Each bold word below has more than one meaning. Circle the right meaning in the text.

Do-it-yourself projects teach teens important skills, engage their minds in fruitful pursuits and give them tangible rewards for hard work

Find the topic sentence the following paragraphs:

Summer is my favorite season. I enjoy summer sports like water skiing and baseball. The weather is usually sunny and hot, so I can go to the beach almost every day. Gardening is my hobby and I spend many summer days working in my garden. Unfortunately, the days pass too quickly in summer.

Office workers “admit being rude”

Most office workers say they are rude or bad-mannered at work. Two out of three workers regularly arrive late for meetings, most ignore emails and three out of four use bad language. In a survey of 1,000 workers, two-thirds say that pressure of work is the reason for bad manners.

Other common examples of bad office etiquette include ignoring colleagues and answering mobile phone calls during meetings. Using mobile phones in meetings is impolite and distracts others, research by the University of Surrey shows. If you respond to call when speaking to somebody, it means that the phone call is more important than the person, the survey said. If you answer a call during a meeting, it could mean that the meeting is not important.

Mr Jacobs, managing director of Office Angels, a recruitment firm say it is easy for people to forget their manners in the working environment, which is often very informal and very busy. Workers can forget proper etiquette such as introducing people at meetings, and this is often bad for working relationships.

Psychologist Dr Colin Gill believes that people are not as polite as they were twenty years ago. He said: ‘Courtesy is no longer something that is so much respected in our society.’ People think it is ‘stuffy to be polite or formal.’

Now some organisations are actually investing money in training their junior managers to be polite. Office Angels is encouraging people to arrive on time for meetings, turn off mobile phones and avoid bad manners at work is such a simple thing to do,’ Mr Jacobs says, ‘ and it can have a dramatic impact on improving your working environment and your relationships with others.’

The author wants to ………………………….

Text 1  Bad manners at work

Etiquette is the name we give to the rules for being polite in a social group. Business etiquette is important for people who often have to make new contacts and build relationships in their work. Politeness can also help to improve the working environment for people in the same office. Some cultures and situations are formal, which means that we have to follow rules; other cultures and situations are more informal.

Text 2   Office workers “admit being rude”

Most office workers say they are rude or bad-mannered at work. Two out of three workers regularly arrive late for meetings, most ignore emails and three out of four use bad language. In a survey of 1,000 workers, two-thirds say that pressure of work is the reason for bad manners.

Other common examples of bad office etiquette include ignoring colleagues and answering mobile phone calls during meetings. Using mobile phones in meetings is impolite and distracts others, research by the University of Surrey shows. If you respond to call when speaking to somebody, it means that the phone call is more important than the person, the survey said. If you answer a call during a meeting, it could mean that the meeting is not important.

Mr Jacobs, managing director of Office Angels, a recruitment firm say it is easy for people to forget their manners in the working environment, which is often very informal and very busy. Workers can forget proper etiquette such as introducing people at meetings, and this is often bad for working relationships.

Psychologist Dr Colin Gill believes that people are not as polite as they were twenty years ago. He said: ‘Courtesy is no longer something that is so much respected in our society.’ People think it is ‘stuffy to be polite or formal.’

Now some organisations are actually investing money in training their junior managers to be polite. Office Angels is encouraging people to arrive on time for meetings, turn off mobile phones and avoid bad manners at work is such a simple thing to do,’ Mr Jacobs says, ‘ and it can have a dramatic impact on improving your working environment and your relationships with others.’

The purpose of some organisations who invest money in training their junior managers to be polite is to ……………………………

You ……… enter the country without a visa.

Listen to commentaries 1 and 2 again and circle the answer that best complete each statement. 

It’s a very fast time -  _____________ seconds.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Read the text and do the activities that follow.

The Royal Family

1. Prince William is a member of the British royal family. He’s the Queen’s grandson and the eldest son of Charles and Diana. His brother’s name is Harry. Diana, their mother, isn’t alive now, but they have a stepmother, Camilla.
2. William’s wife is Kate Middleton. She’s originally from an ordinary family- but of course, she’s now the Duchess of Cambridge and part of the royal family! Kate has a brother, James, and a sister, Pippa. Their parents, Michael and Carole, have an online business.
3. In some ways, Kate and William are a normal couple. They have friends from university and they have hobbies and interests too. For example, William loves football and Kate likes photography. In the winter, they go skiing together.
4. In other ways, their lives are very different from their friends’ lives. William is the future King of the United Kingdom – and fifteen other countries too, including Canada and Australia. Kate and William have a lot of official duties. They help charities in the UK and Africa, they visit other countries and they meet important visitors to the UK.
5. The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby, St James’s Palace has confirmed. All the Members of the Royal Family and the duchess’s family, the Middletons, are delighted: “The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry and members of both families are delighted with the news.”

The baby will be third in line to the throne, after Prince Charles and Prince William. A spokesman said the duchess has been admitted to KingEdwardVIIHospital in central London with acute morning sickness and is expected to stay for several days: “As the pregnancy is in its very early stages, Her Royal Highness is expected to stay in hospital for several days and will require a period of rest thereafter.”

6. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, says he and his wife “could not be happier” after the duchess gave birth to a baby boy, at 16:30, 22nd July 2013 UK time at St Mary’s Hospital, west London. William was present at St Mary’s for the birth. The young parents spent time with their son before telling the news to their families and the world. The Queen’s gynecologist Marcus Setchell, who led the team that delivered the baby, described the new arrival as “wonderful baby, beautiful baby”. A bulletin signed by him was taken by a royal aide from St Mary’s to the palace under police escort. The news has been since displayed on an easel in the forecourt of BuckinghamPalace in line with tradition. A Palace spokesman said the names of the baby would be announced in due course. A BuckinghamPalace spokesman said: “The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are delighted at the news.”

Read the text 'The Royal Family' again. Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1. ...... Camilla is William’s mother.
2. ...... William’s wife if the Duchess of Cambridge.
3. ...... Kate is one of two children.
4. ...... James is William’s cousin.
5. ...... William is a football fan.
6. ...... The King or Queen of England is also the King or Queen of Australia.
7. ...... William and Kate’s son will be first in line to the throne, after Prince Charles and Prince William.
8. ...... Kate gave birth to a baby boy, at 4:30pm, 22nd July 2013 UK time at St Mary’s Hospital.
9. ...... William was absent from St Mary’s for the birth.
10. ......  Few people in England knew about Kate giving birth to a baby boy.

Circle the answer that matches the meaning of each bold word or phrase.

We live in the country about four miles from school.

Circle the answer that matches the meaning of each bold word or phrase.

My uncle has a farm.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Read the text and decide if the following statements are  T (TRUE) or F (FALSE)

We’re Living Faster, But Are We Living Better?

Not long ago people believed that in the future we would work less, have more free time, and be more relaxed. But sadly this has not happened. Today we work harder, work longer hours, and are more stressed than ten years ago. We walk faster, talk faster, and sleep less than previous generations. And although we are obsessed with machines which save us time, we have less free time than our parents and grandparents had. But what is this doing to our health? An American journalist James Gleick in a new book, Faster: the acceleration of just about everything, says that people who live in cities are suffering from ‘hurry sickness’ – we are always trying to do more things in less time. As a result, our lives are more stressful. He says that if we don’t slow down, we won’t live as long as our parents. For most people, faster doesn’t mean better.

1. ...... The writer wrote the article to encourage us to work more and relax less.

2. ...... People today are having a less stressful life than they did in the past.

3. ......[T] People are too busy to read newspapers.

4. ......[T] Slow sports have become unpopular.

5. ...... More time is spent on stories.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Complete the dialogue. Use the present simple or present continuous form of the verbs in brackets. 

Mô tả câu hỏi

 Put the verbs in the correct form of the Present Continuous.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Complete the dialogue. Use the present simple or present continuous form of the verbs in brackets. 

Mô tả câu hỏi

Complete each sentence with the correct one.

1. Amazingly, pink is considered a ...... in some parts of the world. Men wear it.

2. The ......[wedding gown] is very expensive.

3. I don’t like red. It is a ......

4. The kite is too ......[delicate] to fly safely.

5. Blue ......[symbolizes] peace.

6. In this country, people often wear black clothes in ......[mourning]

7. Meanings of colors are different in different ......

8. The man in the grey suit is a ...... professor

Mô tả câu hỏi

Fill in each blank with a conjunction given.

1. ......[since] pink was thought to be a stronger color, it was best suited for boys.

2. Blue was more delicate ......[and] dainty for girls.

3. Red ......[or] pink saris are the most popular colors for brides.

4. Most likely you feel good ......[when] you wear your favorite color.

5. ......[although] black symbolizes death in Western cultures, it is associated with powerful forces in many parts of the world.  

6. ......[if] you see a young lady in violet, it is her, my mistress.

7. People think pink is for girls, ......[but] it isn’t always this way.

8. She wants to look stylish, ......[so] she decided to dye her hair blonde.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Choice  I (It's) or T (There's) in the following sentences.

1. ......[T] a boy in the garden.

2. ......[I] dark in the forest.

3. I don’t like autumn because ...... rainy.

4. ...... a cold day today.

5. ......[T] a beautiful garden in front of the house.

6. On the corner of the street, ......[T] a supermarket.

7. ......[T] a nice park near our house.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Fill the gaps with these words from the text

A recruitment firm gives this advice to new workers:

It is important to ......[Invest] time in your relationships with others at ....... Get to know the people who work near you: ......[Introduce] yourself to them and tell them something about yourself. If people ask for your help, always ......[Respond] positively. Don’t ...... emails or phone calls just because you are busy. If you make a mistake, it is better to ...... it and then apologise. When things go wrong, stay calm and ......[Avoid] shouting and using bad language. Remember good ...... help to ......[Improve] your working ......, and you will find you can enjoy your work more.

Mô tả câu hỏi

Choose the correct verb in the parentheses.

1. Both José and Martha ...... on vacation this week. (is, are)

2. Every student and parent ......[has] received a copy of the university’s honor code. (has, have)

3. What they need ......[are] step-by-step procedures. (is, are)

4. Either the original or a photocopy ......[is] acceptable as proof. (is, are)

5. Neither my paralegal nor my assistant ......[recalls] receiving a letter about

that case. (recalls, recall)

6. Neither the union leader nor the negotiators ......[have] clearly explained their concerns. (has, have)

7. Neither you nor she ......[is] aware of all the implications of the court’s decision. (is, are, am)

8. The model shown in the recent catalog and advertisements ......[is] not the model I want to buy. (is, are)

9. The members of the committee ......[have] met to discuss the morale problem. (has, have)

10. The committee ......[have] met to discuss the morale problem. (has, have)

Mô tả câu hỏi

Listen to six short conversations. How does the second person reply in each situation? Predict the meanings of their replies by choose the correct description in italics. 

1. John points out a mistake. Jane ......[doesn't apologise] for it.(apologizes/doesn't apologise) 

2. Jack invites Barbara to dinner. Barbara ......[accepts] the invitation. (accepts/refuses)

3. John introduces Caroline Day to Barbara. Barbara ......[knows] her.  (knows/ doesn’t know)

4. Jack asks if he is allowed to park in front of the office. Jane says that he ......[can't]. (can/can't)

5. Barbara gives Jane a gift. Jane ......[likes] it. (likes/doesn’t like)

6. Jack helped John to arrange his travel. It ......[wasn't] a problem for Jack.  (was/wasn't)

Mô tả câu hỏi

Choose /s/, /z/ or /iz/ for the correct pronunciation of the underlined syllables.