Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Never before _______ as rapidly as during the last decades.




A.technology is developing
B.has technology developed
C.technology has developed
D.has developed technology

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
Smart cards and mobile phones are becoming an increasingly popular way to make all sorts of payments. Even now, in Japan thousands of transactions, from paying rail tickets to picking up the groceries, take place every day with customers passing their handsets across a small flat-screen device. And predictions in the world of finance reckon that payments using mobile phones will have risen to more than $50 billion in the very near future.
What's the appeal of e-cash? Compared to cheques or credit cards, it offers the speed of cash, but more so. It takes just one tenth of a second to complete most transactions and as no change is required, errors in counting are eliminated. Fraud and theft are also reduced and for the retailer, it reduces the cost of handling money. Sony's vision of having a chip embedded in computers, TVs and games consoles means that films, music and games can be paid for easily without having to input credit card details.
And what about the future of the banks? Within their grip on the market, banks and credit-card firms want to be in a position to collect most of the fees from the users of mobile and contactless- payment systems. But the new system could prove to be a "disruptive technology" as far as the banks are concerned. If payments for a few coffees, a train ticket and a newspaper are made every day by a commuter with a mobile, this will not appear on their monthly credit card statements but on their mobile phone statements. And having spent fortunes on branding, credit-card companies and banks do not want to see other payment systems gaining popularity. It's too early to say whether banks will miss out and if so, by how much. However, quite a few American bankers are optimistic. They feel there is reason to be suspicious of those who predict that high-street banks may be a thing of the past. They point out that Internet banking did not result in the closure of their high-street branches as was predicted. On the contrary, more Americans than ever are using local branches. So, whether we'll become a totally cash- free society remains open to contention.
The word "their” in the third paragraph refers to




A.credit cards
B.Internet banking
C.American bankers
D.high-street banks

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
Smart cards and mobile phones are becoming an increasingly popular way to make all sorts of payments. Even now, in Japan thousands of transactions, from paying rail tickets to picking up the groceries, take place every day with customers passing their handsets across a small flat-screen device. And predictions in the world of finance reckon that payments using mobile phones will have risen to more than $50 billion in the very near future.
What's the appeal of e-cash? Compared to cheques or credit cards, it offers the speed of cash, but more so. It takes just one tenth of a second to complete most transactions and as no change is required, errors in counting are eliminated. Fraud and theft are also reduced and for the retailer, it reduces the cost of handling money. Sony's vision of having a chip embedded in computers, TVs and games consoles means that films, music and games can be paid for easily without having to input credit card details.
And what about the future of the banks? Within their grip on the market, banks and credit-card firms want to be in a position to collect most of the fees from the users of mobile and contactless- payment systems. But the new system could prove to be a "disruptive technology" as far as the banks are concerned. If payments for a few coffees, a train ticket and a newspaper are made every day by a commuter with a mobile, this will not appear on their monthly credit card statements but on their mobile phone statements. And having spent fortunes on branding, credit-card companies and banks do not want to see other payment systems gaining popularity. It's too early to say whether banks will miss out and if so, by how much. However, quite a few American bankers are optimistic. They feel there is reason to be suspicious of those who predict that high-street banks may be a thing of the past. They point out that Internet banking did not result in the closure of their high-street branches as was predicted. On the contrary, more Americans than ever are using local branches. So, whether we'll become a totally cash- free society remains open to contention.
Why does the author mention "a small flat-screen device" in the first paragraph?




A.to criticize the e-cash system
B.to exemplify the e-cash system
C.to praise the e-cash system
D.to inform the e-cash system

Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.
We can use either verbal or nonverbal forms of communication.




A.using gesture
B.using speech
C.using verbs
D.using facial expressions

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions.
UNESCO was established to encourage collaboration ...... nations in the areas ...... education, science, culture, and communication.




A.between - in
B.among - of
C.between - of
D.among - in

Mark the underlined word(s) or phrase(s) A, B, Cor D that needs correcting.
My mother reminded me to remember to water her house plants.




A.to remember
B.to water
C.me
D.house plants

Indicate the word or phrase that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined part in each of the following sentence.
Of course, James liked his toy car very much.




A.Actually
B.Naturally
C.Generally
D.Luckily

The teacher asked a difficult question , but finally Ted ___________ a good answer.




A.came up to
B.came up for
C.came up with
D.came out of

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50.
It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or on the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in education in infancy. Education, then, is a very broad/ inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one's entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subjects being taught. For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.
The phrase “For example,” in paragraph 3, introduces a sentence that gives examples of....




A.similar textbooks
B.the results of schooling
C.the workings of a government
D.the boundaries of the subjects

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50.
It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or on the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in education in infancy. Education, then, is a very broad/ inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one's entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subjects being taught. For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.
The word “chance” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ........




A.unexpected
B.usual
C.passive
D.lively