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

Nowadays, most people realize that it’s risky to use credit card numbers online. However, from time to time, we all use passwords and government ID numbers on the Internet. We think we are safe, but that may not be true! A new kind of attack is being used by dishonest people to steal IDs and credit card numbers from innocent websurfers. This new kind of attack is called “phishing.”

Phishing sounds the same as the word “fishing,” and it implies that a thief is trying to lure people into giving away valuable information. Like real fishermen, phishers use bait in the form of great online deals or services. For example, phishers might use fake emails and false websites to con people into revealing credit card numbers, account usernames, and passwords. They imitate well-known banks, online sellers, and credit card companies. Successful phishers may convince as many as five percent of the people they contact to respond and give away their personal financial information.

Is this really a big problem? Actually, tricking five percent of the online population is huge! Currently, more than 350 million people have access to the Internet, and seventy-five percent of those Internet users live in the wealthiest countries on Earth. It has been estimated that phishers send more than three billion scam messages each year. Even by tricking only five percent of the people, phishers can make a lot of money.

Since there is so much money to make through this kind of scam, it has caught the interest of more than just small-time crooks. Recently, police tracked down members of an organized phishing group in Eastern Europe, who had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from people online. The group created official-looking email messages requesting people to update their personal information at an international bank’s website. However, the link to the bank in the message actually sent people to the phishers’ fake website. To make matters worse, further investigation revealed that this group had connections to a major crime gang in Russia.

How can innocent people protect themselves? Above all, they have to learn to recognize email that has been sent by a phisher. Always be wary of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information. Phishers typically write upsetting or exciting, but fake, statements in their emails so that people will reply right away. Also, messages from phishers will not address recipients by name because they really don’t know who the recipients are yet. On the other hand, valid messages from your bank or other companies you normally deal with will typically include your name.

(Adapted from Reading Challenge 3 by Casey Malarcher and Andrea Janzen)

Which of the following could best serve as the topic of the passage?

Laura is asking Tom for his idea about a vacation at the beach.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

The river has been polluted with toxic waste from local factories.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word in each of the following questions.

Accumulations of sand can be formed by the action of waves on coastal beaches.

When I told my family I wanted to be a professional musician, I faced a______of criticism from my parents, who strongly disapproved of the idea.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

A scientist said robots will be more intelligent than humans by 2029. The scientist's name is Ray Kurzweil. He works for Google as Director of Engineering. He is one of the world’s leading experts on (33) ______ intelligence (A.l). Mr Kurzweil believes computers will be able to learn from experiences, just like humans. He also thinks they will be able to tell jokes and stories, and even flirt. Kurzweil‘s 2029 prediction is a lot sooner than many people thought. The scientist said that in 1999, many A.I. experts said it would be hundreds of years (34) ____ a computer was more intelligent than a human. He said that it would not be long before computer (35) ______ is one billion times more powerful than the human brain.

Mr Kurzweil joked that many years ago, people thought he was a little crazy for predicting computers would be as intelligent as humans. His thinking has stayed the same but everyone else has changed the way they think. He said: “My views are not radical any more. I've actually stayed (36) ______. It's the rest of the world that's changing its View.” He highlighted examples of high-tech things we use, see or read about every day. These things make us believe that computers have intelligence. He said people think differently now: "Because the public has seen things like Siri (the iPhone’s voice-recognition technology) (37) ______ you talk to a computer, they've seen the Google self-driving cars."

(Source: https://breakingnewsenglish.com)

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that best completes each of the following exchanges.

Tom is inviting Linda to his birthday party.

Tom: “Would you like to come to my birthday party next week?"

Linda: “__________________’’

The word “abuse” in the first paragraph could be best replaced by _____________.

My Mum said I had to do all the ironing as a punishment, but I am hoping she will let me off.

In The Sociology of Science, ________ a classic, Robert Merton discusses cultural, economic and social forces that contributed to the development of modern science.

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

The world needs to do more to prepare for the impact of a rapidly ageing population, the UN has warned - particularly in developing countries. Within 10 years the number of people aged over 60 will pass one billion, a report by the UN Population Fund said. The demographic shift will present huge challenges to countries' welfare, pension and healthcare systems. The UN agency also said more had to be done to tackle "abuse, neglect and violence against older persons".

The number of older people worldwide is growing faster than any other age group. The report, Ageing in the 21st Century: A Celebration and a Challenge, estimates that one in nine people around the world are older than 60. The elderly population is expected to swell by 200 million in the next decade to surpass one billion, and reach two billion by 2050. This rising proportion of older people is a consequence of success - improved nutrition, sanitation, healthcare, education and economic well-being are contributing factors, the report says.

But the UN and a charity that also contributed to the report, Help Age International, say the ageing population is being widely mismanaged. "In many developing countries with large populations of young people, the challenge is that governments have not put policies and practices in place to support their current older populations or made enough preparations for 2050," the agencies said in a joint statement.

(Source: www.ieltsbuddy.com)

Which of the following could be the main topic of the passage?