SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO KỲ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH THPT

TỈNH QUẢNG NINH Môn thi: TIẾNG ANH - Bảng A

Thời gian làm bài: 90 phút, không kể thời gian giao đề
ĐỀ THI MINH HỌA (Đề thi này có 18 trang)
HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN THI NGHE
• Mở đầu và kết thúc bài nghe và mỗi phần nghe có tín hiệu;
• Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong bài nghe.
Part 3. (1.0 point) You will hear part of a radio phone-in programme about consumer competitions
that appear in magazines or are run by shops, in which advice is given to people who regularly enter
them. Circle the answer (A, B, C or D) that fits best according to what you hear.
1. Diana has phoned because she ____________.
A. feels that she is the victim of an injustice.
B. is reluctant to consult a lawyer yet.
C. fears she misunderstood an agreement she made.
D. wants to avoid falling out with her best friend.
2. Kathy tells Diana that ____________.
A. her problem is a rather unusual one.
B. she should have been more careful when dealing with her friend.
C. it is unfortunate that her friend has the attitude that she has.
D. she would regret taking legal action.
3. What does Kathy tell Ron about using different names when entering competitions?
A. People who do so are regularly caught out.
B. It may affect the quality of a competitor’s entries.
C. There are rarely occasions when it might be justified.
D. It is unusual for competitors to decide to do so.
4. What has led Stan to phone in?
A. an inadequate response to a complaint he has made
B. a feeling of confusion as to the rules of a competition
C. a belief that he has been sent inaccurate information
D. a desire for more openness about the results of competitions
5. What does Kathy tell Stan about the competition he entered?
A. Some of the phrasing of the instructions is ambiguous.
B. The rules allow for results that may appear unfair.
C. A deliberate attempt has been made to mislead competitors.
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 D. It is the sort of competition that it is best not to enter.
II. LEXICO- GRAMMAR (3.0 points)
Part 1. (1.0 point): Choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence. Circle the letter A,
B, C or D to indicate your answer.
1. The doctor insisted that his patient ____________.
A. did not work too hard for three months B. to take some vacation for three months
C. take it easy inside of three months D. takes it easy inside of three months
2. You ____________ then; otherwise, the policeman wouldn’t have stopped you.
A. could have been speeding B. must have been speeding
C. might have been speeding D. ought to have been speeding
3. ____________, they slept soundly.
A. Hot though was the night air B. Hot although the night air was
C. Hot as was the night air D. Hot though the night air was
4. ____________, he would have been able to pass the exam
A. if he studied hardly last year B. Had he studied harder last year
C. Provided he studied hard last year D. Studying harder last year
5. Could I pick your ____________ on the subject before the meeting?
A. brains B. head C. intellect D. mind
6. When she puts her mind to it, she is always capable of ____________ sarcasm.
A. sharpening B. biting C. slicing D. striking
7. You should be ____________ ashamed of yourself for what you have done.
A. thoroughly B. hopelessly C. entirely D. earnestly
8. We should have taken more care when booking our accommodation; we did it ____________ and it
wasn’t very good.
A. on the go B. on the run C. on the fly D. on the firing
line
9. Investigators have not yet ____________ the possibility that he was being blackmailed.
A. dug around B. ruled out C. boiled down to D. thrived
on
10. That’s weird he didn’t agree to lend you his bike, isn’t he the type of person who would give you
____________ off his back?
A. the coat B. the shoes C. the bag D. the shirt

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Part 2. (0.5 point): Fill in each blank with ONE suitable particle or preposition to make a correct
sentence. Write your answers in the spaces provided.
1. Even though the police went ____________ the evidence many times, they didn’t find anything.
2. Their house was cut ____________ from the village by the flooding river.
3. He threatened to set the dogs ____________ us if we didn’t get off his property.
4. We were so taken ____________ by his decision to resign that we didn’t know what to say.
5. You can’t talk me ____________ giving you more money. I’ve given you enough already.

III. READING (6.0 points)

Part 2. (1.2 points): Read the following passage and circle the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word
that best fits each gap.
Interpreting the feelings of other people is not always easy, as we all know, and we rely as much on
what they seem to be telling us, as on the actual words they say. Facial expression and tone of voice are
obvious ways of showing our (1) ____________ to something, and it may well be that we unconsciously
express views that we are trying to hide. The art of being (2) ____________ lies in picking up these signals,
realizing what the other person is trying to say, and acting so that they are not embarrassed in any way. For
example, we may understand that they are in fact (3) ____________ to answer our question, and so we stop
pressing them. Body movements in general may also indicate feelings, and interviewers often pay particular
attention to the way a candidate for a job walks into the room and sits down. However it is not difficult to
present the right kind of appearance, while what many employers want to know relates to the candidate’s
character traits, and (4) ____________ stability. This raises the awkward question of whether job candidates
should be asked to complete psychological tests, and the further problem of whether such tests actually
produce (5) ____________ results. For many people, being asked to take part in such a test would be an
objectionable (6) ____________ into their private lives. After all, a prospective employer would hardly ask a
candidate to run a hundred meters, or expect his or her family doctor to provide (7) _____ _______ medical
information. Quite apart from this problem, can such tests predict whether a person is likely to be a (8)
____________ employee or a values colleague?
1. A. notion B. feeling C. view D. reaction
2. A. successful B. humble C. good at D. tactful
3. A. hesitant B. reluctant C. tending D. used
4. A. psychological B. physical C. similar D. relevant
5. A. reliable B. predictable C. faithful D. regular
6. A. invasion B. infringement C. intrusion D. interference
7. A. confidential B. secretive C. reticent D. classified
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8. A. laborious B. particular C. thorough D. conscientious

Part 3. (1.5 points): Read the following passage and circle the best answer A, B, C or D to the questions
according to the text.
The Creators of Grammar
No student of a foreign language needs to be told that grammar is complex. By changing word
sequences and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs and suffixes, we are able to communicate tiny variations
in meaning. We can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken place or is soon to
take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey subtle differences in meaning. Nor is this
complexity inherent to the English language. All languages, even those of so-called 'primitive' tribes have
clever grammatical components. The Cherokee pronoun system, for example, can distinguish between 'you
and I', 'several other people and I' and 'you, another person and I'. In English, all these meanings are summed
up in the one, crude pronoun 'we'. Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter
how widespread it is. So the question which has baffled many linguists is - who created grammar?
At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. To find out how grammar is
created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language's creation, documenting its emergence. Many
historical linguists are able to trace modern complex languages back to earlier languages, but in order to
answer the question of how complex languages are actually formed, the researcher needs to observe how
languages are started from scratch. Amazingly, however, this is possible.
Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. At that time, slaves from a
number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer's rule. Since they had no
opportunity to learn each other's languages, they developed a make-shift language called a pidgin. Pidgins
are strings of words copied from the language of the landowner. They have little in the way of grammar, and
in many cases it is difficult for a listener to deduce when an event happened, and who did what to whom. [A]
Speakers need to use circumlocution in order to make their meaning understood. [B] Interestingly, however,
all it takes for a pidgin to become a complex language is for a group of children to be exposed to it at the
time when they learn their mother tongue. [C] Slave children did not simply copy the strings of words
uttered by their elders, they adapted their words to create a new, expressive language. [D] Complex grammar
systems which emerge from pidgins are termed creoles, and they are invented by children.
Further evidence of this can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages are not
simply a series of gestures; they utilise the same grammatical machinery that is found in spoken languages.
Moreover, there are many different languages used worldwide. The creation of one such language was
documented quite recently in Nicaragua. Previously, all deaf people were isolated from each other, but in
1979 a new government introduced schools for the deaf. Although children were taught speech and lip
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reading in the classroom, in the playgrounds they began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures
that they used at home. It was basically a pidgin. Each child used the signs differently, and there was no
consistent grammar. However, children who joined the school later, when this inventive sign system was
already around, developed a quite different sign language. Although it was based on the signs of the older
children, the younger children's language was more fluid and compact, and it utilised a large range of
grammatical devices to clarify meaning. What is more, all the children used the signs in the same way. A
new creole was born.
Some linguists believe that many of the world's most established languages were creoles at first. The
English past tense –ed ending may have evolved from the verb 'do'. 'It ended' may once have been 'It end-
did'. Therefore it would appear that even the most widespread languages were partly created by children.
Children appear to have innate grammatical machinery in their brains, which springs to life when they are
first trying to make sense of the world around them. Their minds can serve to create logical, complex
structures, even when there is no grammar present for them to copy.
1. In paragraph 1, why does the writer include information about the Cherokee language?
A. To show how simple, traditional cultures can have complicated grammar structures
B. To show how English grammar differs from Cherokee grammar
C. To prove that complex grammar structures were invented by the Cherokees.
D. To demonstrate how difficult it is to learn the Cherokee language
2. What can be inferred about the slaves' pidgin language?
A. It contained complex grammar.
B. It was based on many different languages.
C. It was difficult to understand, even among slaves.
D. It was created by the land-owners.
3. All the following sentences about Nicaraguan sign language are true EXCEPT:
A. The language has been created since 1979.
B. The language is based on speech and lip reading.
C. The language incorporates signs which children used at home.
D. The language was perfected by younger children.
4. In paragraph 3, where can the following sentence be placed?
“It included standardised word orders and grammatical markers that existed in neither the pidgin
language, nor the language of the colonizers.”
A. [A] B. [B] C. [C] D. [D]
5. 'From scratch' in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ____________.
A. from the very beginning B. in simple cultures
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 C. by copying something else D. by using written information
6. 'Make-shift' in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ____________.
A. complicated and expressive B. simple and temporary
C. extensive and diverse D. private and personal
7. Which sentence is closest in meaning to the highlighted sentence?
“Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is”.
A. All languages, whether they are spoken by a few people or a lot of people, contain grammar.
B. Some languages include a lot of grammar, whereas other languages contain a little.
C. Languages which contain a lot of grammar are more common that languages that contain a little.
D. The grammar of all languages is the same, no matter where the languages evolved.
8. All of the following are features of the new Nicaraguan sign language EXCEPT:
A. All children used the same gestures to show meaning.
B. The meaning was clearer than the previous sign language.
C. The hand movements were smoother and smaller.
D. New gestures were created for everyday objects and activities.
9. Which idea is presented in the final paragraph?
A. English was probably once a creole.
B. The English past tense system is inaccurate.
C. Linguists have proven that English was created by children.
D. Children say English past tenses differently from adults.
10. Look at the word 'consistent' in paragraph 4. This word could best be replaced by which of the
following?
A. natural B. predictable C. imaginable D. uniform

Part 3. (3.0 points): Write an essay of about 250 words on the following topic.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of high school girls wearing make-up to school. Some
people think that this is a positive trend. Others argue that this has negative consequences.
Discuss both views and give your opinion.
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THE END