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.

Belgium is a very old country, with a fascinating mixture of old customs and modern laws. Belgium weddings may be performed as a civil ceremony or as a religious ceremony.

Traditionally, when a couple in Belgium wishes to announce their marriage, the wedding invitations are printed on two sheets of paper, one from the bride’s family and one sheet from the groom’s family. These wedding invitations symbolize the union of the two families and the partnership of the new union.

An ancient Belgium custom that is designed to unite the two families calls for the bride to stop as she walks up the isle and to hand her mother a single flower. The two then embrace. Then, during the recessional, the bride and groom walk to the groom’s mother and the new bride hands her new mother-in-law a single flower and the two of them embrace, symbolizing the bride’s acceptance of her new mother.

One of the most important and enduring traditions of the Belgium wedding is for the bride to carry a specially embroidered handkerchief that has her name embroidered on it. After the wedding this handkerchief is framed and hung on the wall in a place of honor. When the next female member of the bride’s family is to be wed, the handkerchief is removed from its frame, the new bride’s name is embroidered onto it, and it is passed down. The wedding handkerchief is passed from generation to generation, and is considered an important family heirloom.

During the wedding mass, the bride and the groom are enthroned in two large chairs placed near the altar, symbolizing that on this day and in this place they are the king and the queen. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the groom slips the wedding ring onto the third finger of his bride’s left hand. The ring, being an endless circle, symbolizes never-ending love, and the third finger of the left hand is believed to hold the vein that travels to the heart, symbolizing love. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the bride and groom share their first kiss as husband and wife. The kiss is considered a symbolic act of sharing each other’s spirit as the couple each breathes in a portion of their new mate’s soul.

The bridesmaids traditionally take up a collection of coins and as the bride and groom exit the church, the bridesmaids toss the coins to the poor outside the church. Giving gifts of money to the poor helps to insure prosperity for the new bride and groom.

Following the wedding the bride and groom are off on their honeymoon. In ancient times the honeymoon, which was celebrated by the drinking of mead, or honey wine, would last 28 days, one complete cycle of the moon. This was to make sure that the bride’s family did not try to steal their daughter back from her new husband.

(Source: http://www.best-country.com/)

Câu 36. Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?

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

Asia is very rich in cultures, races and languages. Indians and most people in (23) ____ South Asian countries commonly speak more than one language daily, as a matter of routine. Their highly diverse expat, diaspora and migrant communities provide them not only with global access, but also with global sources of income.

India and other South Asian countries are (24) ____ the largest recipients of monthly transfers from their diaspora workers. Due to their religious, ethnic and social diversity, more than 30 million Indians access and transfer (25) ____ from countries as various as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

Regional languages and minority religions have (26) ____ themselves as global community networks. This is as much true for the Tamils in Malaysia as for the Sikhs in Canada. Such connections provide them with (27) ____ to education and jobs, partly through professional visa arrangements, and despite the limitations and constraints of our current times. These communities have created their own formats, many of which have become international actors, such the Global Tamil Forum and the World Sikh Organization.

People who spend too much time on the Internet run the risk of getting addiction to it.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

It is necessary that the use of public transport is encouraged to reduce traffic jams and air pollution.

I still keep wondering if I was doing the right thing when I asked my father for ______ permission to leave school.

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.

Called the ‘Red Planet,’ Mars is roughly half the size of Earth, and one of our closest neighboring planets. Though Mars is the most Earth-like of any other planet, the two are still worlds apart. Living on Mars has been the stuff of science fiction for decades. However, can humans really live on Mars? Will it ever be possible or safe? NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) hopes to find out. NASA researchers on Earth are conducting several experiments together with the International Space Station (ISS) to study the health and safety issues that may tell us if life on Mars is possible.

Food and oxygen would be the main necessities for travelers living extended periods on Mars. The need to grow plants, which provide both food and oxygen, would be a key. But the decreased gravity and low atmospheric pressure environment of the planet will stress the plants and make them hard to grow. However, space station crews are growing plants in controlled environments in two of the station’s greenhouses. They take care of the plants, photograph them, and collect samples to be sent back to Earth. Researchers then use the data to develop new techniques that will make it possible to grow plants successfully in space.

Another concern for space travelers is the health hazards posed by the effect of space radiation on humans. A spacecraft traveling to Mars would be exposed to large amounts of radiation. Since human exposure to such intense radiation would mean certain death, the spacecraft used for such travel would have to protect the humans on the inside of the craft from exposure. Researchers are using special machines inside the crew areas of the International Space Station to carefully watch radiation levels. NASA scientists, who have maintained radiation data since the beginning of human space flight, continue to learn about the dangers it poses. Researchers use the station to test materials that could be used in making a spacecraft that could successfully travel to Mars.

Will it ever be safe for humans to live on Mars? It is still too early to say. But thanks to the dedicated researchers of NASA and the results of ISS experiments, we are getting closer to knowing every day.

(Adapted from “Select Readings –Intermediate Tests” by Linda Lee and Erik Gundersen)

Câu 31. What does the passage mainly discuss?

She didn’t get a high mark because she had made the classical mistake of forgetting to put the “s” on the verb in the third person singular.

The word “hazards” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ____________.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

On their way to the station they were caught _____ the rain and before long were wet ______________.

Intellectuals think that if we _____________daily on tolerance and racism, we will end up killing one another.

It’s said that the government has made no _______ in the fight against inflation; indeed, the situation has worsened recently.

She has told me I should stay till she ______________ a replacement. Well, last time it took two weeks.