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Think about your daily life. Do you follow the same read to work every day? Do you sit in the same place in class? When you get dressed, do you always put the same leg or arm in first? You probably do, because we all have routines in our lives. Routines save time and energy because you do them without thinking, that's why they are so important in the morning when your brain isn't active. Here's Jo talking about her morning routine 'Oh yes. I always do exactly the same things. I...
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Think about your daily life. Do you follow the same read to work every day? Do you sit in the same place in class? When you get dressed, do you always put the same leg or arm in first? You probably do, because we all have routines in our lives.

Routines save time and energy because you do them without thinking, that's why they are so important in the morning when your brain isn't active. Here's Jo talking about her morning routine

'Oh yes. I always do exactly the same things. I wake up at seven o'clock every morning, but I don't get quarter past seven. I switch on the radio and listen to the news. Then I go to the too and I brush my-teeth. I have a shower and dry my hair. Then I choose my clothes and I get dressed. I don'y eat anything for breakfast. I just have a cup of coffee. Then I go to work. Yes, it's always the same.'

Routines are very useful. but they also make you uncreative. So sometimes it's a good idea to break your routines. Get out of bed on the opposite side. Listen to a different route to work. Eat something different for brealfast. Change your routine. You never know, it could change your life.

1. This passage is mainly concerned with...............................

a.our usual ways of doing things

b. our daily activities

c. Jo's timetable

d. changes in our lives

2. according to the passage, routines are useful because.........................

a. we can do them in the morning

b. they make a habit of never thinking

c. they save time and energy

d. we all have them in our lives

3. the word 'loo' in line 9 can best be replaced with.....................

a. balcony

b. bedroom

c. sink

d. toilet

4.what is the main disadvantage of routines?

a. Routines make us unable to create things or to have new ideas

b. Routines may change our life

c. Routines make a habit of never thinking before doing

d. Routines make us do the same things day after day

5. which of the sentences is true?

a. Routines make our brain creative

b.people who have routines are unable to think

c. we shouldn'r break our routines

d. our lives could be changed if we change our routines

0
Read the following article about ice-skating. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-8) of the article. A. Prepare yourself B. The benefits of the sport C. When things go wrong D. Different skating techniques E. A change in approach F. The right attitude G. Moving off H. Holding your body correctly I. How it all started 1...... Ice skating has a history of thousands of years. Archaelogists have discovered skates made from animal bone. It seems that bone...
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Read the following article about ice-skating. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-8) of the article.

A. Prepare yourself

B. The benefits of the sport

C. When things go wrong

D. Different skating techniques

E. A change in approach

F. The right attitude

G. Moving off

H. Holding your body correctly

I. How it all started

1......
Ice skating has a history of thousands of years. Archaelogists have discovered skates made from animal bone. It seems that bone skates were used until the introduction of iron into Scandinavia about the year 200 AD. Among the Scandinavian upper classes, skating was seen as an essential skill.
2.......

In the early 20th century, skating was stylish and reserved, but at the 1924 Winter Olympics, 11-year-old Sonja Henie introduced a more athletic attitude which inspired a new wave of popularity. Nowadays art and athletics are combined and modern skating is both graceful and physically demanding.
3......
For the beginner, balance and control are still important and speed can only increase with proficiency. The position of your body plays a great part in the balance. Legs slightly bowed and the knees bent keep the body weight centred; in effect the body leans slightly forward in this position. For skating, probably more than any other sport or recreation, relaxation is vital.
4......
For the starting position, the heels shoould almost be touching and the feet should be turned outwards. While pushing forward with the back foot, you make a very small movement with the other foot. Fairly easy, isn't it? If you can keep this up for a while, you can then slowly increase the length of your movements as you gain experience.
5......
Knowing how to fall must be learned among the skater's first skills. Even the best of the professionals fall. In order to fall without injury, you should be as relaxed as possible. In this way the shock of hitting the ice is lessened. To get up, use your hands to get into a kneeling position, then stand.
6......
Once you have learned to move on the ice with confidence, there are various styles to be practised - figure skaing, free style, distance, speed, skating in pairs and so on - but the basis of them all, and by far the best approach, is first to learn figure skating and then elementary freestyle. With proper guidance available at most of the ice rinks troughout the country, the basic figures can soon be learned and the turns, jumps and spins of elementary free style will soon follow.
7......
If you look at any good or professional skater, you will see how relaxed they are and how easily they move. To achieve this an expertise programme should be regularly practised. It can be dangerous to skate with a stiff body and warm-up exercises should at least include those for the legs, back and shoulders, with special emphasis on the ankles and knees. After a long or intense session, the same exercises should be used afterwards to avoid stiffness.
8......
Skating improves balance, co-ordination, relaxation and movement. It improves heart and lung activity and generally strengthens the body. Combined with swimming or jogging, it provides a great programme for all-round health and fitness.

1
5 tháng 1 2019

Read the following article about ice-skating. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-8) of the article.

A. Prepare yourself

B. The benefits of the sport

C. When things go wrong

D. Different skating techniques

E. A change in approach

F. The right attitude

G. Moving off

H. Holding your body correctly

I. How it all started

1...I...
Ice skating has a history of thousands of years. Archaelogists have discovered skates made from animal bone. It seems that bone skates were used until the introduction of iron into Scandinavia about the year 200 AD. Among the Scandinavian upper classes, skating was seen as an essential skill.
2....E...

In the early 20th century, skating was stylish and reserved, but at the 1924 Winter Olympics, 11-year-old Sonja Henie introduced a more athletic attitude which inspired a new wave of popularity. Nowadays art and athletics are combined and modern skating is both graceful and physically demanding.
3....H..
For the beginner, balance and control are still important and speed can only increase with proficiency. The position of your body plays a great part in the balance. Legs slightly bowed and the knees bent keep the body weight centred; in effect the body leans slightly forward in this position. For skating, probably more than any other sport or recreation, relaxation is vital.
4....G..
For the starting position, the heels shoould almost be touching and the feet should be turned outwards. While pushing forward with the back foot, you make a very small movement with the other foot. Fairly easy, isn't it? If you can keep this up for a while, you can then slowly increase the length of your movements as you gain experience.
5..C....
Knowing how to fall must be learned among the skater's first skills. Even the best of the professionals fall. In order to fall without injury, you should be as relaxed as possible. In this way the shock of hitting the ice is lessened. To get up, use your hands to get into a kneeling position, then stand.
6....D..
Once you have learned to move on the ice with confidence, there are various styles to be practised - figure skaing, free style, distance, speed, skating in pairs and so on - but the basis of them all, and by far the best approach, is first to learn figure skating and then elementary freestyle. With proper guidance available at most of the ice rinks troughout the country, the basic figures can soon be learned and the turns, jumps and spins of elementary free style will soon follow.
7...A...
If you look at any good or professional skater, you will see how relaxed they are and how easily they move. To achieve this an expertise programme should be regularly practised. It can be dangerous to skate with a stiff body and warm-up exercises should at least include those for the legs, back and shoulders, with special emphasis on the ankles and knees. After a long or intense session, the same exercises should be used afterwards to avoid stiffness.
8..B....
Skating improves balance, co-ordination, relaxation and movement. It improves heart and lung activity and generally strengthens the body. Combined with swimming or jogging, it provides a great programme for all-round health and fitness.

Part 3: You are going to read a newspaper article by a British student who worked at a summer camp in the US. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (124-130). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. (7 points)SUMMER CAMP: A SOAP OPERAEvery June, thousands of British students fly to the United States to spend their holidays working at summer camps. In return, they get a free return flight, full board,...
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Part 3: You are going to read a newspaper article by a British student who worked at a summer camp in the US. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (124-130). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. (7 points)

SUMMER CAMP: A SOAP OPERA

Every June, thousands of British students fly to the United States to spend their holidays working at summer camps. In return, they get a free return flight, full board, pocket money and the chance to travel. Lucy Graham joined a camp and spent eight weeks working with six to sixteen-year-olds.

I applied at the last minute and was so thrilled at the prospect of spending the holidays doing something more exciting than working in the local supermarket that I hastily accepted the only job left - in the camp laundry.

(124) ___ On arrival I was told by the camp director that I would be doing the washing for 200 children - on my own. Any romantic dreams I'd had quickly turned into nightmare reality. For the first week, the party sent out by the jobs agency - nine students, including me - became a full-time cleaning squad, getting the place ready for its grand opening.

(125) ___ The children's arrival also brought 50 American counsellors to look after them, and the opening of the laundry. At first, I had to work from 8.45 in the morning till 10.30 at night to get all my work done. Considering there was no hot water in the laundry and the machines were old, the washing came out remarkably well.

(126) ___ The kitchen workers, maintenance man and myself found that we were on the lowest level of the camp's class system. Our four British counsellor friends had a much better time. They got friendly with their American colleagues and were respected by the children. They were also given tips by parents after the holiday.

(127) ___ As for the camp itself, it had a large lake and excellent sporting facilities. But because organised activities for the children carried on into the evening, we usually didn't get the chance to use them. However, much more annoying were my room-mates, three 18­-year-old girls who worked in the dining room.

(128) ___ On top of that, the camp food was poor, with child-size portions; fresh fruit and vegetables were rare. One catering worker even stood over the pineapple rings, checking that you took only one each.

(129) ___ However, I couldn't set off as soon as the children left because we had to stay on for a few days, cleaning and closing down the camp. My last duty was to load up the rubbish bags and take out any clothes the children had thrown away, in case their parents asked about them.

(130) ___ What's more, without the free ticket I got to the US - and the rail ticket from my parents ­- I would never have seen Niagara Falls, gone up the Empire State Building or had my picture taken with Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

A They had never been away from home before, and spent most of the night screaming with excitement. Sometimes, the only way to get any rest was to pretend to be ill and sleep in the medical centre.

B We weren't so lucky. We were never invited to join in the evening activities. When we did manage to get out of the camp, our evenings tended to consist of eating ice-cream at the local gas station.

C As a result, the standard of the camp you end up in is usually a question of luck. However, the agencies do hold meetings where you can ask representatives from camps about the facilities and the nature of the work you will be expected to do.

D We swept out the bedrooms and scrubbed the lavatories, gymnasium and kitchen. We polished the cooking equipment, put up the sports nets and carried any luggage sent on ahead to the bedrooms.

E On the whole it had been well worth it. Despite the washing, the camp's plus points had been a beautiful setting, meeting a great bunch of travelling companions and doing far more reading for my university course than I would have done at home.

F All these disadvantages meant that Saturdays, our days off, were highly valued. The places we visited then, such as New York City, gave me an appetite for travelling later on. If I hadn't done that, I would have regretted it - there is so much to see and do and I was keen to get on with it.

G But with so many clothes to wash and dry, some did get mixed up. I had six­-year-olds marching up and telling me that their parents would be very angry if I didn't find their favourite sweater.

H I started to have my doubts while squashed between the swimming instructor and the sports teacher during the three-hour minibus ride to the camp, which was in a tiny town about 90 miles from New York City.

Your answer:

124. ……….……………       125. ……………………        126. ……………………

127. …………………….       128. ……………………        129. ……………………

130. …………………….      

 

Part 4: Read the passage and fill in each gap with ONE suitable word. (10 points)

We have seen photographs of the whole earth taken from great dis­tances in outer space. This is the first time, the (131) ………….. first time, in man's long history that such pictures have been possible. (132) ………….. many years most people have believed that the earth was ball-shaped. A few thought it was round and (133) ………….., like a coin. Now we know, beyond doubt, that those few were (134) …………. The photographs show a ball-shaped (135) …………., bright and beautiful. In colour photographs of the earth, the sky is as (136) …………. as coal. The (137)            ………….. looks much bluer than it usually does to us. All our grey (138) ………….. are a perfect white in colour; because, of course, the (139) ………… is for ever shining on them. We are (140) ………….. to live on the beautiful earth.

Giúp mk làm bài này thôi!

1
10 tháng 8 2016

Part 4: 

We have seen photographs of the whole earth taken from great dis­tances in outer space. This is the first time, the (131) very first time, in man's long history that such pictures have been possible. (132) For many years most people have believed that the earth was ball-shaped. A few thought it was round and (133) flat, like a coin. Now we know, beyond doubt, that those few were (134) wrong/mistaken. The photographs show a ball-shaped (135) earth/planet, bright and beautiful. In colour photographs of the earth, the sky is as (136) black as coal. The (137) sea looks much bluer than it usually does to us. All our grey (138) clouds are a perfect white in colour; because, of course, the (139) sun is for ever shining on them. We are (140) lucky to live on the beautiful earth

 

11 tháng 8 2016

thank you

Mọi người giúp mình với ạ, mình cảm ơn ạ <3 - He ______ a new dress today. (buy) – ______Nam and Ly ______ to school by bus every day? (go) – My mother ______ her hair every day. (wash) – My brother ______ robbers. (catch) – She____ a student. (be) – They never _____ beer. (drink) – I ____ meet her. (do not) – _____ they friendly? (are/is/am) – The sun often______ in Morocco. (shine) – Rome ______ the capital of Italy. (be) – Birds ______ in winter....
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Mọi người giúp mình với ạ, mình cảm ơn ạ <3

- He ______ a new dress today. (buy)
– ______Nam and Ly ______ to school by bus every day? (go)
– My mother ______ her hair every day. (wash)
– My brother ______ robbers. (catch)
– She____ a student. (be)
– They never _____ beer. (drink)
– I ____ meet her. (do not)
– _____ they friendly? (are/is/am)
– The sun often______ in Morocco. (shine)
– Rome ______ the capital of Italy. (be)
– Birds ______ in winter. (migrate)
– Travelling by plane ______ a lot of energy. ( use)

– I _____the book “The harry potter” . (read)
– Nam ____always ____late. (come)
– _____ products _____rapidly? (grow)
– My father ______flower in the garden. (water)
– My younger sister ______ the room. (clean)
– Some people _____ on the grass and _____ a picnic. (sit/ have)
– The number of Web users who shop online ______. ( increase)
– My best friend ¬_______ in a holiday camp. (stay)
– I don’t like the book that I _________ at the moment. (read)
– It has_____ 5 months since I first met her. (be)
– ____ you been to that place before? (Have/has)
– I have _____ for this shop for 1 year.( work)
– He _____ in Germany since 2009. ( live)
– I’ve ______ many art galleries this year. ( visit)
– Is Nam ______ lunch with us? (have)
– Where _____ you _____ go? ( Have/has – be)
– The world _______ a massive shift in transport and tourism in the last decade. ( see)
– How long _____ you _____ there? (live)
– My best friend _______French since November. ( learn)
– I’m so tired. I _______ for the bus for hours. ( wait)
– Hoa ______ about where to go this weekend. ( think)
– The number of people taking up extreme sports______ since the early 1990s. ( increase)
– The amount of free time we have ________ continuously for over 30 years. (rise)
– She looks very exhausted because she ______ all night. (work)
– I ______ this book since last night. ( read)
– They ______ with old class all the day. (chat)
– I ____ the museums in New York. (visit)
– I ______ to Tokyo last year. (travel)
– We always went on holiday to Japan when I ___ a child. ( be)
– Last week I _____ on holiday for 3 days. (go)
– Every summer I ____the school holidays with my grandparents. (spend)
– Dannes _____ to Finland last year, but he _______ it. ( go – like)
– What ___ you do? (do)
– My family ______ from the countryside when I was 12 years old. (move)
– I ______ (swim) in the sea when the rain started.
– Some people _______ (relax) by the pool and others ______ (play) volleyball.
– For the first two days of my holiday I ______ (stay) with friends.
– Last month I ______(have) acting lessons but I had to stop when I lost my voice.
– Sorry, _____ you _____ (sleep)?
– While I was driving home, Peter _____ (try) desperately to contact me.
– The company _______ (decline) rapidly before he took charge.
– Where you ______ (go) when I saw you last weekend?
– My sister ______ (watch) TV when I got home.
– Before she became the 2008 world swimming champion nobody ______ (hear) of Phan Anh.
– Every newspaper and TV channel in the USA wanted to interview Neil Armstrong after he _______ (landing) on the moon.
– Managing an actors image though media relations become popular in the 1980s. Up until then actors _____ (not care) much about their public image.
– An idea occurred to him that she herself ______(help) him very much in the everyday life.
– When I arrived Dennis ______(go) away.
– If I ______(know) that, I would have acted differently.
– Until the 1990s, footballers ______(not earn) such large salaries and they didn’t use to be so famous.
– By the time I met you, I ______(work) in that company for three years.
– Linh ______(study) in Korea before she did her masters at Harvard.
– _____ the film ______(end) when you arrived at the cinema?
– The journalists ______(wait) for over an hour by the time the President arrived at the palace.
– She ______(work) in the clothes store for two years when a customer who represented a model agency spotted her and signed her up.
– They ______ (talk) on the phone when the rain poured down.
– I _______(have) lunch by the time the others came into the restaurant.
– Yesterday, my brother said he ______ (stop) smoking for 2 months.
– The photographers ______(wait) hours for the stars to arrive at the 2010 Oscar ceremony.
– I would have been ready for the test if I ______(prepare) diligently.
I _____ (try) my best to answer all the questions.
– I _____(help) her take care of her children tomorrow morning.
– They ______ (stay) at the shop.
– I _____(bring) money to school tomorrow for you.
– I ______(tell) her the truth.
– _____ you come to company tomorrow?
– I ______(come)back home to take my book which I have forgotten.
– _____ you please bring me a cup of coffee?
– If it stops raining soon, we ______(go) to the hospital.
– ____ we start again from the beginning
– Everyone _______ (learn) how to use the Internet in 50 years time.
– I _______ (finish) my homework before 8 o’clock this evening.
– I _______ (spend) over 100 VND on online shopping by the end of the week.
– It is estimated that in five years time 20 percent more people over the age of 60 _______ (start) to use the Internet.
– The Internet ________ (become) the primary source of information by the middle of the century.
– I _______ (do) the job before the boss come tomorrow.

1
28 tháng 2 2021

– buys– Do – go– washes– catches– is– drink– don’t– Are– shines– is– migrate– uses.– am reading– Is – coming– Are growing– is watering– is cleaning– are sitting – having– is increasing– is staying– am reading.– been– Have– worked– has lived– visited– having– have – been– has seen– have – lived– has been learning– have been waiting– has been thinking– has been increasing– has been rising– has been working– has been reading– have been chatting.– visited– travelled– was– went– spent– went – didn’t like.– did– moved.– was swimming– were relaxing / were playing– was staying– was having– were sleeping– was trying– was declining– were you going– was watching– had heard– had landed– hadn’t cared– had helped– had gone– had known– hadn’t earned– had worked– had studied– Had – ended– had been waiting– had been working– had been talking– had been having– had been stopping– had been waiting– had been preparing– will try– will help– won’t stay– will bring– won’t tell– Will– will come– Will– will go– Shall– will have learnt– will have finished– will have spent– will be started– will have become– will have done

Reading: Bún bò Huế or bún bò is a popular Vietnamese soup containing (bún) and beef (bò).Bún bò originated in , a former capital of Vietnam. is a city in central Vietnam with the cooking style of the former royal court. The dish is greatly admired for its balance of spicy, sour, salty and sweet flavors and the predominant flavor is that of . Compared to or , the noodles are thicker. Bún bò is commonly served with lime, onions, chili sauce and raw vegetables. Fish sauce and shrimp...
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Reading:
Bún bò Huế or bún bò is a popular Vietnamese soup containing (bún) and beef (bò).Bún bò originated in , a former capital of Vietnam. is a city in central Vietnam with the cooking style of the former royal court. The dish is greatly admired for its balance of spicy, sour, salty and sweet flavors and the predominant flavor is that of . Compared to or , the noodles are thicker.
Bún bò is commonly served with lime, onions, chili sauce and raw vegetables. Fish sauce and shrimp sauce is added to the soup according to taste. Ingredients might be varied by regions due to their availability.
Choose the best answer:
1. According to the passage, what is the special flavors of bún bò Huế?
A. lemon B. lemongrass C. fish sauce D. sweet
2. What is the cooking style of Hue cuisine?
A. rural B. central C. royal D. urban
True or false?
3. Ingredients can be replaced depending on their availability. _______
4. The noodles of bún bò Huế are thinner than the noodles of phở. _______
5. In the past, Hue was the capital of Vietnam. _______
6. We never eat bún bò with fish sauce or shrimp sauce. _______
Word form:
1. It is made from minced pork, sliced pigskin and a____________of seasoning and garlic. MIX
2. The students of The Imperial Academy were________________. BRILLIANCE
3. What are you doing after the_________________? GRADUATE
4. The guitar is a popular_________________instrument. MUSIC
5. Chu Van An was considered one of the greatest________________in Vietnamese history. EDUCATE
Verb tenses/ forms:
1. We___________________(not prepare) for dinner yet. I think we______________________(go) out for dinner.
2. ______________________________(she/ usually work) out? - Yes. She_______________(go) to the gym three times a week.
3. I___________________(not stay) at home last night.
4. It took me two hours_________________(drive) from my house to your house.
5. I have decided________________(give) up this job. I am bored with........... (work) with him.

6.This house.....(construct) in 2002

Complete sentences/Rewrite sentences/Put question:

1.The rice noodles/make/best variety of rice. ...............................

2 My weight is 30 kilograms.Your weight is 30 kilograms,too. SAME........................

3.She think this movie is boring.> She finds......................

4.It is a good idea that you take up photography. HAD BETTER........

5.Indonesia is hotter than Viet Nam. AS...AS.......................

6.It takes me ten minutes to walk to school........

7.We planted the tresson the sidewalks of te roads to have the shade in the summer..............

8They talked about the most attractive destinations in the world...............

1
26 tháng 8 2017

Reading:
Bún bò Huế or bún bò is a popular Vietnamese soup containing (bún) and beef (bò).Bún bò originated in , a former capital of Vietnam. is a city in central Vietnam with the cooking style of the former royal court. The dish is greatly admired for its balance of spicy, sour, salty and sweet flavors and the predominant flavor is that of . Compared to or , the noodles are thicker.
Bún bò is commonly served with lime, onions, chili sauce and raw vegetables. Fish sauce and shrimp sauce is added to the soup according to taste. Ingredients might be varied by regions due to their availability.
Choose the best answer:
1. According to the passage, what is the special flavors of bún bò Huế?
A. lemon B. lemongrass C. fish sauce D. sweet
2. What is the cooking style of Hue cuisine?
A. rural B. central C. royal D. urban
True or false?
3. Ingredients can be replaced depending on their availability. ____T____
4. The noodles of bún bò Huế are thinner than the noodles of phở. ____F____
5. In the past, Hue was the capital of Vietnam. ____T____
6. We never eat bún bò with fish sauce or shrimp sauce. ____F____
Word form:
1. It is made from minced pork, sliced pigskin and a______mixture______of seasoning and garlic. MIX
2. The students of The Imperial Academy were________brilliant________. BRILLIANCE
3. What are you doing after the________graduation_________? GRADUATE
4. The guitar is a popular_________musical_________instrument. MUSIC
5. Chu Van An was considered one of the greatest________educator________in Vietnamese history. EDUCATE
Verb tenses/ forms:
1. We__________haven't prepared_________(not prepare) for dinner yet. I think we___________should go___________(go) out for dinner.
2. ________________Does she usually work______________(she/ usually work) out? - Yes. She_______goes________(go) to the gym three times a week.
3. I__________didn't stay_________(not stay) at home last night.
4. It took me two hours_________to drive________(drive) from my house to your house.
5. I have decided________to give________(give) up this job. I am bored with.....working...... (work) with him.

6.This house...was constructed..(construct) in 2002

Complete sentences/Rewrite sentences/Put question:

1.The rice noodles/make/best variety of rice. ................=> The rice noodles are made from the best variety of rice...............

2 My weight is 30 kilograms.Your weight is 30 kilograms,too. SAME

=> .............My weight is the same as your...........

3.She think this movie is boring.> She finds...........this movie boring...........

4.It is a good idea that you take up photography. HAD BETTER

=> ....You had better take up photography....

5.Indonesia is hotter than Viet Nam. AS...AS...

=> ..........Viet Nam is not as hot as Indonesia..........

6.It takes me ten minutes to walk to school

=> ....How long does it take you to walk to school?....

7.We planted the tresson the sidewalks of te roads to have the shade in the summer

=> .......Why did you plant the trees on the sidewalks of the roads?.......

8They talked about the most attractive destinations in the world

=> .......What did they talk about?........

The Penny Black It might not have looked very impressive, but the Penny Black, now 170 years old, was the first stamp to be created and it launched the modem postal system in Britain. Before 1840 and the arrival of the Penny Black, you had to be rich and patient to use the Royal Mail. Delivery was charged according to the miles travelled and the number of sheets of paper used; a 2-page letter sent from Edinburgh to London, for example, would have cost 2 shillings, or more than £7 in today’s...
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The Penny Black

It might not have looked very impressive, but the Penny Black, now 170 years old, was the first stamp to be created and it launched the modem postal system in Britain.

Before 1840 and the arrival of the Penny Black, you had to be rich and patient to use the Royal Mail. Delivery was charged according to the miles travelled and the number of sheets of paper used; a 2-page letter sent from Edinburgh to London, for example, would have cost 2 shillings, or more than £7 in today’s money. And when the top-hatted letter carrier came to deliver it, it was the recipient who had to pay for the postage. Letter writers employed various ruses to reduce the cost, doing everything possible to cram more words onto a page. Nobody bothered with heavy envelopes; instead, letters would be folded and sealed with wax. You then had to find a post office - there were no pillar boxes - and hope your addressee didn't live in one of the several rural areas which were not served by the system. If you were lucky, your letter would arrive (it could take days) without being read or censored.

The state of mail had been causing concern throughout the 1830s, but it was Rowland Hill, an inventor, teacher and social reformer from Kidderminster, who proposed a workable plan for change. Worried that a dysfunctional, costly service would stifle communication just as Britain was in the swing of its second industrial revolution, he believed reform would ease the distribution of ideas and stimulate trade and business, delivering the same promise as the new railways.

Hill’s proposal for the penny post, which meant any letter weighing less than half an ounce (14 grams) could be sent anywhere in Britain for about 30p in today’s money, was so radical that the Postmaster General, Lord Lichfield, said, 'Of all the wild and visionary schemes which I ever heard of, it is the most extravagant.’ Lord Lichfield spoke for an establishment not convinced of the need for poor people to post anything. But merchants and reformers backed Hill. Soon the government told him to make his scheme work. And that meant inventing a new type of currency.

Hill quickly settled on 'a bit of paper covered at the back with a glutinous wash which the user might, by applying a little moisture, attach to the back of a letter’. Stamps would be printed in sheets of 240 that could be cut using scissors or a knife. Perforations would not arrive until 1854. The idea stuck, and in August 1839 the Treasury launched a design competition open to ‘all artists, men of science and the public in general’. The new stamp would need to be resistant to forgery, and so it was a submission by one Mr Cheverton that Hill used as the basis for one of the most striking designs in history. Cheverton, who worked as a sculptor and an engineer, determined that a portrait of Queen Victoria, engraved for a commemorative coin when she was a 15-year-old princess, was detailed enough to make copying difficult, and recognisable enough to make fakes easy to spot. The words ‘Postage’ and ‘One Penny’ were added alongside flourishes and ornamental stars. Nobody thought to add the word ‘Britain’, as it was assumed that the stamps would solely be put to domestic use.

With the introduction of the new postal system, the Penny Black was an instant hit, and printers struggled to meet demand. By the end of 1840, more than 160 million letters had been sent - more than double the previous year. It created more work for the post office, whose reform continued with the introduction of red letter boxes, new branches and more frequent deliveries, even to the remotest address, but its lasting impact on society was more remarkable.

Hill and his supporters rightly predicted that cheaper post would improve the ‘diffusion of knowledge’. Suddenly, someone in Scotland could be reached by someone in London within a day or two. And as literacy improved, sections of society that had been disenfranchised found a voice.

Tristram Hunt, an historian, values the ‘flourishing of correspondence’ that followed the arrival of stamps. ‘While I was writing my biography of Friedrich Engels I could read the letters he and Marx sent between Manchester and London,’ he says. ‘They wrote to each other three times a day, pinging ideas back and forth so that you can almost follow a real-time correspondence.’

The penny post also changed the nature of the letter. Weight-saving tricks such as cross-writing began to die out, while the arrival of envelopes built confidence among correspondents that mail would not be stolen or read. And so people wrote more private things - politically or commercially sensitive information or love letters. ‘In the early days of the penny post, there was still concern about theft,’ Hunt says. ‘Engels would still send Marx money by ripping up five-pound notes and sending the pieces in different letters.’ But the probity of the postal system became a great thing and it came to be expected that your mail would not be tampered with.

For all its brilliance, the Penny Black was technically a failure. At first, post offices used red ink to cancel stamps so that they could not be used again. But the ink could be removed. When in 1842, it was determined that black ink would be more robust, the colour of the Penny Black became a sort of browny red, but Hill’s brainchild had made its mark.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. One of the characteristics of the postal service before the 1840s was that

A. postmen were employed by various organisations.
B. letters were restricted to a certain length.
C. distance affected the price of postage.
D. the price of delivery kept going up.

2. Letter writers in the 1830s

A. were not responsible for the cost of delivery.
B. tried to fit more than one letter into an envelope.
C. could only send letters to people living in cities.
D. knew all letters were automatically read by postal staff.

3. What does the text say about Hill in the 1830s?

A. He was the first person to express concern about the postal system.
B. He considered it would be more efficient for mail to be delivered by rail.
C. He felt that postal service reform was necessary for commercial development.
D. His plan received support from all the important figures of the day.

3
30 tháng 7 2019

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. One of the characteristics of the postal service before the 1840s was that

A. postmen were employed by various organisations.
B. letters were restricted to a certain length.
C. distance affected the price of postage.
D. the price of delivery kept going up.

2. Letter writers in the 1830s

A. were not responsible for the cost of delivery.
B. tried to fit more than one letter into an envelope.
C. could only send letters to people living in cities.
D. knew all letters were automatically read by postal staff.

3. What does the text say about Hill in the 1830s?

A. He was the first person to express concern about the postal system.
B. He considered it would be more efficient for mail to be delivered by rail.
C. He felt that postal service reform was necessary for commercial development.
D. His plan received support from all the important figures of the day.

30 tháng 7 2019

The Penny Black

It might not have looked very impressive, but the Penny Black, now 170 years old, was the first stamp to be created and it launched the modem postal system in Britain.

Before 1840 and the arrival of the Penny Black, you had to be rich and patient to use the Royal Mail. Delivery was charged according to the miles travelled and the number of sheets of paper used; a 2-page letter sent from Edinburgh to London, for example, would have cost 2 shillings, or more than £7 in today’s money. And when the top-hatted letter carrier came to deliver it, it was the recipient who had to pay for the postage. Letter writers employed various ruses to reduce the cost, doing everything possible to cram more words onto a page. Nobody bothered with heavy envelopes; instead, letters would be folded and sealed with wax. You then had to find a post office - there were no pillar boxes - and hope your addressee didn't live in one of the several rural areas which were not served by the system. If you were lucky, your letter would arrive (it could take days) without being read or censored.

The state of mail had been causing concern throughout the 1830s, but it was Rowland Hill, an inventor, teacher and social reformer from Kidderminster, who proposed a workable plan for change. Worried that a dysfunctional, costly service would stifle communication just as Britain was in the swing of its second industrial revolution, he believed reform would ease the distribution of ideas and stimulate trade and business, delivering the same promise as the new railways.

Hill’s proposal for the penny post, which meant any letter weighing less than half an ounce (14 grams) could be sent anywhere in Britain for about 30p in today’s money, was so radical that the Postmaster General, Lord Lichfield, said, 'Of all the wild and visionary schemes which I ever heard of, it is the most extravagant.’ Lord Lichfield spoke for an establishment not convinced of the need for poor people to post anything. But merchants and reformers backed Hill. Soon the government told him to make his scheme work. And that meant inventing a new type of currency.

Hill quickly settled on 'a bit of paper covered at the back with a glutinous wash which the user might, by applying a little moisture, attach to the back of a letter’. Stamps would be printed in sheets of 240 that could be cut using scissors or a knife. Perforations would not arrive until 1854. The idea stuck, and in August 1839 the Treasury launched a design competition open to ‘all artists, men of science and the public in general’. The new stamp would need to be resistant to forgery, and so it was a submission by one Mr Cheverton that Hill used as the basis for one of the most striking designs in history. Cheverton, who worked as a sculptor and an engineer, determined that a portrait of Queen Victoria, engraved for a commemorative coin when she was a 15-year-old princess, was detailed enough to make copying difficult, and recognisable enough to make fakes easy to spot. The words ‘Postage’ and ‘One Penny’ were added alongside flourishes and ornamental stars. Nobody thought to add the word ‘Britain’, as it was assumed that the stamps would solely be put to domestic use.

With the introduction of the new postal system, the Penny Black was an instant hit, and printers struggled to meet demand. By the end of 1840, more than 160 million letters had been sent - more than double the previous year. It created more work for the post office, whose reform continued with the introduction of red letter boxes, new branches and more frequent deliveries, even to the remotest address, but its lasting impact on society was more remarkable.

Hill and his supporters rightly predicted that cheaper post would improve the ‘diffusion of knowledge’. Suddenly, someone in Scotland could be reached by someone in London within a day or two. And as literacy improved, sections of society that had been disenfranchised found a voice.

Tristram Hunt, an historian, values the ‘flourishing of correspondence’ that followed the arrival of stamps. ‘While I was writing my biography of Friedrich Engels I could read the letters he and Marx sent between Manchester and London,’ he says. ‘They wrote to each other three times a day, pinging ideas back and forth so that you can almost follow a real-time correspondence.’

The penny post also changed the nature of the letter. Weight-saving tricks such as cross-writing began to die out, while the arrival of envelopes built confidence among correspondents that mail would not be stolen or read. And so people wrote more private things - politically or commercially sensitive information or love letters. ‘In the early days of the penny post, there was still concern about theft,’ Hunt says. ‘Engels would still send Marx money by ripping up five-pound notes and sending the pieces in different letters.’ But the probity of the postal system became a great thing and it came to be expected that your mail would not be tampered with.

For all its brilliance, the Penny Black was technically a failure. At first, post offices used red ink to cancel stamps so that they could not be used again. But the ink could be removed. When in 1842, it was determined that black ink would be more robust, the colour of the Penny Black became a sort of browny red, but Hill’s brainchild had made its mark.

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. One of the characteristics of the postal service before the 1840s was that

A. postmen were employed by various organisations.
B. letters were restricted to a certain length.
C. distance affected the price of postage.
D. the price of delivery kept going up.

2. Letter writers in the 1830s

A. were not responsible for the cost of delivery.
B. tried to fit more than one letter into an envelope.
C. could only send letters to people living in cities.
D. knew all letters were automatically read by postal staff.

3. What does the text say about Hill in the 1830s?

A. He was the first person to express concern about the postal system.
B. He considered it would be more efficient for mail to be delivered by rail.
C. He felt that postal service reform was necessary for commercial development.
D. His plan received support from all the important figures of the day.