Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.  

When ice skating, it is very important to have good equipment and use it properly. When choosing a pair of skates, look for high quality skating shoes with sharp steel blades. Choosing the right size stakes is also important. The leather shoes, which are called boots, should reach up to about the middle of your calf.

Make sure that your skate boots fit snugly. First, put on two pairs of cotton or lightweight wool socks. Then, step into your skates. Your heels should not be able to slide up and down in the boots. If your boots do not fit properly, they will not support your feet, and the skates won’t respond correctly when you move your muscles. It will look like your ankles are weak and will cause you severe discomfort.  

Each boot is attached a metal blade by crews at two different places. The blade of skate is a narrow piece of steel that is strong enough to support the weight of your body. The bottom of the blade, which touches the ice, is hollowed out, leaving two very thin edges. Stakes have guards, pieces of wood or rubber that fit over blades to protect these edges. You should use these guards when wearing your skates off the ice,

 

Which of the following is closest in meaning to “equipment” in paragraph 1?  

A man is talking to Alex when he is on holiday in Paris.  

-The man: “You haven’t lived here long, have you?”  

-Alex: ”______________”.  

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the most suitable response to complete each of the following exchanges.  

Susan shared with her friend about her losing purse. 

-Susan: “I have lost my purse”. 

-Her friends: “____________”.  

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage?  

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best option for each of the blanks.  

The Eighth Wonder of the World The Thames Barrier is a major part of the flood defense scheme for protecting London (35) ______ rising water levels. The defenses (36) ______ include raised river embankments and additional flood gates at strategic points, including the Barking Barrier. The unique structure that is the Barrier spans the 520- metre wide Woolwich reach and (37) ______ of 10 separate movable gates, each pivoting and supported between concrete structures which house the operating machinery. When raised, the four main gates (38) ______ stands as high as a five-storey building and as wide as the opening of Tower Bridge. Each (39) ______ 3700 tones. During the first twelve years of operation the Barrier has been closed twenty nine times to protect London.  

Based on the information in paragraph 3, what can be inferred about skate blades?  

If you want to get away from the noisy city life, you can take a small boat to ______ on one of the islands.  

 I owed Bill a favor. I agreed to help him.  

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.  

Domestic cats enjoy playing and sitting in the sun. Cats in the wild like doing so. 

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word or phrase that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined part in the following questions.  

The most irritating people are those who ask really stupid questions while their friends video our reactions.  

What is the main purpose of paragraph 3?  

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word or phrase that is OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined part in each of the following questions.  

He studies so zealously that he graduated from college first in his class.  

Based on the information in the passage, what should skaters wear?  

According to the passage, why it is important that your skate boots fit snugly?  

Which of the following means most nearly the same as “respond” in the passage?  

The government is aiming _______ 50% reduction in unemployment.