When GCSEs are taken in secondary school, they can often combined with other qualifications, or diplomas. 
A.When
B.combined
C.with
D.qualifications

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase.
The University of Oxford, informally called "Oxford University", or simply "Oxford", (36) ______ in the city of Oxford, in England, is (37) ______ oldest university in the English-speaking world. It is also considered as one of the world's leading (38) ______ institutions. The university traces, its roots back to at least the end of the 11th century, (39) ______ the exact date of foundation remains unclear. Academically, Oxford is consistently ranked in the world's top ten universities. The University is also open (40) ______ overseas students, primarily from American universities, who may (41) _____ in study abroad programs during the summer months for more than a century, it has served as the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, (42) ______ brings highly accomplished students from a number of countries to study at Oxford as (43) ______ The University of Oxford is also a place where many talented leaders from all over the world used to study. Twenty-five British Prime Ministers attended Oxford, including Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. At (44) ______ 25 other international leaders have been educated at Oxford, and this number includes King Harald V of Norway and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Bill Clinton is the first American President to attend Oxford. Forty-seven Nobel (45) __ winners have studied or taught at Oxford.
(39) ______
A.although  
B.because
C.since   
D.if

The word compressed could best be replaced by
A.excited
B.blanced
C.reduced
D.controlled

A.for                
B.with               
C.in                   
D.of

I. Listen to Adam talking to Carol about his day. Choose the correct answer.
Adam went to bed late because ______.
A.he was fixing his computer           
B.he didn’t feel tired
C.his son felt sick
D.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.

A.delivered
B.enveloped
C.talked
D.washed

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheer to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions. 
Poor management brought the company to ________ of collapse.
A.the edge 
B. the foot
C.the ring       
D. the brink

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions that follow.
 
Under certain circumstances, the human body must cope with gases at greater-than-normal atmospheric pressure. For example, gas pressures increase rapidly during a drive made with scuba gear because the breathing equipment allows divers to stay underwater longer and dive deeper. The pressure exerted on the human body increases by 1 atmosphere for every 10 meters of depth in seawater, so that at 39 meters in seawater a diver is exposed to pressure of about 4 atmospheres. The pressure of the gases being breathed must equal the external pressure applied to the body, otherwise breathing is very difficult. Therefore all of the gases in the air breathed by a scuba diver at 40 meter are present at five times their usual pressure. Nitrogen, which composes 80 percent of the air we breathe, usually causes a balmy feeling of well-being at this pressure. At a depth of 5 atmospheres, nitrogen causes symptoms resembling alcohol intoxication, known as nitrogen narcosis. Nitrogen narcosis apparently results from a direct effect on the brain of the large amounts of nitrogen dissolved in the blood. Deep dives are less dangerous if helium is substituted for nitrogen, because under these pressures helium does not exert a similar narcotic effect.
As a scuba diver descends, the pressure of nitrogen on the lungs increases. Nitrogen then diffuses from the lungs to the blood, and from the blood to body tissues. Nitrogen then diffuses from the lungs to the blood, and from the blood to body tissues The reverse occurs when the diver surfaces, the nitrogen pressure in the lungs falls and the nitrogen diffuses from the tissues into the blood, and from the blood into the lungs. If the return to the surface is too rapid, nitrogen in the tissues and blood cannot diffuse out rapidly enough and nitrogen bubbles are formed. They can cause severe pains, particularly around the joints.
Another complication may result if the breath is held during ascent. During ascent from a depth of 10 meters, the volume of air in the lungs will double because the air pressure at the surface is only half of what it was at 10 meters. This change in volume may cause the lungs to distend and even rupture. This condition is called air embolism.
To avoid this event, a diver must ascend slowly, never at a rate exceeding the rise of the exhaled air bubbles, and must exhale during ascent.
The word “exert” in bold in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ________.

A.cause   
B.permit   
C.change  
D.need

Helping the poor should be the responsibility of the rich.
A.The rich is responsible for others’ poverty.
B.The poor should blame the rich for their poverty. 
C.The rich should be responsible for the poor.
D.The rich should help the poor.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
I _____ an important phone call from America. Could you tell me when it comes?
A.had expected
B.have been expected
C.expected
D.am expecting