READING TEST #2
Directions: In this section of the test, you will read FOUR different passages, each followed by 10 questions about it. For questions 1-40, you are to choose the best answer A, B, C or D, to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen. Answer all questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.
You have 60 minutes to answer all the questions, including the time to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
PASSAGE 1
Questions 1-10
In pursuit of the perfect beach, travel writer Stanley Stewart heads to Brazil, where he discovers some of the world’s most beautiful sandy escapes.
I’m standing on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, one of Brazil’s – and the world’s –most famous stretches of sand. As I watch life go by here in all its varied forms, I’ve come to realize that any understanding of Brazil really begins on its beaches. In this vibrant, multicultural country, the beach is not just a place; it’s a state of mind – a way of thinking and living.
Rio alone, I’m told, has over 70 beaches, each with its own community: Some are for bodybuilders, others are for senior citizens, still others are popular with parents and children. But Rio’s beaches are just the starting point for my exploration of Brazil’s Atlantic coastline, which at more than 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles), and with more than 2,000 beaches, is the longest in the world. Every Brazilian has his or her own ideas of the perfect beach and is eager to tell you where to find it. I’m happy to take people’s advice, but my ultimate goal is to find my own dream beach.
I head to a place said to have some of Brazil’s best coastline: the state of Bahia in the northeast. Portuguese settlers established themselves at Bahia’s present-day capital, Salvador da Bahia, in 1549. Over the centuries, people of many races have arrived and intermarried here, creating a distinctive cultural mix, which influences Bahia’s language, religion, cuisine, music, and dance.
I’d been told that one of Bahia’s best beaches – Prainha – lies just south of Salvador, near the town of Itacare. On arriving at Prainha’s beach, I discover its golden sand lined by a row of perfect palm trees, moving softly in the ocean breeze. Under the moon, silver waves roll onto the sand. As I enter the water, I have the feeling of swimming through moonlight. Prainha’s beauty is magnificent – its perfect curves and graceful lines are like something you might see in a postcard. But for me, it’s a little too perfect. The beach I’m searching for needs to be a little wilder...
I continue my search, heading north to one of Brazil’s legendary beaches: Jericoacoara. Twenty years ago, only a handful of people were living in Jeri. Today it’s an international destination, considered one of the best beach hangouts in the world (especially if you like windsurfing). It attracts visitors from Tokyo to Toronto and has grown from a small village into a lively little town. Despite the changes, Jeri hasn’t been spoiled by tourists, mostly because of its isolated location – it’s at least five hours from any airport.
Everyone in Jeri rents a beach buggy, which comes with a driver. I tell my driver to take me as far along the coast as he can. We drive for three hours, finally arriving at Maceió, a fisherman’s beach. Boats lie on their sides while nets hang out to dry on lines between fishermen’s houses. We eat on the beach and later rest in hammocks near the table. It’s a great day on an amazing beach. How can it possibly get any better? I wonder. But I have one final place to visit.
Of the many beach destinations in this country, there is one that all Brazilians hold in high regard – the islands of Fernando de Noronha. More than a dozen beautiful beaches ring the island of Fernando alone, three of which rank among the top ten in Brazil. The islands of Fernando de Noronha lie a few hundred kilometers out in the Atlantic. For years, people were prohibited from visiting these islands because they were used as a prison and later by the army. Today the islands are a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, rich with diverse bird and sea life.
Câu 1: What is the passage mainly about?
- A. Brazilian beach tourism
- B. an educational tour of South America’s beaches
- C. the author’s search for the dream beach
- D. little-known beaches of South America
- A. newly married couples
- B. bodybuilders
- C. parents with children
- D. old people
- A. *Every Brazilian has his or her own ideas of the perfect beach and is eager to tell you where to find it. I’m happy to take people’s advice, but my ultimate goal is to find my own dream beach.*
- B. I don’t like the beaches Brazilian people tell me so I try to find my own dream beach.
- C. Brazil have so many beautiful beaches that I cannot visit all of them.
- D. Brazilian people are proud of their beaches and tell me to visit their perfect beaches.
- E. I feel pleased to know beautiful beaches recommended by Brazilian but what I like most is to seek for the best beach for myself.
- A. to describe Bahia’s many beaches
- B. to explain why Bahia has the perfect beach
- C. to describe Bahia’s music and dance scene
- D. to give information on Bahia’s cultural background
- A. oldest
- B. isolated
- C. picturesque
- D. famous
- A. Copacabana
- B. Prainha
- C. Jericoacoara
- D. Maceió
- A. Copacabana
- B. Prainha
- C. Jericoacoara
- D. Maceió
- A. contain a prison
- B. are a national park
- C. are used by the army
- D. have many beach buggies
- A. a small number of
- B. many
- C. a few
- D. about ten
- A. busy, near a city, with lots of beach activities
- B. warm, isolated, a little wild, with rich animal life
- C. trendy, with a distinctive cultural mix
- D. crowded, with music and dance, blue water and palm trees
PASSAGE 2
Questions 11-20
In September 1994, a violent disease erupted among a group of racehorses in a small town in Australia. The first victim was a female horse that was last seen eating grass beneath a fruit tree. One of her caretakers noticed that the horse didn’t appear to be well, and brought the animal back to her stable for observation. Within hours, the horse’s health declined rapidly and died two days later, leaving the cause of her death uncertain. Had she been bitten by a snake, or eaten something poisonous? Within two weeks, most of the other horses in the stable became ill and died as well. Meanwhile, the trainer and his assistant also became ill and within days, the trainer was dead, too. Laboratory analysis finally discovered the root of the problem: The horses and men had been infected by a previously unknown virus, which doctors eventually labeled Hendra. This virus had originated in bats that lived in the tree where the first horse had been eating grass. The virus passed from the bats to the horse, which then transmitted the virus to other horses and to people – with disastrous results.
Infectious disease is all around us. Disease-causing agents, such as viruses, usually have specific targets. Some viruses affect only humans. Other viruses live in or affect only animals. Problems start when animal viruses are able to infect people as well, a process known as zoonosis. When an animal virus passes to a human, the results can be fatal. Often, our immune systems are not accustomed to these viruses, and are unable to stop them before they harm us and even kill us.
In the last three decades, more than 30 zoonotic diseases – the kind that live only in animals but somehow pass to people – have emerged around the globe. HIV is an example; it evolved from a virus originally carried by African monkeys and later, chimps. Today, conservative estimates suggest that HIV has infected more than 70 million people in the past three decades, though this number may be higher. SARS, a type of flu that jumped from chickens to humans, is another type of zoonotic disease.
But how do these viruses – like Hendra, SARS, and HIV – pass from animals to humans? Contact is crucial. Human destruction of animal habitats, for example, is forcing wild animals to move closer to the places people live – putting humans at risk for exposure to animal viruses. The closer humans are to animals, the greater the risk of being bitten, scratched, or exposed to animal waste, which can enable a virus to pass from an animal to a human. Raising animals (for example, on a farm) or keeping certain kinds of wild animals (like monkeys) as pets increases the risk of exposure. Eating animals that are diseased can also result in a virus being transmitted.
The factor that is probably most responsible for the spread of zoonotic diseases worldwide is international travel. In 1999, for example, a deadly disease appeared in the United States. There were several incidences of both birds and people becoming sick and dying in New York City, and doctors couldn’t explain why. Subsequently, they discovered that the deaths had been caused by the same thing: the West Nile virus, found typically in birds and transmitted by mosquitoes that live in parts of northern Africa. Somehow this virus – probably carried by an infected mosquito or bird on a plane or ship – arrived in the U.S.
Câu 11: What is the passage mainly about?
- A. the unexplained deaths of horses and humans
- B. the symptoms of zoonotic diseases seen in humans
- C. the effect of international travel on the spread of disease
- D. the rise in the spread of viruses from animals to humans
- A. transferred
- B. spread
- C. taken
- D. converted
- A. a virus spread by snakes
- B. a virus spread by bats
- C. a virus spread by humans
- D. a virus spread by a fruit tree
- A. scary
- B. painful
- C. harmful
- D. deadly
- A. mosquitoes
- B. bats
- C. chickens
- D. monkeys
- A. to discuss the rise in zoonotic diseases in the past three decades
- B. to inform the reader where the HIV virus came from and how it evolved
- C. to give examples and explain the meaning of zoonotic diseases
- D. to compare the spread of HIV and SARS with other zoonotic diseases
- A. Hendra
- B. Ebola
- C. West Nile virus
- D. HIV
- A. SARS
- B. HIV
- C. Flu
- D. Hendra
- A. raising animals
- B. destruction of habitat
- C. eating animals
- D. international travel
- A. causes of zoonotic diseases
- B. effects of zoonotic diseases
- C. solutions to zoonotic diseases
- D. animals causing zoonotic diseases
