ĐỌC HIỂU – VSTEP READING TEST 2
Thời gian: 60 phút
Số câu hỏi: 40
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 for 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
Scientists do not yet thoroughly understand just how the body of an individual becomes sensitive to a substance that is harmless or even wholesome for the average person. Milk, wheat, and egg, for example, rank among the most healthful and widely used foods. Yet these foods can cause persons sensitive to them to suffer greatly. At first, the body of the individual is not harmed by coming into contact with the substance. After a varying interval of time, usually longer than a few weeks, the body becomes sensitive to it, and an allergy has begun to develop. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out if you have a food allergy, since it can show up so many different ways. Your symptoms could be caused by many other problems. You may have rashes, hives, joint pains mimicking arthritis, headaches, irritability, or depression. The most common food allergies are to milk, eggs, seafood, wheat, nuts, seeds, chocolate, oranges, and tomatoes. Many of these allergies will not develop if these foods are not fed to an infant until her or his intestines mature at around seven months. Breast milk also tends to be protective. Migraines can be set off by foods containing tyramine, phenethylamine, monosodium glutamate, or sodium nitrate. Common foods which contain these are chocolate, aged cheeses, sour cream, red wine, pickled herring, chicken livers, avocados, ripe bananas, cured meats, many Oriental and prepared foods (read the labels!). Some people have been successful in treating their migraines with supplements of B-vitamins, particularly B6 and niacin. Children who are hyperactive may benefit from eliminating food additives, especially colorings, and foods high in salicylates from their diets. A few of these are almonds, green peppers, peaches, tea, grapes. This is the diet made popular by Benjamin Feingold, who has written the book Why Child is Hyperactive. Other researchers have had mixed results when testing whether the diet is effective.
The topic of this passage is
- A. reactions to foods
- B. infants and allergies
- C. food and nutrition
- D. a good diet
- A. the vast number of different foods we eat
- B. lack of a proper treatment plan
- C. the similarity of symptoms of the allergy to other problems
- D. the use of prepared formula to feed babies
- A. indications
- B. diet
- C. diagnosis
- D. prescriptions
- A. relieved
- B. identified
- C. avoided
- D. triggered
- A. They can eat almost anything.
- B. They should have a carefully restricted diet as infants.
- C. They gain little benefit from being breast fed.
- D. They may become hyperactive if fed solid food too early.
- A. overly active
- B. unusually low activity
- C. excited
- D. inquisitive
- A. lack of teeth
- B. poor metabolism
- C. underdeveloped intestinal tract
- D. inability to swallow solid foods
- A. food additives
- B. food colorings
- C. innutritious foods
- D. foods high in salicylates
- A. Eating more ripe bananas
- B. Avoiding all Oriental foods
- C. Getting plenty of sodium nitrate
- D. Using Vitamin B in addition to a good diet
- A. verified by researchers as being consistently effective
- B. available in book form
- C. beneficial for hyperactive children
- D. designed to eliminate foods containing certain food additives
PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20
Until recently, most American entrepreneurs were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than $40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising throughout the 1990s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration, has noted, "The 1970s was the decade of women entering management, and the 1980s turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur."
What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporate world, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own."
In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a $22-million-a-year computer software business. It was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs on their newspaper carriers and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash. After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold, ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns $66.9 million of stock.
Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small. But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.
What is the main idea of this passage?
- A. Women today are better educated than in the past, making them more attractive to the business world.
- B. The computer is especially lucrative for women today.
- C. Women are better at small businesses than men are.
- D. Women today are opening more businesses of their own.
- A. not permitted in
- B. often invited to
- C. decorators of
- D. charged admission to
- A. women were required to stay at home with their families
- B. women lacked ability to work in business
- C. women faced discrimination in business
- D. women were not trained in business
- A. a woman becomes chairman of the board
- B. women working hard
- C. women achieving advanced degrees
- D. women believing that business is a place for them
- A. were unrealistic about their opportunities in business management
- B. were still more interested in education than business opportunities
- C. had fewer obstacles in business than they do today
- D. were unable to work hard enough to succeed in business
- A. show the frugality of women in business
- B. show the resourcefulness of Sandra Kurtzig
- C. point out that initially the financial resources of Sandra Kurtzig's business were limited
- D. suggest that the company needed to expand
- A. women becoming entrepreneurs
- B. women buying cosmetics and clothing
- C. women working in "women's fields"
- D. women staying at home
- A. recognize the appearance of
- B. keep records of
- C. provide transportation for
- D. pay the salaries of
- A. women prefer a small intimate setting
- B. women can't deal with money
- C. women are not able to borrow money easily
- D. many women fail at large businesses
- A. skeptical
- B. optimistic
- C. frustrated
- D. negative
