SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
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KỲ THI TUYỂN SINH VÀO LỚP 10 HỆ CHUYÊN
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I. You are going to read an extract from a novel. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. (8 points)
On Saturday mornings I worked in the family shop. I started cycling down to the shop with Dad on Saturdays as soon as I was big enough. I thought of it as giving him a hand and so I didn’t mind what I did, although it was mostly just fetching and carrying at a run all morning. I managed not to think of it as work and I looked forward to the bar of chocolate my grandmother passed me unsmiling as I left. I tried not to look at her; I had reason to feel guilty because I’d generally already eaten some dried fruits or a sliver of cheese when no one was looking. As soon as I was fifteen, though, Dad said, ‘That’s it, our Janet. You’re of working age now and you’re not coming to work unless your grandmother pays you properly.’ He did his best to make his chin look determined. ‘I shall speak to her.’
The next Saturday, Gran called me into her little office behind the shop. I always hated going in there. She had an electric heater on full blast, and the windows were always kept tightly closed whatever the weather. There were piles of dusty catalogues and brochures on the floor. ‘You’re wanting to get paid, I hear,’ Gran said. ‘Yes, please,’ I replied. It was rather like visiting the headmistress at school, so I was very quiet and respectful. Gran searched through the mess of papers on her crowded desk, sighing and clicking her tongue. Eventually she produced an official-looking leaflet and ran her fingers along the columns of figures. ‘How old are you?’ ‘Fifteen … Gran,’ I added for extra politeness, but she looked at me as if I had been cheeky. ‘Full-timers at your age get forty pounds for a thirty-five-hour week,’ she announced in such a way as to leave no doubt that she wasn’t in favour of this. ‘No wonder there’s no profit in shop keeping! So, Janet, what’s that per hour?’ Questions like that always flustered me. Instead of trying to work them out in my head, I would stand there, unable to think straight. ‘I’ll get a pencil and paper,’ I offered. ‘Don’t bother,’ snapped Gran angrily, ‘I’ll do it myself. I’ll give you a pound an hour, take it or leave it.’ ‘I’ll take it, please.’ ‘And I expect real work for it, mind. No standing about, and if I catch you eating any of the stock, there’ll be trouble. That’s theft, and it’s a crime.’
From then on, my main job at the shop was filling the shelves. This was dull, but I hardly expected to be trusted with handling the money. Once or twice, however, when Dad was extra busy, I’d tried to help him by serving behind the counter. I hated it. It was very difficult to remember the prices of everything and I was particularly hopeless at using the till. Certain customers made unkind remarks about this, increasing my confusion and the chances of my making a fool of myself.
It was an old-established village shop, going back 150 years at least and it was really behind the times even then. Dad longed to be able to make the shop more attractive to customers, but Gran wouldn’t hear of it. I overheard them once arguing about whether to buy a freezer cabinet. ‘Our customers want frozen food,’ Dad said. ‘They see things advertised and if they can’t get them from us, they’ll go elsewhere.’ ‘Your father always sold fresh food,’ Gran replied. ‘People come here for quality, they don’t want all that frozen stuff.’
Actually, she gave way in the end over the freeze. Mr Timson, her great rival, installed one in his shop at the other end of the village and customers started making loud comments about how handy it was, being able to get frozen food in the village, and how good Mr Timson’s sausages were. That really upset her because she was proud of her sausages and she ungraciously gave Dad the money to buy the freezer. Within a couple of weeks, she was eating frozen food like the rest of us.
1. How did Janet feel when she first started her Saturday morning job?
A She enjoyed the work that she was given.
B She was pleased to be helping her father.
C She worried that she was not doing it well.
D She was only really interested in the reward.
2. What do we learn about her grandmother’s office in the second paragraph?
A It needed decorating.
B It was untidy.
C It had too much furniture in it.
D It was dark.
3. The word ‘this’ (line 19) refers to
A shopkeepers’ profits.
B a thirty-five-hour week.
C Janet’s request.
D the recommended wage.
4. The word ‘flustered’ (line 21) means
A bored.
B angered.
C confused.
D depressed.
5. Why did Janet’s grandmother react angrily to her offer to fetch a pencil and paper?
A Janet was unable to answer her question.
B Janet had been unwilling to help her.
C Janet had made an unhelpful suggestion.
D Janet had answered her rudely.
6. What did Janet’s father and grandmother disagree about?
A how to keep their customers loyal to the shop
B the type of advertising needed to attract customers
C the type of customers they needed to attract
D how to get new customers to come to the shop
7. What eventually persuaded Janet’s grandmother to buy a freezer?
A She found that she liked frozen food after all.
B A new shop opening in the village had one.
C It was suggested that her products weren’t fresh.
D She responded to pressure from her customers.
8. What impression do we get of Janet’s feelings towards her grandmother?
A She respected her fairness.
B She doubted her judgement.
C She disliked her manner.
D She admired her determination.
II. You are going to read an article written by someone who lives in a house in a valley. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A–H the one which fits each gap (1–7). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0) (12 points)
A. It was the river, the Ryburn, which normally flowed so gently, that threatened us most.
B. And yet the immense power of all this water above us prevents us from ever believing ourselves to be completely safe in our home.
C. They twisted and turned, rising eastwards and upwards, warning of what was to come.
D. It was far deeper than we’d ever seen it so near our home, lunging furiously at its banks.
E. We can thus enjoy, rather than fear, the huge clouds that hang over the valley, and can be thrilled by the tremendous power which we know the river possesses.
F. It almost completely blocked our lane and made the streamside path slippery and dangerous.
G. There in the heights it was like the Niagara Falls, as the water surged over the edge of the dam and poured into the stream below.
H. It was the year when the storms came early, before the calendar even hinted at winter, even before November was out.
LIVING IN THE VALLEY
We had been living in our valley for sixteen months when we first realized the dangers that could exist in the surrounding hills and threaten our very survival.
(0)…H….. Until that time, we had felt safe and sheltered in our valley below the protecting hills.
Soon snow began to fall. Within a day it lay some 15 centimeters deep. (1)…….. But on the neighboring heights the snow was much deeper and stayed for longer. Up there the wind blasted fiercely. Deep in our valley we felt only sudden gusts of wind; trees swayed but the branches held firm.
And yet we knew that there was reason for us to worry. The snow and wind were certainly inconvenient but they did not really trouble us greatly. (2)…….. It reminded us of what could have occurred if circumstances had been different, if the flow of water from the hills had not, many years before, been controlled, held back by a series of dams.
In a short time the snow started to melt. Day after day, we watched furious clouds pile up high over the hills to the west. Sinister grey clouds extended over the valleys. (3)…….. We had seen enough of the sky; now we began to watch the river, which every day was becoming fuller and wilder.
The snow was gradually washed away as more and more rain streamed from the clouds, but high up in the hills the reservoir was filling and was fast approaching danger level. And then it happened – for the first time in years the reservoir overflowed. (4)……..
The river seemed maddened as the waters poured almost horizontally down to its lower stretches. Just a couple of meters from our cottage, the stream seemed wild beneath the bridge. (5)…….. For three days we prayed that it would stay below its wall. Fortunately, our prayers were answered as the dam held and the waters began to subside.
On many occasions through the centuries before the dam was built, the river had flooded the nearby villages in just such a rage. Now, though, the dam restricts the flow of the river and usually all is well; the great mass of water from the hills, the product of snow and torrential rain, remains behind its barrier with just the occasional overflow. (6)…….. Thanks to this protection we can feel our home in the valley is still secure and safe.
III. Read the text below and decide which answer, A, B, C or D, best fits each space. (20 points)
FORESTS
In spite of all the warnings, we are still not looking after our planet. Look what is happening to our forests. We are cutting them (1)…… at an alarming rate. If we keep (2)…… doing this, many animals and plants will (3)…… extinct. Rare species, such as the mountain gorilla, are already in (4)…… . More will follow.
Forests are important for another reason, too. They help to slow the rate of global warming. Trees take in gases (5)…… carbon dioxide, which are given off by power stations and factories. They (6)…… produce oxygen, and act as the lungs of the world.
It is clear (7)…… forests make a major contribution to the health of our planet. (8)…… it is a sad fact that very few governments have passed laws to protect them. Scientists are studying the problem. They say that the best way to (9)…… forests is by educating the local people. These people often cut down forests because it is the only way they can (10)…… a living. But they do not wish to destroy their forests unnecessarily. If they are offered a different way to make money, hopefully they will leave the forests alone.
1 A. up B. in C. off D. down
2 A. in B. up C. on D. at
3 A. go B. make C. become D. result
4 A. threat B. danger C. fact D. troubles
5 A. as B. for C. like D. how
6 A. too B. also C. nor D. either
7 A. that B. as C. like D. then
8 A. Although B. So C. In spite of D. Also
9 A. establish B. arrange C. save D. aid
10 A. do B. earn C. get D. have
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