ĐỀ THI ĐỌC HIỂU 08 (READING) B1, B2 VSTEP

READING 08

Directions: In this section of the test, you will read FOUR different passages, each followed by 10 questions about it. For question 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 question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen.

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

The Sun today is a yellow dwarf star. It is fueled by thermonuclear reactions near its center that convert hydrogen to helium. The Sun has existed in its present state for about 4 billion, 600 million years and is thousands of times larger than the Earth.

By studying other stars, astronomers can predict what the rest of the Sun's life will be like. About 5 billion years from now, the core of the Sun will shrink and become hotter. The surface temperature will fall. The higher temperature of the center will increase the rate of thermonuclear reactions. The outer regions of the Sun will expand approximately 35 million miles, about the distance to Mercury, which is the closest planet to the Sun. The Sun will then be a red giant star. Temperatures on the Earth will become too hot for life to exist.

Once the Sun has used up its thermonuclear energy as a red giant, it will begin to shrink. After it shrinks to the size of the Earth, it will become a white dwarf star. The Sun may throw off huge amounts of gases in violent eruptions called nova explosions as it changes from a red giant to a white dwarf.

After billions of years as a white dwarf, the Sun will have used up all its fuel and will have lost its heat. Such a star is called a black dwarf. After the Sun has become a black dwarf, the Earth will be dark and cold. If any atmosphere remains there, it will have frozen onto the Earth's surface.

1. What is the primary purpose of this passage?

1. To alert people to the dangers posed by the Sun
2. To discuss conditions on Earth in the far future
3. To present a theory about red giant stars
4. To describe changes that the Sun will go through

2. The word "fueled" is closest in meaning to_________.

1. powered
2. bombarded                                 
3. created                           
4. propelled

3. The word "state" is closest in meaning to______.

1. shape
2. condition                                       
3. location                           
4. size

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the Sun_______.

1. is approximately halfway through its life as a yellow dwarf
2. has been in existence for 10 billion years
3. is rapidly changing in size and brightness
4. will continue as a yellow dwarf for another 10 billion years.

5. What will probably be the first stage of change as the Sun becomes a red giant?

1. Its core will cool off and use less fuel.
2. Its surface will become hotter and shrink.
3. It will throw off huge amounts of gases.
4. Its center will grow smaller and hotter.

6. When the Sun becomes a red giant, what will conditions be like on Earth?

1. Its atmosphere will freeze and become solid.
2. It will be enveloped in the expanding surface of the Sun. 
3. It will become too hot for life to exist. 
4. It will be nearly destroyed by nova explosions.

7. As a white dwarf, the Sun will be_______.

1. the same size as the planet Mercury
2. thousands of times smaller than it is today
3. around 35 million miles in diameter
4. cold and dark

8. According to the passage, which of the following best describes the sequence of stages that the Sun will probably pass through?

1. Yellow dwarf, white dwarf, red giant, black giant
2. Red giant, white dwarf, red dwarf, nova explosion
3. Yellow dwarf, red giant, white dwarf, black dwarf
4. White dwarf, red giant, black dwarf, yellow dwarf

9. The phrase "throw off" is closest in meaning to_______. 

1. eject
2. burn up                                           
3. convert                           
4. let in

10. The word "there" refers to______.

1. our own planet
2. the outer surface of the Sun
3. the core of a black dwarf
4. the planet Mercury

PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20

It is said that George Washington was one of the first to realize how important the building of canals would be to the nation's development. In fact, before he became President, he headed the first company in the United States to build a canal which was to connect the Ohio and Potomac rivers. It was never completed, but it showed the nation the feasibility of canals. As the country expanded westward, settlers in western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio needed a means to ship goods. Canals linking natural waterways seemed to offer an effective solution.

In 1791 engineers commissioned by the state of New York investigated the possibility of a canal between Albany on the Hudson River and Buffalo on Lake Erie, which would link the Great Lakes area with the Atlantic seacoast. It would avoid the mountains that served as a barrier to canals from the Delaware and Potomac rivers.

The first attempt to dig the canal, to be called the Erie Canal, was made by private companies, but only a comparatively small portion was built before the project was halted for lack of funds. The cost of the project was an estimated five million dollars, an enormous amount for those days. There was some on-again-off-again Federal funding, but the War of 1812 put an end to this. In 1817 DeWitt Clinton was elected Governor of New York and persuaded the state to finance and build the canal. It was completed in 1825, costing two million dollars more than expected.

The canal rapidly lived up to its sponsors' faith, quickly paying for itself through tolls. It was far more economical than any other form of transportation at the time. It permitted trade between the Great Lake region and East Coast, robbing the Mississippi River of much of its traffic. It allowed New York to supplant Boston, Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities as the chief center of both domestic and foreign commerce. Cities sprang up along the canal. It also contributed in a number of ways to the North's victory over the South in the Civil War.

An expansion of the canal was planned in 1849. Increased traffic would undoubtedly have warranted its construction had it not been for the development of the railroads.

11. Why does the author most likely mention George Washington in the first paragraph?

1. He was President at the time the Erie Canal was built. 
2. He was involved in pioneering efforts to build canals.
3. He successfully opened the first canal in the United States.
4. He commissioned engineers to study the possibility of building the Erie Canal. 

12. The word "feasibility" is closest in meaning to_____.

1. profitability
2. difficulty                         
3. possibility                                       
4. capability

13. According to the passage, the Erie Canal connected the______.

1. Potomac and Ohio rivers
2. Hudson River and Lake Erie
3. Delaware and Potomac rivers
4. Atlantic Ocean and the Hudson River

14. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "comparatively"?

1. relatively
2. contrarily                       
3. incredibly                                     
4. considerably

15. The phrase "on-again-off-again" could be replaced by which of the following with the least change in meaning?

1. Intermittent
2. Unsolicited                   
3. Ineffectual                                     
4. Gradual

16. The completion of the Erie Canal was financed by_______.

1. the state of New York
2. private companies
3. the federal government
4. DeWitt Clinton

17. The actual cost of building the Erie Canal was_________.

1. five million dollars
2. less than had been estimated
3. seven million dollars
4. more than could be repaid

18. The word "tolls" is closest in meaning to which of the following?

1. Jobs
2. Grants                             
3. Links                                 
4. Fees

19. Which of the following is NOT given in the fourth paragraph as an effect of the building of the Erie Canal?

1. It allowed the East Coast to trade with the Great Lakes area.
2. It took water traffic away from the Mississippi River.
3. It helped determine the outcome of the Civil War.
4. It established Boston and Philadelphia as the most important centers of trade.

20. What can be inferred about railroads in 1849 from the information in the last paragraph?

1. They were being planned but had not yet been built.
2. They were seriously underdeveloped.
3. They had begun to compete with the Erie Canal for traffic.
4. They were weakened by the expansion of the canal.

PASSAGE 3 – Questions 21-30

It's a sound you will probably never hear, a sickened tree sending out a distress signal. But a group of scientists has heard the cries, and they think some insects also hear the trees and are drawn to them like vultures to a dying animal.

Researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service fastened sensors to the bark of parched trees and clearly heard distress calls. According to one of the scientists, most drought- stricken trees transmit their plight in the 50- to 500-kilohertz range. (The unaided human ear can detect no more than 20 kilohertz.) Red oak, maple, white pine, and birch all make slightly different sounds in the form of vibrations at the surface of the wood.

The scientists think that the vibrations are created when the water columns inside tubes that run the length of the tree break, a result of too little water flowing through them. These fractured columns send out distinctive vibration patterns. Because some insects communicate at ultrasonic frequencies, they may pick up the trees' vibrations and attack the weakened trees. Researchers are now running tests with potted trees that have been deprived of water to see if the sound is what attracts the insects. "Water-stressed trees also smell differently from other trees, and they experience thermal changes, so insects could be responding to something other than sound," one scientist said.

21. Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

1. The vibrations produced by insects
2. The mission of the U.S. Forest Service
3. The effect of insects on trees
4. The sounds made by distressed trees

22. The word "them" in line 4 refers to_______.

1. trees
2. scientists                       
3. insects                                           
4. cries

23. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the underlined sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

1. The vibrations that red oak trees make is slightly different from those made by maple and white pine. 
2. The vibrations, known as the sound most trees affected by drought make, can be felt on the surface of the wood.
3. The surface of the wood of red oak, maple, white pine, and birch all slightly vibrates.
4. Red oak, maple, white pine, and birch all have the surface of the wood affected by the drought and make different kinds of sound.

24. The word "plight" is closest in meaning to _______.

1. signal
2. condition                       
3. need                               
4. agony

25. It can be inferred from the passage that the sounds produced by the trees_______.

1. serve as a form of communication with other trees.
2. are the same no matter what type of tree produces them.
3. cannot be heard by the unaided human ear.
4. fall into the 1-20 kilohertz range.

26. The word "fractured" is closest in meaning to

1. long
2. blocked                           
3. hollow                                             
4. broken

27. Which of the following could be considered a cause of the trees' distress signals?

1. Torn roots
2. Attacks by insects
3. Experiments by scientists
4. Lack of water

28. The phrase "pick up" could best be replaced by which of the following?

1. Perceive
2. Lift                                   
3. Transmit                                         
4. Attack

29. All of the following are mentioned as possible factors in drawing insects to weakened trees EXCEPT___________.

1. thermal changes
2. smells
3. sounds
4. changes in color

30. It can be inferred that, at the time the passage was written, research concerning the distress signals of trees________.

1. had been conducted many years earlier.
2. had been unproductive up to then.
3. was continuing.
4. was no longer sponsored by the government.

PASSAGE 4 – Questions 31–40

The time when humans crossed the Arctic land bridge from Siberia to Alaska seems remote to us today, but actually represents a late stage in the prehistory of humans, an era when polished stone implements and bows and arrows were already being used, and dogs had already been domesticated.

When these early migrants arrived in North America, they found the woods and plains dominated by three types of American mammoths. These elephants were distinguished from today's elephants mainly by their thick, shaggy coats and their huge, upward-curving tusks. They had arrived on the continent hundreds of thousands of years before their human followers. The wooly mammoth in the North, the Columbian mammoth in middle North America. and the imperial mammoth of the South, together with their distant cousins the mastodons, dominated the land. Here, as in the Old World, there is evidence that humans hunted these elephants, as shown by the numerous spear points found with mammoth remains.

Then, at the end of the Ice Age, when the last glaciers had retreated, there was a relatively sudden and widespread extinction of elephants. In the New World, both mammoths and mastodons disappeared. In the Old World, only Indian and African elephants survived.

[A] Why did the huge, seemingly successful mammoths disappear? [B] Were humans connected with their extinction? [C] Perhaps, but at that time, although they were cunning hunters, humans were still widely scattered and not very numerous. [D]

31. With which of the following is the passage primarily concerned?

1. Migration from Siberia to Alaska
2. Techniques used to hunt mammoths
3. The prehistory of humans
4. The relationship between man and mammoth in the New World

32. The word "implements" is closest in meaning to .

1. tools
2. ornaments                     
3. houses                           
4. carvings

33. The phrase "these early migrants" refers to ______.

1. mammoths
2. humans                           
3. dogs                 
4. mastodons

34. Where were the imperial mammoths the dominant type of mammoth?

1. In Alaska
2. In the central portion of North America
3. In the southern part of North America
4. In South America

35. It can be inferred that when humans crossed into the New World, they______.

1. had previously hunted mammoths in Siberia.
2. had never seen mammoths before.
3. brought mammoths with them from the Old World.
4. soon learned to use dogs to hunt mammoths.

36. Which of the following could best substitute for the word "remains"?

1. Bones
2. Drawings                       
3. Footprints                     
4. Spear points

37. Look at the four squares [_] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the paragraph:

It is difficult to see how they could have prevailed over the mammoth to such an extent.

Where would the sentence best fit?

A. [A]                              B. [B]                             C. [C]                                D. [D]

38. The passage supports which of the following conclusions about mammoths?

1. Humans hunted them to extinction.
2. The freezing temperatures of the Ice Age destroyed their food supply.
3. The cause of their extinction is not definitely known.
4. Competition with mastodons caused them to become extinct.

39. The word “cunning” is closest in meaning to_______.

1. clever
2. determined                   
3. efficient                         
4. cautious

40. Which of the following is NOT true about prehistoric humans at the time of the mammoths' extinction?

1. They were relatively few in number.
2. They knew how to use bows and arrows.
3. They were concentrated in a small area.
4. They were skilled hunters.

THIS IS THE END OF THE READING TEST.

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