Read the following passage about human life expectancy and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer

sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 23 to 30.
Milu was born in a small village in the north of India, and never had the chance of going to school,
because her family needed her to work. So she grew up never having learned to read or write. She was a
little sad about it, but she didn't let it upset her too much, and tried to think about other things.
She went through life, never being able to do what she wanted, because she felt that if she couldn't read,
then she was somehow less than everybody else. This meant that she didn't make many friends and didn't go
out much. She thought people would think she was stupid, and she didn't want them to laugh at her.
When she was fifty-six, she got a job cleaning a school and when she had finished her work, she used to
sit and watch the little kids do their lessons. She didn't realise that one of the teachers watched her while she
watched the kids, and one day, as she was about to leave, the teacher asked her to sit in the class. The kids
thought it was very funny, but the teacher patiently started Milu on her first lesson to learn to read.
That was a few years ago, and now Milu can read and write as well as any of the other kids. She still
cleans the school because she likes her job, but she doesn't feel less than everybody else anymore. The
teacher, who is now her friend, sometimes gives her a book to read and she learns about people living in
other parts of the world.
She has a granddaughter who studies at the same school, and sometimes she helps her with her
homework. Being able to do that makes her feel so happy that when she stays alone she has a little cry.
When she was in her little village as a child, she would never have dreamt that one day she would be able to
help her granddaughter with her homework. She owes gratitude to her teacher friend for the gift she was
given.

23. Which of the following is NOT what Milu gains from learning?
A. Knowing more about the world B. Reading some books
C. Becoming a friend of the teacher’s D. Feeling interested in her cleaning job
24. What does the phrase ‘the gift’ refer to?
A. the money Milu owes to the teacher B. what Milu could do to her granddaughter
C. Milu’s childhood dream D. what the teacher could teach her
25. The words ‘went through’ can be replaced with ________.
A. felt bored with B. experienced C. started D. felt happy with
26. The word ‘patiently’ in paragraph 3 is OPPOSITE in meaning to _____.
A. irritably B. irregularly C. irrelevantly D. irrationally
27. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 4?
A. Milu likes cleaning the school and she doesn’t want to learn how to read and write any longer.
B. Milu likes cleaning the school but she wants to become a teacher so that everyone admires her.
C. Milu likes cleaning the school but she no longer feels socially inferior as she has learnt how to read and
write.
D. Milu likes cleaning the school and she doesn’t want to change her job as she feels socially inferior.
28. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Milu, an Indian woman, has changed her life since she was taught how to read and write.
B. Milu, an Indian woman, has become a teacher though she had no education in her childhood.
C. Milu, an Indian woman, has been socially inferior since she has no education in her life.
D. Milu, an Indian woman, has learnt a lot from the children in the school where she works as a cleaner.
29. In which paragraph does the writer mention Milu’s inferiority?
A. Paragraph 1 B. Paragraph 2 C. Paragraph 3 D. Paragraph 4
30. In which paragraph does the writer mention that Milu feels grateful to her teacher?
A. Paragraph 2 B. Paragraph 3 C. Paragraph 4 D. Paragraph 5
 Read the following passage about education in Nepal and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your
answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 31 to 40.
A few years ago, amid a record drought, scientists noticed something odd. A few of California’s
giant sequoias inside Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks were dying in ways no one had ever
documented – from the top down. When researchers climbed into the canopies, they discovered that beetles
had bored into a few branches. By 2019, at least 38 of the trees had died – not a large number, but
"concerning because we’ve never observed this before,” says Christy Brigham, the park’s chief of resource
management.
Scientists had assumed that stately sequoias, with their bug-repelling tannins, were immune to
dangerous pests. Worried experts are investigating whether some mix of increased drought and wildfire,
both worsened by climate change, have now made even sequoias susceptible to deadly insect invasions.
If so, these ancient sentinels would be just the latest example of a trend experts are documenting
around the world: Trees in forests are dying at increasingly high rates—especially the bigger, older trees.
According to a study in the journal Science, the death rate is making forests younger, threatening
biodiversity, eliminating important plant and animal habitat, and reducing forests’ ability to store excess
carbon dioxide generated by our consumption of fossil fuels. [I]
There is no single direct cause. Decades of logging and land clearing play a role, scientists say. But
increasing temperatures and rising carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have significantly
magnified most other causes of tree death. Scientists are documenting longer and harsher droughts, more
severe outbreaks of insects and disease, and increasingly catastrophic wildfires.
With 60,000 known tree species on Earth, those shifts are playing out differently across the planet. In
central Europe, for instance, “You don’t have to look for dead trees,” says Henrik Hartmann, with
Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry. “They’re everywhere.” In one recent year, following a
week of excessive heat, hundreds of thousands of beech trees dropped their leaves. Even in colder regions,
“You get a couple of hot years and the forests are suffering,” says Hartmann. “There are individual species
that are being driven beyond the threshold of what they can handle.” [II]
Just last year, massive fires marched through a dry Australia, smoldered across 7.4 million acres in
northern Siberia, and focused the world’s attention on blazes in the Amazon.
The consequences of all these changes around the world are still being assessed. The first national
look at tree mortality in Israel showed vast stretches disappearing, thanks largely to scorching heat and
wildfires. [III] In a country largely blanketed by stone and sand, forests mean a great deal. Trees support
nests for eagles and habitat for wolves and jackals. They hold soil with their roots. [IV]
“We’re dealing with a very tough situation. It’s a race to the unknown,” says Tamir Klein at the
Weizmann Institute of Science.
31. In the first paragraph, why does Christy Brigham say the death of 38 trees is concerning?
A. Because it is unusual
B. Because it is a large number
C. Because these are special trees
D. Because no reason was found
32. The phrase ‘susceptible to’ in paragraph 2 could be best replaced by ____.
A. resistant to
B. harmed by
C. capable of
D. superior to
33. What does ‘these ancient sentinels’ in paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Pests
B. Forests
C. Sequoias
 D. Invasions
34. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?
A. Ancient sentinels are the recent topic in forestry research.
B. The high death rate of trees is causing environmental problems.
C. Giant and ancient trees need to be protected from pests.
D. The consumption of fossil fuels has threatened the lives of trees.
35. According to paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT a direct cause of tree death?
A. Clearances of forests and land
B. Hotter climate
C. Increasing levels of emissions
D. Disastrous wildfires
36. What does Henrik Hartmann mean in paragraph 5 when he says, ‘There are individual species that are
being driven beyond the threshold of what they can handle’?
A. Many animals are being taken out of their natural habitats and lose the ability to handle.
B. Many trees are suffering from intense heat beyond what they can withstand.
C. Many species are being brought to the verge of extinction due to excessive heat.
D. Many forests are disappearing rapidly beyond what the government can handle.
37. Why does the author mention massive fires in paragraph 6?
A. To attract attention to the mentioned regions
B. To prove the extensive damage caused by wildfires
C. To raise people’s awareness of fire prevention
D. To stress the importance of growing forests
38. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit?
Without them, plants that normally rise in trees’ shadows are suddenly exposed to higher
temperatures and bright light.
A. [I]
B. [II]
C. [III]
D. [IV]
39. In the last paragraph, Tamir Klein’s attitude toward the situation could be best described as ______.
A. Apprehensive
B. Cynical
C. Excited
D. Optimistic
40. Which of the following best describes the tone of this passage?
A. Appreciative
B. Nostalgic
C. Worried
D. Sympathetic