Self-study No.

5 – NEC -2023-2024
HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION SELF-STUDY No. 5
HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS FOR NATIONAL ENGLISH COMPETITION
(The test paper consists of 11 pages) Date: November 26, 2023
Name:___________________________ Time: 180 minutes
Class: _______________

I. LISTENING (50 POINTS)

Part 1. You are going to hear a piece of news. For questions 1-5, decide whether the following
statement are TRUE (T), FALSE (F).
1. Flu, VHF and Covid are the three causes of most sort of utilization of the health care system and
severe diseases.
2. Last year’s survey showed that 40% of household were hit by all these three viruses.
3. Five different kinds of viruses have been mentioned in the talk relating respiratory diseases.
4. Data from sewerage shows that human metapneumovirus have the same symptoms like cold-and
flu ones.
5. The older, the pregnant and the newborns are all vaccinated for RSV.

Part 2. For questions 6-10, listen to a report and answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN SIX
WORDS taken from the recording for each answer next the corresponding numbered question.
6. What is the American government’s reaction to Israel and Ukraine vs Hamas and Vladimir
Putin?
7. What is the common threats that both Hamas and Putin pose on their neighbors?
8. What is the US doing to show its leadership on the world stage?
9. What can be stated from President Biden’s statements relating to two incidents happening last
week?
10. How is the law enforcement across the country instructed against threats?

Part 3. You will hear a travel journalist called Lucy Marske and a conservationist called Brian Eckers
discussing the issue of ethical travel. For questions 11 – 15, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits
best according to what you hear.
11. Lucy and Brian agree that the term ‘ethical travel’ is most appropriate when ________.
A. the profits of tourism are re-invested in the local economy
B. the travel companies source products from within the local area
C. the interests of local people are consistently given a high priority
D. the natural environment of travel destinations remains unaffected
12. What do Lucy and Brian suggest about the ‘green’ labels used by tour companies?
A. Most of these do not stand up to close examination.
B. Travelers should seek proof of claims before booking.
C. Rules regarding their misuse are not enforced effectively.
D. The regulations governing these need to be more clearly defined.
13. Brian identifies the key aim of the ‘slow travel movement’ as ________.
A. related to the various means of transport used
B. promoting self-catering holidays over other types
C. reducing the distance people cover whilst on holiday
D. addressing people's wider need to relax and enjoy life
14. Brian explains that on Stradbroke Island, emphasis is placed on preserving ________.
A. the lifestyle of a small community B. a safe environment for visitors
C. the viability of local businesses D. the integrity of local produce
15. What reservation does Lucy express regarding Stradbroke Island?
A. She's concerned that tourists may find some aspects off-putting.

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B. She doubts whether all visitors will want so much attention.
C. She thinks it might become a victim of its own success.
D. She fears that it may attract some negative publicity.

Part 4. Listen to the recording and them complete the summary below. Write NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
 Apple has just (16) ___________ its most ambitious product in years – a headset that lets people
experience both virtual and (17) ___________ .
 Vision Pro which is the biggest new hardware since the Apple Watch allows you to see through like
(18) ___________ on your head that (19) ___________ the real world with the virtual world.
 Apple is going for the mainstream consumers. They’re going for fitness, they’re going for Facetime,
they’re going through productivity and they’re looking to expand the pool from beyond that just (20)
___________ .
 Apple still hasn’t (21) ___________ but that is the big question. Rumors are that it should be around
$3,000.
 Apple is taking a big risk with this product where their demand isn’t really proven but also going from
on (22) ___________ that is way beyond what’s currently on the market.
 Virtually every (23) ___________ is focusing on AI and there are a lot of questions about how Apple
will (24) ___________ it into their software.
 Consumers haven’t shown the (25) ___________ for putting a big, expensive thing on top of their head
and stepping into the virtual world.

II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (20 POINTS)

Part 1. For questions 26 - 40, choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) to each of the following
questions.

26. During winter the shelters are full of people of no fixed ________.
A. residence B. abode C. home D. dormitory
27. If you ________ your time until the market improves, you’ll get a better return on your investment.
A. seek B. bind C. wait D. bide
28. You shouldn’t have mentioned anything about Steve’s failed exam. It only ________ the flames of your
brother’s irritation.
A. burned B. fanned C. blew D. glowed
29. This medical shuns_________ in describing the drug’s dangers; the appeal is to rational evaluation
rather than to fear.
A. obfuscation B. certitude C. sensationalism D. plausibility
30. Alexis complained that Jim ________ too quickly when their parents imposed a curfew: instead of
negotiating, he complied without protest.
A. remonstrated B. capitulated C. equivocated D. compromised.
31. The young man possessed________ disposition, abjectly submissive to the will of others.
A. an inscrutable B. a jocular C. an amiable D. a servile
32. Some psychologists argue that a________ of choices can be paralyzing, since too many options can
impede meaningful selection.
A. plethora B. modicum C. manifestation D. misapplication
33. Celia Tomlinson personifies________, she overcame poverty, language barriers, and discrimination to
found, own, and operate her own engineering company.
A. nonchalance B. munificence C. tenacity D. expediency.
34. The computer has changed the world __________.
A. irreplaceably B. irrevocably C. irredeemably D. irreparably
35. Despite the high divorce rate, the __________ of marriage remains popular.
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A. practice B. habit C. institution D. state
36. A new computer has been produced, which will __________ all previous models.
A. overdo B. supersede C. excel D. overwhelm
37. She marched into the shop, as bold as __________, and demanded for her money back.
A. bass B. grass C. brass D. glass
38. It had been a trying afternoon, __________ at about six o’clock in the television breaking down.
A. leading B. culminating C. arriving D. finalizing
39. You’ll certainly get it in the ________ if your mother discovers you smoke cigarettes in the backyard.
A. throat B. back C. neck D. hand
40. The government has made no ________ in the fight against inflation; indeed, the situation has worsened
recently.
A. headway B. effect C. avail D. triumph

Part 2. For questions 41 – 45, write the correct form of each bracketed word in each sentence.
41. The rebellions have so far failed to _____________________ the Prime Minister. (lodge)
42. I have a(n) _____________________ habit of thinking positive. (correct)
43. Her endeavor to win against her unbeatable opponent was _____________________ as futile. (cry)
44. Uncle Ho announced secret supplies for our _____________________ Southern areas during the
Vietnam war. (league)
45. The sharp _____________________ between their views on everything made it difficult for them to
become soul-mates. (thesis)

III. READING (5.0 POINTS)

Part 1. For questions 46-55, read the passage and fill each of the following numbered blanks with
ONE suitable word.
People intuitively recognize the importance of self-esteem to their psychological health, so it isn't
particularly remarkable that most of us try to protect and enhance it in (46.) _______ whenever possible.
(47.) _______ is remarkable is that attention to self-esteem has become a communal concern, at least for
Americans, who see a favorable opinion of oneself as the central psychological source from which all
manner of positive outcomes spring. The corollary, that low self-esteem lies (48.) _______ the root of
individual and thus societal problems and dyfunctions, has sustained an ambitious social agenda for decades.
Indeed, campaigns to (49.) _______ people's sense of self-worth abound. Consider what transpired in
California in the late 1980s. Prodded by State Assemblyman John Vasconcellos, Governor George
Deukmejian set up a task force on self-esteem and personal and social responsibility.
Vasconcellos argued that raising self-esteem in young people would reduce crime, teen pregnancy, drug
(50.) _______, school underachievement and pollution. At one point, he even expressed the hope that these
efforts would one day help (51.) _______ the state budget, a prospect predicated on the observation that
people with high self-regard earn more than others and thus pay more in taxes. (52.) _______ with its other
activities, the task force assembled a team of scholars to survey the relevant literature. The results appeared
in a 1989 volume (53.) _______ The Social Importance of Self-Esteem, which stated that "many, if (54.)
_______ most, of the major problems plaguing society have roots in the low self-esteem of many of the
people who make up society." In reality, the report contained (55.) _______ to support that assertion.

Part 2. Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
Marriage works - and it's the answer to the misery of loneliness
A. This week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed that more of us than ever are living
alone. This won't trouble the author Colm Tóibíns, who once eulogized the freedom that living alone
gives him, likening his solitary existence to that of 'a cloistered nun'. This is a terrifying image,
surely, and not a metaphor for a life most of us would seek to inhabit. Certainly not my friend Helen:
successful, well-off, homeowner; but tired of her single life, of the near-constant awareness that she's

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running out of time to have children, as fast as she's running out of the energy to embark on another
round of futile first dates. Nor my friend Mark, divorced dad, active in his daughter's life - but who
still, at the end of the weekend, returns the child to her mother, - before driving back to his re-
emptied house, where he spends the evenings with PlayStation and Sky Sports.
B. In discussing solitary lives, we should ignore the Colm Tóibíns - financially independent people who
realize that, for them, living alone brings more advantages than otherwise. Most people of my
generation had such a stage in their lives - between university, and settling down - but we didn't want
it to last forever. In any case, with property prices as they are, such self-selected solitude is not an
option for much of the succeeding generation. Set aside, too, those figures pertaining to the very
elderly; not because there aren't real problems faced by those (usually female) 'survivors', but
because their existence is a function of the uneven impact of medical advances and lifestyle changes
on the longevity of each of the genders.
C. It's not the relatively young, or the very old, who are the main drivers of this demographic change.
As the ONS makes clear, the largest increase in solitary living is down to the 45-64 age group.
Almost two and a half million Britons in that age category have no one with whom to share their
home, an increase of more than 800,000 households since the mid-Nineties. Even allowing for the
increase in total population size, that's still a noticeable change, and they don't all enjoy the
experience. I suspect there are more divorced parents, like my friend Mark, poking about their
fridges for a pre-packed meal for one, than there are cloistered Irish novelists.
D. This would all be fine, were this phenomenon merely to affect matters as concrete as housing. But
evidence suggests a link between solitariness and poorer health outcomes (mirroring, bleakly, the
evidence about the outcomes for children raised in single-parent households). One paper I read
showed a significant increase in the prescription of antidepressants to the solitary, compared with
cohabiting couples. Correlation doesn't prove a sociological theory, of course, but it's hard to ignore
the link between living alone, and other detrimental life choices.
E. The issue demands a political response: marriage is the most important institution to act as a bulwark
against loneliness, and the British Government should promote it. Instead, the government is
unwinding its insidious 'couples penalty': a financial punishment for initially setting up home with a
partner, and then after divorce, (probably the result of the stress brought on by all the expense), a
further charge for a change to living conditions. The Centre for Social Justice discovered that the
people most penalized for living together are - surprise - among the poorest. This must be fixed.
What's more, couples who arrange to 'live apart together' shouldn't be demonized for rationally
navigating the snares of the benefits system.
F. But if we acknowledge that a financial penalty can cause the poorest to avoid marriage, why assume
that monetary considerations don't affect the better-off? First, because politicians are scared to
reward marriage in the tax system, and second, because our divorce laws so scar those who endure
them that, I suspect, we've produced a generation with the motto 'once bitten, twice shy'. The
changes to child benefit for the well-off hardly help either.
G. Not very long ago, the then Home Secretary, Michael Howard deployed a powerful phrase in
defence of his criminal justice policy: 'prison works'. It's time we used a similar phrase, in defence of
social justice: marriage 'works' too. It works for most people and definitely for civic society, yet we
find it hard to say this, and shy away from its political implications. What started as a desire not to
judge 'lifestyle choices' has bred a generation living in lonely, quiet despair. Loneliness is a much
harder political issue to tackle than, say, housebuilding, but- if we believe in society at all - hardly
one of lesser significance.

Choose the correct heading for each from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i- x in
boxes 56 -62 on your answer sheet.
List of headings
i. Middle age solitude is growing

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ii. The institution of marriage needs a motto that resonates
iii. The young and the elderly are not relevant to the debate
iv. The system is clearly unfair
v. The real issue is a lack of affordable housing
vi. For many, the benefits of a single life are exaggerated
vii. The wealthy are affected by the same measures
viii. Most men would rather be single
ix. Loneliness has a range of consequences
x. Couples must work harder to make relationships work

56. Paragraph A
57. Paragraph B
58. Paragraph C
59. Paragraph D
60. Paragraph E
61. Paragraph F
62. Paragraph G

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading passage? In boxes 63-69
on your answer sheet, write.
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer.
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer.
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

63. The Irish author Calm Tóibíns has a lifestyle that most people would envy.
64. His friends Helen and Mark would like their lives to be different.
65. Most students accept that the benefits of being single are temporary.
66. Most elderly women have not chosen to live alone.
67. Divorced men do not usually enjoy cooking.
68. Couples who try to deceive the benefits system deserve to be punished.
69. People who go through a divorce are afraid of marrying again.

Part 3. In the passage below, seven paragraphs have been removed. For questions 70-76, read the
passage and choose from paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra paragraph
which you do not need to use.

Open AI last week opened up access to ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that interacts with users in an
eerily convincing and conversational way. Its ability to provide lengthy, thoughtful and thorough responses
to questions and prompts – even if inaccurate – has stunned users, including academics and some in the tech
industry.
70.

“There’s a certain feeling that happens when a new technology adjusts your thinking about computing.
Google did it. Firefox did it. AWS did it. iPhone did it. OpenAI is doing it with ChatGPT,” Levie said on
Twitter. But as with other AI-powered tools, it also poses possible concerns, including for how it could
disrupt creative industries, perpetuate biases and spread misinformation.
71.

After signing up for ChatGPT, users can ask the AI system to field a range of questions, such as “Who was
the president of the United States in 1955,” or summarize difficult concepts into something a second grader
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could understand. It’ll even tackle open-ended questions, such as “What’s the meaning of life?” or “What
should I wear if it’s 40 degrees out today?”
72.

But some users are getting very creative. One person asked the chatbot to rewrite the 90s hit song, “Baby
Got Back,” in the Style of “The Canterbury Tales;” another wrote a letter to remove a bad account from a
credit report (rather than using a credit repair lawyer). Other colorful examples including asking for fairy-
tale inspired home décor tips and giving it an AP English exam question (it responded with a 5 paragraph
essay about Wuthering Heights.)
73.

While ChatGPT successfully fielded a variety of questions submitted by CNN, some responses were
noticeably off. In fact, Stack Overflow – a Q&A platform for coders and programmers – temporarily banned
users from sharing information from ChatGPT, noting that it’s “substantially harmful to the site and to users
who are asking or looking for correct answers.”
74.

“While we’ve made efforts to make the model refuse inappropriate requests, it will sometimes respond to
harmful instructions or exhibit biased behavior,” Open AI said on its website. “We’re using the Moderation
API to warn or block certain types of unsafe content, but we expect it to have some false negatives and
positives for now. We’re eager to collect user feedback to aid our ongoing work to improve this system.”
75.

“It is very easy for the model to give plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers,” he said. “It
guessed when it was supposed to clarify and sometimes responded to harmful instructions or exhibited
biased behavior. It also lacks regional and country-specific understanding.”
76.

While the DALL-E tool is free, it does put a limit on the number of prompts a user can do before having to
pay. When Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, recently asked Altman on Twitter about the average cost
per ChatGPT chat, Altman said: “We will have to monetize it somehow at some point; the compute costs are
eye-watering.”

A. “It depends on what activities you plan to do. If you plan to be outside, you should wear a
light jacket or sweater, long pants, and closed-toe shoes,” ChatGPT responded. “If you plan
to be inside, you can wear a t-shirt and jeans or other comfortable clothing.”
B. The tool quickly went viral. On Monday, Open AI’s co-founder Sam Altman, a prominent
Silicon Valley investor, said on Twitter that ChatGPT crossed one million users. It also
captured the attention of some prominent tech leaders, such as Box CEO Aaron Levie.
C. Still, Lian Jye Su, a research director at market research firm ABI Research, warns the
chatbot is operating “without a contextual understanding of the language.”
D. In a blog post last week, OpenAI said the “format makes it possible for the tool to answer
follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject
inappropriate requests.” As of Monday morning, the page to try ChatGPT was down, citing
“exceptionally high demand.” “Please hang tight as we work on scaling our systems,” the
message said. (It now appears to be back online).
E. At the same time, however, it does provide a glimpse into how companies may be able to
capitalize on developing more robust virtual assistance, as well as patient and customer care
solutions.

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F. Beyond the issue of spreading incorrect information, the tool could also threaten some
written professions, be used to explain problematic concepts, and as with all AI tools,
perpetuate biases based on the pool of data on which it’s trained. Typing a prompt involving
a CEO, for example, could prompt a response assuming that the individual is white and
male, for example.
G. Like ChatGPT, the new Google Search and Bard are built on a large language model. They
are trained on vast troves of data online in order to generate compelling responses to user
prompts, but these tools are also known to get responses wrong or “hallucinate” answers.
H. ChatGPT is a large language model trained on a massive trove of information online to
create its responses. It comes from the same company behind DALL-E, which generates a
seemingly limitless range of images in response to prompts from users. It’s also the next
iteration of text generator GPT-3.

Part 4. For questions 76-85, read a passage and choose the answer A, B, C or D which fits best
according to the text.
Historian Philippe Ariès claimed that in medieval Europe childhood was not viewed as a distinct
period in human development, with a special character and needs. His argument for this thesis relied heavily
on medieval text illustrations, which distinguish children from adults principally by their stature, rather than
by a distinctively childlike appearance: the children look like miniature adults. Ariès also suggested that
high infant mortality rates in the Middle Ages induced indifference toward offspring as a defense
mechanism against establishing close ties with infants unlikely to survive. Shulamith Shahar’s recent
research challenges this established conception of the medieval view of childhood.
Shahar has had to work hard to find evidence to support her interpretation of the medieval
conception of childhood, since works that reveal parents’ personal attitudes, such as Giovanni Morelli’s
journal, are exceptional. Shahar makes intelligent use of medical writing and theological works. Particularly
illuminating are medieval accounts of saints’ lives, which despite their emphasis on personal piety reveal
much concerning their subjects’ childhoods and which provide evidence of parental concern for children.
Even more significant are accounts of saints’ miracles involving the healing of sick infants and the blessing
of young couples with children.
Shahar also discusses the period in childhood from ages 7 to 11 when boys of the wealthier classes
were placed in monasteries or as apprentices in the household of a “master” of a trade. To some this custom
might imply a perception of childhood insufficiently distinguished from adulthood, or even indifference to
children, evidenced by the willingness to send young children away from home. Shahar points out, however,
that training was in stages, and children were not expected to live as adults or to assume all the tasks of
maturity at once. Furthermore, Shahar quotes a telling number of instances in which parents of apprentices
sued masters for maltreatment of their children. Shahar concludes that parents placed their children in
monasteries or as apprentices not to be rid of them, but because it was a social norm to ensure one’s children
a future niche in society.
Shahar’s work is highly persuasive, but as a rebuttal to Ariès, it is uncomfortably incomplete.
Shahar succeeds in demonstrating that people in the Middle Ages did view childhood as a definite stage in
human development and that they were not indifferent toward their children. But central to Ariès’ position
was the contention that the family as a powerful and private institution organized around children is a
relatively modern ideal, whose origins Ariès related to the growing influence of the middle classes in the
post-medieval period. Ariès felt that this implied something novel about the development of perceptions of
childhood and of the family. Shahar does not comment on these larger issues.

77. The passage is primarily concerned with

A. criticizing and dismissing a traditional theory
B. describing and evaluating recent research
C. reconciling two explanations for the same phenomenon

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D. refuting a recent hypothesis
78. The passage supports which one of the following statements about the treatment of childhood in
medieval documents?
A. Medieval accounts of childhood tend to emphasize the piety of their subjects.
B. Medieval accounts of saints’ lives focus on stories of miracles rather than on the childhood of their
subjects.
C. Medical and theological writings provide scant evidence of parental concern for children.
D. In medieval text illustrations, children were not depicted with childlike features.
79. Which one of the following best describes the function of the first paragraph of the passage?
A. It presents important evidence that a traditional theory has failed to take into account.
B. It describes the historical sources that have been the focus of a recent debate.
C. It describes an argument that will be challenged by evidence provided in the passage.
D. It describes a puzzling historical phenomenon that will be accounted for in the passage.
80. In the third paragraph, the author mentions the period in childhood from ages most likely in order
to
A. compare perceptions of childhood in the Middle Ages with perceptions of childhood in the postmedieval
period
B. suggest that Shahar was unaware of important social norms in medieval communities
C. show how Shahar supports her argument about the conception of childhood in the Middle Ages
D. suggest that class and gender had important effects on the way in which children were treated in the
Middle Ages
81. Which one of the following, if true, would provide the LEAST support for Shahar’s arguments as
they are described in the passage?
A. Medieval documents contain stories of children, seemingly stillborn, who were miraculously restored to
life by the intercession of saints.
B. The children of peasants remained at home in the later stages of childhood, gradually taking on more
serious tasks until the time came for marriage.
C. Impoverished parents left their children at foundling hospitals because they were confident that their
children would be better cared for there than they would have been at home.
D. The details of the saints’ childhoods in the accounts of saints’ lives were invented by medieval writers
and did not reflect the attitudes of parents in the Middle Ages.
82. It can be inferred from the passage that Ariès would be likely to agree with all of the following
statements EXCEPT:
A. Parents in the Middle Ages felt indifferent toward their children.
B. Conceptions of childhood and the family changed in the postmedieval period as a result of the growing
influence of the middle classes.
C. The ideal of the family as a powerful and private institution developed in the Middle Ages.
D. The family in the Middle Ages was not organized around the children.SHOW TIMER STATISTICS
83. Shahar’s work as it is described in the passage does NOT provide an answer to which one of the
following questions?
A. Did parents feel affection for their children in spite of the fact that many infants were unlikely to survive?
B. How did social norms influence parents’ decisions about their children’s futures?
C. How did the changing perception of the family in the Middle Ages affect the perception of childhood?
D. Were parents concerned about their children when they reached the ages of 7 to 11?
84. The author would most likely agree with which one of the following statements about Shahar’s
research in relation to Ariès’ theories about childhood in the Middle Ages?
A. Shahar’s research challenges some of Ariès’ arguments, but it does not refute his central position.
B. Shahar’s research is provocative, but it does not add anything to Ariès’ arguments.
C. Shahar’s research effectively refutes Ariès’ central position and presents a new interpretation of
childhood and the family in the Middle Ages.

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D. Shahar’s research confirms some of Ariès’ arguments but casts doubt on other of Ariès’ arguments.
85. What does the underlined word mean in this context?
A. testimony B. substantiation C. attestation D. refutation

Part 5. The passage below consists of five paragraphs marked A, B, C, D and E. For questions 86-95,
read the passage and do the task that follow.
GENETIC ENGINEERING- THE WAY OF THE FUTURE?
To examine the issue, we’ve asked the opinions of six experts
A. Dr Robert Rodriguez – bioethics lecturer
Is it so surprising that there is widespread public suspicion and mistrust? Incidentally, the public’s negative
view of GM cannot be attributed to ignorance because mistrust tends to increase with education on the
topic. This is despite an ever-growing body of research that can find no evidence of harm. Of course, this
doesn’t mean there isn’t any, even if we assume the best intentions of the people involved; it’s a subject that
is not completely understood. Anyway why should the public assume that best intentions are behind the
research? Look at the past. Look what happened with BSE, better known as mad cow disease. Agricultural
practices did not protect the public, it endangered them. Look back further to the pesticide DDT. We do not
have a track record that encourages public confidence.
B. Dr Lisa Khan – geographer
There is no doubt that people are starving today in many parts of the world. And with global population
growth projections – we seem set to add a billion people every twelve to fifteen years – there is absolutely
no debate that we will be unable to feed the population in the future unless things change fundamentally.
Genetically modifying crops is certainly one way to achieve this change. But it is not the only way, and it
may not be the most effective. Take, for comparison, the “green revolution” of the 1950s, which greatly
increased productivity by using new strains of crops, new mechanical tools and petrochemical pesticides
and fertilizers; it has created its own set of problems. People may starve because of lack of food, but the
food is there; other things – social or economic issues – stand in the way of it getting where it needs to be.
C. Dr Sylvia Johnson – doctor
I would like to point out that GM organisms have made very important contributions to medicine. I’m not
talking about GM foods; that is a separate issue. But if we consider insulin being produced in tobacco
plants, there is a tremendous benefit. A difficult to obtain substance is made available safely at a lower cost.
The plants are cultivated in a greenhouse, under controlled circumstances, the product they synthesise is
purified in a stringent process, and the modified plants are destroyed; there is very little risk involved. The
potential for creating a wide range of difficult- to- produce and life-saving proteins and pharmaceuticals,
even vaccines, at costs low enough for third world utilization should not be ignored.
D. Dr Gary Wilson – population geneticist
These days there is little question about gene flow. If you plant GM crops, the genes will end up in non-GM
crops, in wild weed populations, in soil bacteria; they cannot be contained. They will move; they have
moved. There are studies that prove it. In the early research, they were citing probabilities of pollination
events or gene transfer events that were miniscule; these studies were used to support the cause of GM. But
if you have enough chances, if you cultivate enough acres, the improbable will happen. And it has. And it
will continue to. For a population geneticist there is no surprise here. At the risk of being incendiary, I will
say the conclusions drawn from this early research could be considered an example of willful
misinterpretation, of statistical probability. Well, it has become a profitable industry.
E. Dr. Daphne Alexander – ecologist
I would like to mention the monarch butterfly. This insect carries out a unique migration from the Northern
US and Canada all the way to Mexico, and is reliant on a range of environmental and temporal patterns
throughout this whole geographic area. It came out a while ago that one strain of GM corn that was
engineered to contain a toxin, originally from bacteria, to kill any insect that attempted to eat its leaves, also
expressed this toxin in its pollen. It was not supposed to do this, other strains did not. And this pollen was
falling on the leaves of the milkweed plants, on which the monarch larvae are dependent for a food source,

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killing or stunting the larvae. This is an example of the kind of unintended consequence that is impossible to
foresee.
F. Dr. Andrew Wright – lawyer
In the EU, by law, food products that contain GM ingredients must be labeled. But it is not quite as simple
as that. In fact, it is not simple at all; it is unbelievably convoluted. Tomato sauce made from GM tomatoes
is simple; but it must be labeled. But what about meat, milk, cheese, or eggs produced from animals fed GM
corn or soya in their feed? The feed must be labeled, but not the final product. And what about enzymes,
like those used to make cheese for example, that have been produced by GM microorganisms? Furthermore,
there can legally be up to 9 percent contamination with GM products, with no labeling required, as long as
the producer can prove it was accidental and unavoidable! I would urge everyone to read widely; there is no
other way to keep informed and a lot has already transpired, while most of us were unaware.

 GM genes are already present in wild populations. 86.____________

 Some people may have misled others when they did not interpret data correctly. 87. ____________
 Current research might not be correct. 88. ____________
 People haven’t been paying attention to developments. 89. ____________
 Even unlikely events happen. 90. ____________
 It is impossible to account for all the possible effects in advance. 91. ____________
92. ____________
 People have no reason to believe what the authorities say.
93. ____________
 Unintentional presence of GM items in food is not regulated.
94. ____________
 There is more than one way to solve a problem.
95. ____________
 In some cases the benefits clearly outweigh the risks.

IV. WRITING (6.0 POINTS)

Part 1. Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should be
between 100 and 120 words.
NATIONALISM
Until about 1800, people in most of the world were loyal to the places where they and their families
lived. Most did not see themselves as part of a larger state or nation. But the rise of industry and the need to
raise armies prompted rulers to try to inspire a sense of national identity and common cause. This drive
toward lifting the interests of the nation above those of individuals or groups became known as nationalism.
Many historians date modern nationalism from the French Revolution in the late 1700s. The French
monarchy was replaced by a republic, in which the citizens no longer were expected to see themselves as
subjects of the king. Rather, they found their identity in the abstract concept of France as their mother
country. The process was repeated throughout Europe during the next century.
The philosophical basis of nationalism is that the nation is the most important unit of social and
economic life to which all other human activities and desires must yield. Helping to secure national pride are
flags, foods, sports, traditions, histories, folk tales, music, literature, and culture. There may even be a
national religion. Nationalists point to criteria that distinguish nations from each other, such as a common
language, culture, and value. These traits are often represented by a single ethnic group to which almost all
citizens of a nation belong. Many nations, however, host different ethnic groups side by side, sometimes
with violent or politically disruptive results.
Some ethnic groups refuse to recognize their nation, seeking to secede in order to rule themselves.
Separatist movements in Quebec, Canada, and in the Basque region of Spain have been active for many
years but have not yet succeeded.
Requiring that all speak the same language has been an important means of enforcing national
identity. New nations often attempt to outlaw minority languages. The national language tends to be the one
spoken by the upper classes, resulting in the high-status language replacing the low-status ones.

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Part 2. The chart below shows the number of French parents whose parents spoke a French regional
language to them when they were children and the number who speak French regional language to
their own children.
Write a report of at least 150 words describing the chart below.

Part 3: Write an essay of about 300 words to express your opinion on the following issue.
Information and knowledge are changing so rapidly in the 21st century that it is impossible for schools and
teachers to keep pace. With this in mind, should the work of schools be primarily about teaching learners
how to learn and how to adapt to change?
What is your position on this matter?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and
experience.
---THE END--

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