PLACEMENT TEST

A. Grammar
1. If the government provides more scholarships, many students __________ have a
chance of studying abroad.
A. will B. must C. need D. shall
2. The growth of tourism ______________ prosperity to the island since 1900.
A. brought B. has brought C. will bring D. brings
3. 100 dollars _______ the maximum penalty for petty thefts in Vietnam.
A. is B. are
4. It is __________ to get a job in big cities than in the countryside.
A. more easy B. easier
5. In the next thirty years, eco-friendly tours _____________ encouraged to reduce
carbon footprint
A. are B. are being C. will be D. have been
6. Driving on cities' roads is___________________ than on streets in suburban areas.
A. more dangerous B. the most dangerous
7- Replacing teachers with technology ____________ make any difference in
students' academic results.
A. not B. might not C. must not D. should not
8. Since the advent of the railways in 2000, tourism _______________________ in the
area.
A. booms B. has boomed C. was booming D. boomed
9. Everyone _____________ required to obey the laws of their country.
A. are B. is
10. Noisy surroundings may make people work ________________.
A. more efficiently B. efficientlier
11. Children __________________ play sports tend to be active.
A. which B. whose C. which D. who
12. The Olympics is an important event ___________________ all famous and
competent athletes attend and compete to win the gold medals.
A. what B. where C. which D. who
13. Cities like London or Tokyo are common places __________ many global
sporting events are usually held.
A. when B. that C. where D. why
14. The reasons___________ sports are important are agreed by almost all people.
A that B. why C. which D. whatever
15. Famous sports athletes_______________ lives are full of scandals are often
criticized by the public.
A. who B. that C. whose D. where
16. The map _______________ the growth of a village called Chorleywood between
1868 and 1994.
A. shows B. showed C. have showed D. will show
17. ______________ lending me your CD player for a couple of days?
A. Can you B. Would you mind C. Would you D. Could you
18. The windows look clean. You ______________ wash them.
A. are not to B. needn't C. don't have to D. mustn't
19. I don't believe it. It ______________ be true.
A. can't B. mustn't C. shouldn't D. wouldn't
20. Leave early so that you ______________ miss the bus.
A. didn't B. won't C. shouldn't D. mustn't
21. The longest fish in the contest was eighteen inches long".
"It_____ by Thelma Rivers".
A. was catching B. caught C. was caught D. catch
22. "Are we about to have dinner?".
"Yes, it _____ in the dinning room".
A. is serving B. serves C. is being served D. served
23. Everyone on the board of directors ........ with the planned merger.
A. agreeing B. agree C. have agreed D. agrees
24. Thanks to the recent anti-smoking campaign, the number of smokers in the
country .........
A. has reduced B. to reduce C. reduce D.having reduced
B. Writing
Translate into English
1. Phim ảnh có thể được chia thành nhiều thể loại khác nhau.
.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

2. Du lịch một mình cũng giúp người trẻ bước ra khỏi vùng an toàn.
.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

3. Sân bay mới sẽ thúc đẩy sự phát triển của du lịch của thành phố này.
.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

4. Ý thức của du khách về bảo vệ môi trường đã được nâng cao kể từ khi chính
phủ ban hành đạo luật mới vào năm ngoái.
.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

5. Trồng cây xanh không chỉ là một cách làm đẹp môi trường mà còn giúp giảm
thiểu lượng khí CO2 trong không khí, góp phần cải thiện chất lượng không khí.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

6. Thiếu sự hỗ trợ và động viên từ đồng nghiệp và cấp trên có thể khiến nhân viên
cảm thấy cô đơn, dẫn đến tình trạng căng thẳng và mất động lực trong công việc.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

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7. Học tập quá mức và thiếu ngủ khiến nhiều sinh viên mất tập trung và gặp khó
khăn trong việc tiếp thu kiến thức mới.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

8. Ăn vặt quá nhiều với các món ăn chứa nhiều muối, đường và chất béo không
chỉ gây tăng cân mà còn làm tăng nguy cơ mắc các bệnh về tim mạch và huyết áp
cao.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................................................

9. In 2000, the number of hotels in Bangladesh (be) ________________ half of that in

2010.
10. Tourism (be) ______________the lifeblood of Hawaii's economy.
11. We want to visit a temple. It opens at 7.00. (that)
→ The temple .......................................................................................................................................
12. A boy s bike was taken. He went to the police station. (whose)
→ The boy ..............................................................................................................................................
13. A friend met me at the airport. He carried my suitcase. (who)
→ The friend .........................................................................................................................................
14. Nam cooked a meal. It was delicious. (that)
→The meal .............................................................................................................................................
C. Reading

1.

According to social psychologist Robert Zajonc, firstborn children tend to be

measurably more intelligent. In fact, studies by Norwegian researchers have
shown that firstborn children score three points higher on the IQ scale than
second children. This type of gap was also found, to a lesser extent, between the
second and third child. However, intelligence is not the only difference attributed
to birth order. Firstborn children also tend to do better in school, receive better
pay in adulthood, and bear more familial responsibilities. Last-born children, on
the other hand, are more likely to be humorous, less disciplined, less risk averse,
and more sociable than their older siblings.

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading

Passage?
In boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 Firstborn children have higher IQ scores than second children.
2 The role of birth order requires further study.
3 Last-born children are not as socially outgoing as their older siblings.
2.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-10 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.
Nutmeg – a valuable spice
The nutmeg tree, Myristica fragrans, is a large evergreen tree native to Southeast
Asia. Until the late 18th century, it only grew in one place in the world: a small group
of islands in the Banda Sea, part of the Moluccas – or Spice Islands – in northeastern
Indonesia. The tree is thickly branched with dense foliage of tough, dark green oval
leaves, and produces small, yellow, bell-shaped flowers and pale yellow pear-shaped
fruits. The fruit is encased in a flesh husk. When the fruit is ripe, this husk splits into
two halves along a ridge running the length of the fruit. Inside is a purple-brown
shiny seed, 2-3 cm long by about 2 cm across, surrounded by a lacy red or crimson
covering called an ‘aril’. These are the sources of the two spices nutmeg and mace,
the former being produced from the dried seed and the latter from the aril.
Nutmeg was a highly prized and costly ingredient in European cuisine in the Middle
Ages, and was used as a flavouring, medicinal, and preservative agent. Throughout
this period, the Arabs were the exclusive importers of the spice to Europe. They sold
nutmeg for high prices to merchants based in Venice, but they never revealed the
exact location of the source of this extremely valuable commodity. The Arab-
Venetian dominance of the trade finally ended in 1512, when the Portuguese
reached the Banda Islands and began exploiting its precious resources.
Always in danger of competition from neighbouring Spain, the Portuguese began
subcontracting their spice distribution to Dutch traders. Profits began to flow into
the Netherlands, and the Dutch commercial fleet swiftly grew into one of the largest
in the world. The Dutch quietly gained control of most of the shipping and trading of
spices in Northern Europe. Then, in 1580, Portugal fell under Spanish rule, and by
the end of the 16th century the Dutch found themselves locked out of the market. As
prices for pepper, nutmeg, and other spices soared across Europe, they decided to
fight back.
In 1602, Dutch merchants founded the VOC, a trading corporation better known as
the Dutch East India Company. By 1617, the VOC was the richest commercial
operation in the world. The company had 50,000 employees worldwide, with a
private army of 30,000 men and a fleet of 200 ships. At the same time, thousands of
people across Europe were dying of the plague, a highly contagious and deadly
disease. Doctors were desperate for a way to stop the spread of this disease, and
they decided nutmeg held the cure. Everybody wanted nutmeg, and many were
willing to spare no expense to have it. Nutmeg bought for a few pennies in Indonesia
could be sold for 68,000 times its original cost on the streets of London. The only
problem was the short supply. And that’s where the Dutch found their opportunity.
The Banda Islands were ruled by local sultans who insisted on maintaining a neutral
trading policy towards foreign powers. This allowed them to avoid the presence of
Portuguese or Spanish troops on their soil, but it also left them unprotected from
other invaders. In 1621, the Dutch arrived and took over. Once securely in control of
the Bandas, the Dutch went to work protecting their new investment. They
concentrated all nutmeg production into a few easily guarded areas, uprooting and
destroying any trees outside the plantation zones. Anyone caught growing a nutmeg
seedling or carrying seeds without the proper authority was severely punished. In
addition, all exported nutmeg was covered with lime to make sure there was no
chance a fertile seed which could be grown elsewhere would leave the islands. There
was only one obstacle to Dutch domination. One of the Banda Islands, a sliver of land
called Run, only 3 km long by less than 1 km wide, was under the control of the
British. After decades of fighting for control of this tiny island, the Dutch and British
arrived at a compromise settlement, the Treaty of Breda, in 1667. Intent on securing
their hold over every nutmeg-producing island, the Dutch offered a trade: if the
British would give them the island of Run, they would in turn give Britain a distant
and much less valuable island in North America. The British agreed. That other
island was Manhattan, which is how New Amsterdam became New York. The Dutch
now had a monopoly over the nutmeg trade which would last for another century.
Then, in 1770, a Frenchman named Pierre Poivre successfully smuggled nutmeg
plants to safety in Mauritius, an island off the coast of Africa. Some of these were
later exported to the Caribbean where they thrived, especially on the island of
Grenada. Next, in 1778, a volcanic eruption in the Banda region caused a tsunami
that wiped out half the nutmeg groves. Finally, in 1809, the British returned to
Indonesia and seized the Banda Islands by force. They returned the islands to the
Dutch in 1817, but not before transplanting hundreds of nutmeg seedlings to
plantations in several locations across southern Asia. The Dutch nutmeg monopoly
was over.
Today, nutmeg is grown in Indonesia, the Caribbean, India, Malaysia, Papua New
Guinea and Sri Lanka, and world nutmeg production is estimated to average
between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes per year.

Questions 1-4
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
The nutmeg tree and fruit
● the leaves of the tree are 1……………………. in shape
● the 2……………………. surrounds the fruit and breaks open when the fruit is ripe
● the 3……………………. is used to produce the spice nutmeg
● the covering known as the aril is used to produce 4……………………..
● the tree has yellow flowers and fruit

Questions 5 - 10
Complete the table below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
Middle Ages Nutmeg was brought to Europe by the 8……………

16th century European nations took control of the nutmeg trade

Demand for nutmeg grew, as it was believed to be effective

against the disease known as the 9……………
The Dutch
– took control of the Banda Islands
17th century
– restricted nutmeg production to a few areas
– put 10…………… on nutmeg to avoid it being cultivated
outside the islands
– finally obtained the island of 11…………… from the British

1770 – nutmeg plants were secretly taken to 12……………

Late 18th
1778 – half the Banda Islands’ nutmeg plantations were
century
destroyed by a 13……………
3.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 11-23 which are based on Reading
Passage 2 below.
Driverless cars
A - The automotive sector is well used to adapting to automation in manufacturing.
The implementation of robotic car manufacture from the 1970s onwards led to
significant cost savings and improvements in the reliability and flexibility of vehicle
mass production. A new challenge to vehicle production is now on the horizon and,
again, it comes from automation. However, this time it is not to do with the
manufacturing process, but with the vehicles themselves.
Research projects on vehicle automation are not new. Vehicles with limited self-
driving capabilities have been around for more than 50 years, resulting in significant
contributions towards driver assistance systems. But since Google announced in
2010 that it had been trialling self-driving cars on the streets of California, progress
in this field has quickly gathered pace.
B - There are many reasons why technology is advancing so fast. One frequently
cited motive is safety; indeed, research at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory
has demonstrated that more than 90 percent of road collisions involve human error
as a contributory factor, and it is the primary cause in the vast majority. Automation
may help to reduce the incidence of this.
Another aim is to free the time people spend driving for other purposes. If the
vehicle can do some or all of the driving, it may be possible to be productive, to
socialise or simply to relax while automation systems have responsibility for safe
control of the vehicle. If the vehicle can do the driving, those who are challenged by
existing mobility models – such as older or disabled travellers – may be able to enjoy
significantly greater travel autonomy.
C - Beyond these direct benefits, we can consider the wider implications for
transport and society, and how manufacturing processes might need to respond as a
result. At present, the average car spends more than 90 percent of its life parked.
Automation means that initiatives for car-sharing become much more viable,
particularly in urban areas with significant travel demand. If a significant proportion
of the population choose to use shared automated vehicles, mobility demand can be
met by far fewer vehicles.
D - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigated automated mobility in
Singapore, finding that fewer than 30 percent of the vehicles currently used would
be required if fully automated car sharing could be implemented. If this is the case, it
might mean that we need to manufacture far fewer vehicles to meet demand.
However, the number of trips being taken would probably increase, partly because
empty vehicles would have to be moved from one customer to the next.
Modelling work by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
suggests automated vehicles might reduce vehicle ownership by 43 percent, but that
vehicles’ average annual mileage double as a result. As a consequence, each vehicle
would be used more intensively, and might need replacing sooner. This faster rate of
turnover may mean that vehicle production will not necessarily decrease
E - Automation may prompt other changes in vehicle manufacture. If we move to a
model where consumers are tending not to own a single vehicle but to purchase
access to a range of vehicle through a mobility provider, drivers will have the
freedom to select one that best suits their needs for a particular journey, rather than
making a compromise across all their requirements.
Since, for most of the time, most of the seats in most cars are unoccupied, this may
boost production of a smaller, more efficient range of vehicles that suit the needs of
individuals. Specialised vehicles may then be available for exceptional journeys,
such as going on a family camping trip or helping a son or daughter move to
university.
F - There are a number of hurdles to overcome in delivering automated vehicles to
our roads. These include the technical difficulties in ensuring that the vehicle works
reliably in the infinite range of traffic, weather and road situations it might
encounter; the regulatory challenges in understanding how liability and
enforcement might change when drivers are no longer essential for vehicle
operation; and the societal changes that may be required for communities to trust
and accept automated vehicles as being a valuable part of the mobility landscape.
G - It’s clear that there are many challenges that need to be addressed but, through
robust and targeted research, these can most probably be conquered within the next
10 years. Mobility will change in such potentially significant ways and in association
with so many other technological developments, such as telepresence and virtual
reality, that it is hard to make concrete predictions about the future. However, one
thing is certain: change is coming, and the need to be flexible in response to this will
be vital for those involved in manufacturing the vehicles that will deliver future
mobility.
Questions 11-15
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
11 reference to the amount of time when a car is not in use
12 mention of several advantages of driverless vehicles for individual road-users
13 reference to the opportunity of choosing the most appropriate vehicle for each
trip
14 an estimate of how long it will take to overcome a number of problems
15 a suggestion that the use of driverless cars may have no effect on the number of
vehicles manufactured

Questions 16-19
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 16-19 on your answer sheet.
The impact of driverless cars
Figures from the Transport Research Laboratory indicate that most motor accidents

are partly due to 16……………………., so the introduction of driverless vehicles will

result in greater safety. In addition to the direct benefits of automation, it may bring

other advantages. For example, schemes for 17………………………. will be more

workable, especially in towns and cities, resulting in fewer cars on the road.

According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, there

could be a 43 percent drop in 18…………………….. of cars. However, this would mean

that the yearly 19…………………….. of each car would, on average, be twice as high as it

currently is. this would lead to a higher turnover of vehicles, and therefore no

reduction in automotive manufacturing.

Questions 20 and 21
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 20 and 21 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO benefits of automated vehicles does the writer mention?
A Car travellers could enjoy considerable cost savings.
B It would be easier to find parking spaces in urban areas.
C Travellers could spend journeys doing something other than driving.
D People who find driving physically difficult could travel independently.
E A reduction in the number of cars would mean a reduction in pollution.

Questions 22 and 23
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 22 and 23 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO challenges to automated vehicle development does the writer mention?
A making sure the general public has confidence in automated vehicles
B managing the pace of transition from conventional to automated vehicles
C deciding how to compensate professional drivers who become redundant
D setting up the infrastructure to make roads suitable for automated vehicles
E getting automated vehicles to adapt to various different driving conditions