children are attracted to advertisements that lack fantasy
Question 8. The word “attributes” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. Evaluations
B. Attitudes
C. Action
D. Characteristics
Question 9. In paragraph 4, why does the author mention a show about a cartoon lion in which an advertisement appears featuring the same lion character?
A. To help explain what is meant by the term “host selling” and why it can be misleading to children
B. To explain why the role of celebrities in advertising aimed at children has often been confused with host selling
C. To compare the effectiveness of using animated figures with the effectiveness of using celebrities in advertisements aimed at children
D. To indicate how Kunkel first became interested in studying the effects of host selling on children
Question 10. The word “credible” in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. helpful
B. believable
C. valuable
D. familiar
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