Read the following announcement and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 1 to 6.

The Golden Lion Pub - Special Events This Month

Dear Valued Patrons,

We are delighted to announce our upcoming events for November. Every Friday evening, we will be hosting live music sessions featuring (1) ______ local bands performing traditional Irish folk music. Our renowned chef has also prepared a special menu with a wide (2) ______ of craft beers and artisanal dishes.

Additionally, we are introducing "Quiz Night" every Wednesday, (3) ______ we encourage all guests to form teams and compete for exciting prizes. The atmosphere promises to be lively and entertaining!

Please note that during peak hours, we (4) ______ reservations to ensure you secure a table. You can book online or call us directly (5) ______ 01234-567890.

We look forward to (6) ______ you soon and creating memorable experiences together.

Warmest regards,

The Golden Lion Team

(Adapted from typical UK pub announcements)

Question 1. A. talented young several                        B. several talented young

                     C. young several talented                        D. talented several young

Question 2. A. range                B. variety                C. amount                D. number

Question 3. A. where                B. which                C. when                D. whereas

Question 4. A. appeal for                B. call for                C. stand for                D. account for

Question 5. A. at                        B. on                        C. in                        D. by

Question 6. A. welcoming                B. greeting                C. receiving                D. accepting

Read the following announcement and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 7 to 12.

Vietnam’s Great Unity – Cultural Heritage Week 2025

Running from November 18th through 23rd at the Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village in Đồng Mô, Hà Nội, this extraordinary week-long celebration will honor the diverse (7) ______ of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic communities. The event serves as a platform (8) ______ traditional customs, indigenous crafts, and ancestral rituals can be preserved and shared with younger generations.

Attendees will encounter a substantial (9) ______ of cultural demonstrations, including textile weaving, ceremonial dances, and culinary exhibitions representing each ethnic group. Distinguished anthropologists and community elders will (10) ______ panel discussions exploring the significance of cultural preservation in modern society.

This initiative aims to (11) ______ awareness about Vietnam’s ethnic diversity while fostering mutual respect and understanding. Participants are encouraged to (12) ______ artisans and learn about their time-honored practices firsthand.

Entry is complimentary for all visitors. Further details available at https://vectvn.org/

(Adapted from https://vietnamnews.vn)

Question 7.         A. culture                B. culturally                C. cultural                D. cultures

Question 8.         A. which                B. whose                C. where                D. that

Question 9.         A. volume                B. scale                C. scope                D. extent

Question 10. A. facilitate                B. conduct                C. organize                D. moderate

Question 11. A. heightening        B. heighten                C. heightened                D. height

Question 12. A. team up                B. catch on                C. engage with        D. link up

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 13 to 17.

        Cinema emerged in the late nineteenth century as a technological novelty. Early films lasted only minutes and relied on simple visual gags or everyday scenes. Audiences gathered in music halls and fairgrounds to watch moving images projected onto white sheets. (13) ____. Filmmakers soon recognized the medium’s potential for storytelling and emotional impact. (14) ____, production costs and distribution networks limited access to wealthier urban centers. By the 1920s, Hollywood studios had built vast theaters with orchestras and elaborate sets, (15) ____. Movies shaped public opinion on social issues, fashion, and behavior, (16) ____. Critics debated whether cinema elevated culture or merely provided cheap distraction. Nonetheless, film became a universal language that crossed borders and connected diverse communities, (17) ____.

(Adapted from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/27/features.news)

Question 13. A. These screenings captivated audiences, who returned regularly and encouraged others to experience the novelty firsthand

B.  This unprecedented visual experience which generated considerable excitement, drawing crowds back to venues consistently

C.  Such exhibitions amazed viewers, prompting families to attend performances repeatedly throughout subsequent weeks

D.  These impressive presentations fascinate spectators, creating demand for increasingly elaborate productions and longer narratives

Question 14. A. However, production expenses and distribution limitations have initially restricted cinema access to affluent urban populations

B.  Consequently, declining costs and efficient distribution networks brought cinema to remote villages ahead of major cities

C.  Therefore, affordable production methods and accessible venues democratized cinema across all geographic regions simultaneously

D.  Meanwhile, technological innovations reduced costs sufficiently to enable widespread rural adoption before urban expansion

Question 15. A. Audiences increasingly adopted formal attire and regarded cinema attendance as a prestigious cultural engagements

B.  Theater owners commissioned elaborate architectural designs attracting patrons from upper socioeconomic classes

C.  Moviegoers appreciated the escapism cinema offered during economically challenging periods throughout society

D.  Cinema-going had become a weekly ritual that strengthened community bonds across diverse demographic groups

Question 16. A. thereby influencing public attitudes, fashion trends, and daily behavioral patterns across numerous countries

B.  which shaped people’s perspectives, clothing preferences, and routine habits throughout many nations

C.  thus affecting audience opinions, style choices, and social customs across multiple international contexts

D.  consequently molding societal values, aesthetic sensibilities, and lifestyle practices in various global regions

Question 17. A. while traditional performing arts continued to shape local cultural identities despite cinema’s growing influence

B.  yet scholars maintained that theater and literature warranted greater institutional respect and funding

C.  so nations utilized cinema to promote shared cultural values and mutual understanding across divides

D.  whereas radio broadcasting retained its position as the dominant household entertainment medium

Read the passage 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 18 to 25.

        As the EU moves to install a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), advocates argue it should cut emissions decisively, curb leakage, and remain compatible with development needs. Macron’s push framed it as an engine for a continent-wide green transition that does not eviscerate competitiveness. Yet supporters concede that design choices will determine whether the instrument is equitable or merely cosmetic. They warn that, unless calibrated to protect poorer nations’ development space, the policy may look principled while operating regressively.

        Under the proposal, emissions embedded in imports would be priced so EU and foreign producers face equivalent carbon costs as free allowances are phased out. Initial coverage – iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium and electricity – was judged too narrow. To avoid hypothetical leakage and to stimulate cleaner processes, critics urge adding bulk chemicals such as plastics and, crucially, including indirect power-sector emissions. If these externalities were counted, importers would have incentives to decarbonise supply chains instead of relying on ostensibly cheaper, polluting inputs.

        Financing is equally pivotal. Revenues from CBAM certificates, it is argued, should fund climate action outside Europe rather than backfill general EU obligations. Allocating CBAM revenues to the EU budget would undercut its climate rationale and risk a WTO challenge. Export rebates are likewise discouraged: by lowering the carbon price on outbound goods, they could exacerbate “carbon dumping” and dull incentives to abate. A mechanism that prices pollution consistently – regardless of destination – better aligns with the ambition to elevate global climate discipline.

        Fairness must be operationalised, not merely proclaimed. The EU’s historical responsibility and the heightened burden carbon pricing imposes on low-income countries require a tailored approach. The Commission is urged to consult developing partners – especially LDCs and SIDS – and accompany CBAM with technical assistance, finance, and capacity building to help them decarbonise. If legislators craft tangible incentives for cleaner production while recognising the right to develop, the instrument will be more palatable abroad and more effective at driving real-economy emissions reductions.

(Adapted from Carbon Market Watch, 2022: “How to make the EU’s carbon border tax effective and fair?”)

Question 18. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as a goal of the CBAM?

A.  cutting greenhouse-gas emissions decisively

B.  preserving European industrial competitiveness

C.  repaying EU pandemic-related debt

D.  safeguarding poorer countries’ development space

Question 19. The word hypothetical in paragraph 2 can be best replaced by ______?

A.  documented        B. speculative                C. inevitable                        D. empirical

Question 20. The word exacerbate in paragraph 3 is OPPOSITE in meaning to ______.

A.  intensify                B. compound                        C. aggravate                        D. ameliorate

Question 21. The word them in paragraph 4 refers to ______.

A.  Least-Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States

B.  EU producers in the covered sectors

C.  CBAM certificates and associated revenues

D.  Indirect power-sector emissions

Question 22. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?

A.  Channeling CBAM proceeds into general budgets might dilute environmental credibility while exposing the mechanism to legal scrutiny.

B.  Using CBAM funds for non-climate purposes would compromise the policy’s legitimacy and potentially violate trade obligations.

C.  Diverting CBAM income to general EU spending could weaken climate aims and invite trade disputes.

D.  Redirecting certificate revenues to unrelated EU expenditures could undermine climate justification and prompt international objections.

Question 23. Which of the following is TRUE according to paragraph 2?

A.  Initial coverage already includes plastics and other bulk chemicals, which critics argue should now be removed entirely.

B.  Counting indirect emissions would push importers toward cleaner energy and production choices across their supply chains.

C.  Keeping free allowances while adding CBAM will accelerate decarbonisation faster than fully phasing those allowances out.

D.  Indirect emissions are irrelevant, since power-sector costs never affect embodied carbon within imported industrial products.

Question 24. Which paragraph mentions engaging developing partners and providing targeted support to manage CBAM impacts?

A.  Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2                C. Paragraph 3                D. Paragraph 4

Question 25. Which paragraph mentions expanding sectoral scope and including indirect emissions?
A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2                C. Paragraph 3                D. Paragraph 4

Read the passage 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 26 to 34.

        Under the Paris Agreement’s shadow, digital sobriety reframes “more compute” as a liability unless its externalities shrink. The burgeoning adoption of AI intensifies energy demand and upstream emissions, while many leaders still underestimate the scale of change required. According to SBTi trajectories, the sector must cut emissions by 45–62% from 2020–2030, even as digitalization already accounts for 2–4% of global emissions and grows 2–7% annually. [I] Without credible baselines and time-bound targets, declarations risk becoming glossy façades rather than operational discipline.

        Sobriety is ecological as much as climatic: metals and water are under strain from device manufacturing and data-center cooling. Extending device lifespans amortizes embodied carbon and curbs extractive pressures; postponing replacement cycles often beats headline efficiency gains from new models. [II] In practice, this means designing for repairability, banning gratuitous upgrades, and privileging sufficiency – lower bitrates, leaner code, right-sizing storage – so the cleanest watt remains the watt never used.

        Five converging pressures accelerate action: regulation (CSRD, EU Climate Law, EU Taxonomy, EED), procurement decarbonization, cost efficiency, consumer expectations, and talent markets. CSRD elevates Scope-3 transparency, while buyers can normalize low-carbon tenders. If procurement fails to reward low-carbon suppliers today, tomorrow’s decarbonization targets will become performative rather than transformative. This consumer sentiment creates a chain effect inside firms, cascading from brand to budgets to IT standards; younger talent likewise treats climate credibility as table stakes. [III]

A pragmatic roadmap starts with measurement, hotspots, and governance, then sequences interventions across use, software, and infrastructure. Budgets remain tight – CIO outlays rise ~2.4–5.2% while inflation hovers ~2.4–7.4% – so savings must finance further abatement. [IV] Early “defaults” matter: moderate resolutions, curb autoplay, archive cold data, schedule jobs to greener grids, and design frugal UX. Over time, literacy and incentives embed sobriety as culture, not campaign, clarifying the IT function’s dual role: enabling the business while decarbonizing itself.

(Adapted from Wavestone, “Digital Sobriety: how to reduce the environmental impact of digital usage?”)

Question 26. According to paragraph 1, the SBTi requires emissions cuts of ______.

A.  between 45% and 62% from 2020 to 2030

B.  around 25% by 2035 across all digital operations consistently worldwide

C.  at least 70% before 2030 with annual linear reductions globally enforced

D.  exactly 10% every year regardless of sectoral baselines or targets

Question 27. The word burgeoning in paragraph 1 mostly means ______.

A.  rapidly expanding                                        B. loosely regulated

C.  painfully slow                                        D. moderately stable

Question 28. Which of the following best summarises paragraph 2?

A.  Water scarcity eclipses climate concerns, making energy efficiency largely irrelevant today.

B.  Extending device lifespans and sufficiency measures reduce embodied burdens and operating demand.

C.  Next-gen hardware outperforms repairability strategies and should replace legacy fleets quickly.

D.  Software efficiency alone can neutralise mining impacts without supply-chain interventions.

Question 29. What does CSRD primarily require that pressures IT departments, according to paragraph 3?

A.  Mandatory carbon offset purchases for all digital transformation programs annually

B.  Real-time reporting of data-center electricity prices across European jurisdictions

C.  Comprehensive sustainability reporting, including Scope-3 categories where IT emissions

cluster

D.  Exclusive certification of vendors that operate one hundred percent on renewables

Question 30. What chiefly triggers the chain effect described in paragraph 3?

A.  Investor activism on quarterly calls                B. Steep penalties under the EED

C.  Sudden drops in cloud prices                        D. Customers rewarding greener brands

Question 31. The phrase chain effect in paragraph 3 refers to ______.

A.  talent magnetism                                        B. cascading pressures

C.  budget ceilings                                        D. supplier churn

Question 32. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 4?

A pragmatic roadmap starts with measurement, hotspots, and governance, then sequences interventions across use, software, and infrastructure.

A.  The effective pathway prioritizes infrastructure modernization initially, deferring impact quantification and hotspot identification until post-deployment monitoring, relegating governance to terminal stages.

B.  A pragmatic strategy concentrates exclusively on software interventions because empirical measurement and governance development invariably decelerate progress and fragment transformation momentum.

C.  An idealistic vision eschews metrics and governance entirely, pursuing simultaneous comprehensive overhauls across infrastructure, software, and user behavior to leverage urgency.

D.  An operationally viable trajectory establishes baseline telemetry, identifies burden concentration points, institutionalizes decisional frameworks, then orchestrates layered remediation – from behavioral defaults through algorithmic optimization.

Question 33. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A.  New hardware is always inferior to refurbishment because energy use never improves across generations.

B.  Consumer pressure outweighs regulation and budgets, rendering formal governance frameworks unnecessary for sobriety.

C.  Scope-2 accounting is sufficient for IT since upstream emissions rarely affect corporate inventories.

D.  Without credible metrics and default-level interventions, organizations risk symbolic programs that fail to rein in real-world impacts.

Question 34. Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

Early wins – like switching to low-resolution defaults – can galvanize stakeholders without stalling core services.

A.  [I]                        B. [II]                                C. [III]                                D. [IV]

Question 35. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A.  Digital expansion is inevitable; therefore, efficiency efforts should prioritize user growth over emissions.

B.  Digital sobriety aligns regulatory, procurement, and cultural levers to cut impacts through sufficiency, longevity, and targeted governance.

C.  Only data-center cooling matters; device policies and procurement incentives are marginal issues at best.

D.  CSRD compliance alone guarantees decarbonization, making additional roadmapping largely superfluous thereafter.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best arrangement of utterances or sentences to make a cohesive and coherent exchange or text in each of the following questions from 36 to 40.

Question 36. a. The introduction of elevated foundations became widespread, raising living quarters above anticipated flood levels in high-risk zones.

B. Design innovations were complemented by the incorporation of waterproof materials and improved drainage systems surrounding residential structures.

C. Following devastating floods in the early 2020s, Vietnamese architects and urban planners pioneered resilient housing designs for flood-prone regions.

D. This architectural evolution represents a critical adaptation to increasingly severe hydrological events threatening rural and urban communities alike.

e. Government subsidies were made available to incentivize homeowners to retrofit existing properties with these protective features.

A.  c-b-a-e-d                        B. c-a-b-e-d                        C. a-c-b-d-e                        D. c-e-a-b-d

Question 37. a. Please review the attached proforma invoice and verify delivery address and tax information before dispatch.

B. Your order will be packed and dispatched via DHL Express within three business days nationwide.

C. Payment is due within seven days; late remittance may delay shipment scheduling and credit release.

D. For assistance, contact orders@meridiansupplies.com or call 1900-5566 for order status and changes.

e. We are pleased to confirm receipt of your purchase order for 120 adapters today.

A.  e-b-a-c-d                        B. e-a-b-c-d                        C. a-e-b-c-d                        D. e-a-c-b-d

Question 38. a. Paul: It’s been great working with you. Have a wonderful evening and safe journey home!

B. Jennifer: Thanks, Paul! You too. See you bright and early tomorrow morning.

C. Jennifer: Well, I think that’s everything for today. Are you heading out now?

A.  a-c-b                        B. c-a-b                        C. b-c-a                        D. a-b-c

Question 39. a. Olivia: Do you still take notes by hand during lectures?

B. Olivia: I guess it’s best to combine both methods depending on the situation.

C. Ryan: Exactly, handwriting adds a sense of mindfulness and creativity to learning.

D. Ryan: Not much. I type on my laptop now, but handwriting helps me remember better.

e. Olivia: That’s true, but typing allows faster note-taking during long discussions.

A.  a-b-c-d-e                        B. a-c-b-d-e                        C. b-a-d-c-e                        D. a-d-e-c-b

Question 40. a. I threw my hat in the ring for an English debate competition, hoping to showcase my speaking abilities.

B. Last spring, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and participate in my school’s debate club.

C. Yet when I faced experienced opponents, I struggled to articulate my arguments clearly and lost badly.

D. That challenge taught me that confidence comes from preparation and that losing builds character more than winning.

e. Rather than withdrawing from debate, I studied argumentation techniques and practiced with senior club members regularly.

A.  a-b-c-d-e                        B. b-c-a-e-d                        C. b-a-c-e-d                        D. d-b-a-c-e