Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 23 to 27.
CHESS
Chess, often (23)______ to as the Royal Game, is the oldest of all board games which do not contain an element of chance.
The origins of chess are uncertain, (24)______ there are a number of legends regarding its invention. One story says that it was King Solomon who invented chess, another that it was the Greek god Hermes, and yet another that the Chinese mandarin Han-Sing was responsible for its creation. In fact, chess almost certainly originated in India in the sixth or seventh century AD. The game’s popularity then spread quickly through Persia (now known as Iran) and from there came to Europe. The first documented reference to chess in literature is in a Persian romance which was written about 600 AD.
It is (25)_______ the word ‘chess’ comes from ‘shah’, the Persian word for ‘king’ and that ‘checkmate’, the game’s winning (26)_______, comes from the phrase ‘shah mat’, (27)______ ‘the king is dead’.
The rules and pieces used in the game have undergone changes over the centuries. Modem chess owes much to the Spaniard Lopez de Segura, who in 1561 wrote the first book on how to play the game. In it, he introduced the concept of ‘castling’, which had not been part of the game until then.
(23)_____




A.mentioned
B.called
C.known
D.referred

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
James was asking about a lot of personal things. I didn’t like______about my private life.




A.asking
B.being asked
C.to ask
D.to be asking

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
On April 3, 1972, a man came out of the Hilton hotel in Manhattan and started walking down the street. He stopped, (26)______ his hand with a strange object in it, put it to his ear and started to talk into it. This was the beginning of mobile phone (27)_______, more than 30 years ago. That man was Motorola's project manager, Martin Cooper, who was (28)______ his 34th birthday that day. The strange object was the first mobile phone, which was nicknamed "the shoe" because of its unusual (29)_______. Mr. Cooper had gone to New York to introduce the new phone. The first call he made was to his rival, Joe Engel at AT&T's research centre. Engel was responsible for the development of the radiophones for cars. "I called him and said that I was talking on a real mobile phone (30)_____ I was holding in my hand," said Cooper. "I don't remember what he said in reply, but I'm sure he wasn't happy." The quality of the call was very good, because although New York had only one base station at that time, it was being used by only one user - Martin Cooper.
(28)_____




A.making
B.driving
C.expecting
D.celebrating

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the most suitable response to complete each of the following exchanges.
Tim: "Let me wash the vegetable while you're preparing the meat." - Linda: “______.”




A.OK. Thank you very much.
B.Good idea. I'll do it for you.
C.Yes, please. But I can manage.
D.No problem.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Narcissus bulbs_______at least three inches apart and covered with about four inches of well-drained soil.




A.should have been planted
B.should be planting
C.must plant
D.should be planted

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Who was the first person ______ the South Pole?




A.who reaches
B.reaching
C.to reach
D.reached

_______(4)




A.broke
B.expanded
C.measured
D.damaged

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.
On the whole, the rescue mission was well executed.




A.In fact
B.In particular
C.At once
D.In general

We can see many international programs ................different channels




A.on
B.about
C.with
D.at

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
She ______ on her computer for more than two hours when she decided to stop for a rest.




A.has worked
B.has been working
C.was working
D.had been working