Read the passage and then answer the questions A Prague has the population of over one million people It is not the biggest city in Europe, but it is certainly one of the most beautiful People call Prague the “ Golden City” and the “Mother of City” because it has beautiful buildings and statues Perhaps the most popular building is the Old Town Hall with its amazing 15th century clock People also call Prague “Europe’s School of Music” There are many concert halls and every May there is a famous music festival: ”Prague Spring” ,There are also twenty theaters and many old pubs, wine bar and restaurants There is now a modern underground, but traffic is still a problem It is often better to walk and feel the atmosphere of the pretty little streets Questions: What is the population of Prague? What is the most popular building in Prague? Why people call Prague “Europe’s school of music”? When is there a famous music festival? B In many secondary schools in Britain, it’s compulsory to wear school uniform Some schools argue that there many disadvantages to this system Most students don't like wearing it These are some reason Firstly, when they are have to wear the same clothes as everyone else they don't have a chance to develop personal taste in the way their dresses Secondly, some students who look untidy usually wear their scruffy because most of them come from poor family homes so their uniform don't fit properly Lastly, the main reason why most students don't like wearing uniform because most schools choose such horrible colors and styles that are not suitable for young people at all Questions: Is it compulsory to wear school uniform In many secondary schools in Britain What most children think when they have to wear the same clothes? Why some children who look untidy usually wear their scruffy? Give the main reason why most students don't like wearing uniform? C England is not a large country No town in England is very far from the sea, and many English families spend their summer holidays at the seaside There are no high mountains in England, no very long rivers and very large forests There are many towns in England No town is very far from another The English countryside between the towns is like a carpets of many colors In Spring and summer, the fields, meadows and forests are light green or dark green, and the gardens are green , red, blue, yellow and white with flowers Questions: Is England a large country? Where many English families spend their summer holidays? Are there many towns in England? What is the English countryside like? Last Sunday, Nam went an excursion to Oxford He got up early and took a bus, so he arrived there on time In the morning, he visited the National Gallery, Big Ben and the Hide Park In the afternoon, he bought the dictionary and a new disc with the words “Oxford University” He met some English students in the book shop He was very happy to practice speaking English with many foreigners Although he felt tired, he had a nice day Questions: 1.Where did Nam go last Sunday: …………………………………………………………………………………….…… How did he go there? ……………………………………………………………………………………….… 3.Where did he meet some English students? ……………………………………………………………………………………… … 4.What did he with some foreigners? ………………………………………………………………………………………… Every child in Great Britain between the age of five and fifteen must attend school There are three main types of educational institutions: primary (elementary) schools, secondary schools and universities State schools are free, and attendance is compulsory Morning school begins at nine o’clock and lasts until half past four School is open five days a week On Saturdays and Sundays there are no lessons There are holidays at Christmas, Easter and in summer In London as in all cities there are two grades of state schools for those who will go to work at fifteen primary schools for boys and girls between the ages of five and eleven, and secondary schools for children from eleven to fifteen years The lessons are: reading, writing, the English language, English literature, English history, geography, science, nature study, drawing, painting, singing, woodwork and drill (physical training) What are the main type of educational institutions? What are the two grades of state school for those who will go to work at fifteen? What subjects children study at school? When pupils have holidays? People who know Salley Ride say she is intelligent and confident She also thinks deeply about things, but she is not always serious She is fun and enjoys humor but she is in a hurry to get on to more important things At high school she became interested in science At university she studied English and Physics After completing her studies at Stanford University, she worked as a researcher In 1977, she was one of the 1,000 women and 7,000 men who applied for the astronaut training program When she was 25 years old She was one of the 35 women who were accepted to start the program in 1978 As part of her training, she learnt to be a jet pilot and a flight engineer She married during her training Her husband, Havley, is also an astronaut They haven’t planted to have any children yet How old was Salley Ride? Who did she marry? What did she in 1977? Give the fact from the text to prove that Salley Ride is intelligent The word "telephone" means hearing the sounds produced at a distance, just as we see distant objects through a "telescope" or we see things happening miles away through "television" The television was invented more than one hundred years ago by Alexander Graham Bell, an American scientists It is now used very extensively everywhere In Vietnam, most of the people have their own telephones in their homes It makes us possible to talk to our friends far away without all they way to their homes In actually work it appears to be simple It has a transmitter into which you speak and a receiver at which you hear; and these two are now combined in the same small instrument, one at each end The two persons who want to speak have each an instrument There is a connecting write and electric battery by the side of each, or there is a common connecting station it is the electric current enables the sound vibrations to be reproduced at the other end, and the person at the end hears the talk of his friend Its working is marvelous, though simple Two persons can now carry on a conversation with each other while both are lounging on their easy chairs There is thus no need now to leave your house to talk to a friend on any business It saves time, trouble and expense *Question: What does the word "telephone" mean? Who invented the telephone? When was the telephone invented? Why they like using the telephone? Environmental pollution is a term that refers to all the ways by which man pollutes his surroundings Man dirties the air with gas and smoke, poisons the water with chemicals and other substances, and damages the soil with too many fertilizers and pesticides Man also pollutes surrounding in other various ways For examples, people ruin natural beauty by scattering junk and motor vehicles that fill the air with disturbing noise Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing mankind today Air, water , and soil are necessary to the survival of all living things Badly polluted air can cause illness, and even death Polluted water kills fish and other marine life Pollution of soil reduces the amount of land that is available for growing food Environmental pollution also brings ugliness to man’s naturally beauty world Questions: What makes the air polluted? Is water polluted by chemicals and other substances? How does man damage the soil? In what way people ruin natural beauty? Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing mankind today Air, water , and soil are necessary to the survival of all living things Badly polluted air can cause illness, and even death Polluted water kills fish and other marine life Pollution of soil reduces the amount of land that is available for growing food Environmental pollution also brings ugliness to man’s naturally beauty world Questions: What is the most important problem of mankind nowadays? Which kinds of pollution are mentioned in this passage? Why many kinds of wild animals and other marine life die? Does the pollution of soil make the amount of land for growing food narrower? Air pollution is a cause of ill-health in human beings In a lot of countries there are laws limiting the amount of smoke which factories can produce Although there isn’t enough information on the effects of smoke in the atmosphere, doctors have proved that air pollution causes lung diseases The gases from the exhausts of cars have also increased air pollution in most cities The lead in petrol produces a poisonous gas which often collects in busy streets surrounded by high buildings Children who live in areas where there is a lot of lead in the atmosphere cannot think as quickly as other children and they are clumsy when they use their hands Questions: What does the air pollution cause? Who has proved that air pollution causes lung diseases? Is there air pollution in the city? Why or why not? 4.What happens to the children who live in areas where there is a lot of lead in the atmosphere? In the United States, people celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May On this occasion, mother usually receives greeting cards and gifts from her husband and children The best gift of all for an American Mom is a day of leisure The majority of American mothers have outside jobs as well as housework, so their working days are often very hard The working mother enjoys the traditional Mother's Day custom of breakfast (or brunch) cooked by her family and served to her on a tray in bed Later in the day, it is also traditional for the extended family group to get together for dinner, either in a restaurant or in one of their homes Flowers are an important part of Mother's Day Mothers are often given a corsage or plant for the occasion, particularly if they are elderly Father's Day is celebrated throughout the United States and Canada on the third Sunday in June The holiday customs are similar to Mother's Day Dad also receives greeting cards and gifts from his family and enjoys a day of leisure Questions: When American people celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day? What kind of gifts mothers often get from her family member? Where family members have their dinner party on this occasion? What are the similar things that fathers get on Father’s Day? The second Sunday in May is Mother’s Day It is a public holiday in both Britain and America On that day, children send Mother’s Day cards to their mothers They give their mothers flowers or sweets as presents Fathers and children the cooking so that mothers can have a rest In the USA, Mother’s Day started in 1860s There was a small town called Pruntytown in the middle of the USA People in the town fought against each other during a war After the war, they hated each other Mrs Ann Reeves Janis wanted the people to make friends with each other again So she started “Mother’s Friendship Day” On that day, she visited all the other mothers in the town and said, “Let us be friends with each other again” Her idea succeeded The same thing happened in other parts of the country After she died, her daughter carried on her idea In 1908, “Mother’s Friendship Day” became “Mother’s Day” What children on mother's Day? Which town was mother's Day born? What did Mrs Ann Reeves Janis wanted the people to do? Did Mrs.A.R.Janis’s idea stop after her death? Among the festivals celebrated by some of Asian people is the Moon Cake Festival, also known as the Mid- August Festival Large numbers of small round moon cakes are eaten on this day, and children enjoy carrying colorful paper lanterns that come in all shapes; the more popular ones are shaped like fish, rabbits and butterflies According to them, the moon shines brightest on the night of the Moon Cake Festival As the moon rises, tables are placed outside the house and women make offerings of fruit and moon cakes to the Moon Goddess Questions: 1.Is the Moon Cake Festival also called Mid-August Festival? 2.What children often eat on that day? What children enjoy carrying on that day? Is the Moon Cake Festival only celebrated in Asia? Almost a hundred thousand people were killed and half a million homes destroyed as a result of an earthquake in Tokyo in 1923 The earthquake began a minute before the noon when the inhabitants of Tokyo were cooking their midday meals Thousands of stoves were overturned as soon as the earth began to shake As a result, small fires broke out everywhere and quickly spread The fire engines were prevented from going to help because many of the roads had cracked open It was impossible to use fire fighting equipment as most of the water pipes had burst Consequently, over ninety percent of the damage caused by fire rather than by the collapse of the buildings Questions: When did the earthquake occur in Tokyo? How many people died in that earthquake? What was the damage caused by? What will happen if the earthquake occur at night? Drought is a condition that becomes when the average rainfall for a fertile area drops far below the normal amount for a long period of time In areas which are not irrigated, the lack of rain causes farm crops to wither and dead Higher than normal temperatures usually accompany periods of drought They add to the crop damage Forest fires start easily during drought The soil of a drought area becomes dry and crumbles Often the rich top solid is blown away by the hot, dry winds Streams, ponds, and wells often dry up during a drought, and animal suffer and may even die because of the lack of water Questions: What is the draught? Do forest fires start easily during drought? How does the soil of a drought area become? What will happen to the streams, ponds, wells and animals if water lacks? Scientists have known a lot about the earth They understand how mountains are made and what a volcano is The following example is about volcanic eruptions Mt Vesuvius in Italy and Mt St Helens in the USA are both famous mountains They are both volcanoes A volcano is a mountain that is open at the top Smoke and hot air come out of the hole Sometimes very hot rock also comes out of the mountain That can make trouble for people nearby This is what happened with Mt Vesuvius and Mt Helens Hot rock poured out of Mt Vesuvius and covered the town of Pompeii in 79 A.D Everyone in the town was killed The Mt Helens volcano didn’t kill many people There were no cities closes to the mountain But the hot rock killed a large of the forest And a lot of dirt fell on cities many miles away Today there are still many questions for scientists who study the earth They not know when a volcano will send hot rock into the air They still are not sure about the inside of the earth Questions: What is a volcano? Where is Mt Helens? Where is Mt Vesuvius? Were the people killed by the eruption of Mt Helens more than those by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius? Are the cities affected by the volcanic eruptions? Why? After inventing dynamite, Swedish-born Alfred Nobel became a very rich man However, he foresaw its universally destructive powers too late Nobel preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of dynamite, so in 1895, just two weeks before his death, he created a fund to be used for awarding prizes to people who had made worthwhile contributions to mankind Originally there were five awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine and peace Economics was added in 1968, just sixtyseven years after the first awards ceremony Nobel's original legacy of nine million dollars was invested, and the interest on this sum is used for the awards which vary from 30,000to30,000to125,000 Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death, the awards (gold medal, illuminated diploma, and money) are presented to the winners Sometimes politics plays an important role in the judges' decisions Americans have won numerous science awards, but relatively few literature prizes No awards were presented from 1940 to 1942 at the beginning of World War II Some people have won two prizes, but this is rare; others have shared their prizes Questions: 1.What is the nationality of Alfred Nobel? What did he invent? What did he create before he died? Originally, how many awards were there? What were they? Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world It is the Himalayan Mountains between Nepal and china, and it is 8,900 meters high Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand and tensing Norway from Nepal were the first people ever to climb Mount Everest They climbed it in 1953 Since then, men from different countries climbed it after that Junko Tabei, a Japanese woman from Hokkaido was the first woman to make this difficult climb A Tokyo newspaper-television company organized the climb in 1975 A Tokyo newspaper-television company organized the Mount Everest climb in 1975 for woman They chose fifteen women from mountaineering clubs to go to Nepal The groups climbed for several days However, the heavy ice and snow injured ten of the women They had to stop climbing The other five continued Only Ms Tabei was able to climb the last 70 meters She was standing on the top of the world She was the first woman there Questions: 1.Where is the Mount Everest? Who were the first people ever to climb Mount Everest? Did a Tokyo newspaper-television company organize the climb for the women in 1975? Did fifteen Japanese women win Mount Everest? ... early and took a bus, so he arrived there on time In the morning, he visited the National Gallery, Big Ben and the Hide Park In the afternoon, he bought the dictionary and a new disc with the words... presents Fathers and children the cooking so that mothers can have a rest In the USA, Mother’s Day started in 1860s There was a small town called Pruntytown in the middle of the USA People in the town... However, the heavy ice and snow injured ten of the women They had to stop climbing The other five continued Only Ms Tabei was able to climb the last 70 meters She was standing on the top of the world