Chuyên đề bồi dưỡng HSG - Chuyên đề 30: Reading - Tiếng Anh THPT

 CHAPTER 30: READING
 CLOZE TEST
Part 1. Cressida Cowell is the author of the widely-praised How to Train your Dragon series of 
children’s books. She spent her own childhood holidays on a remote island, where she has left 
very much to her own (1)________. As a result, she became an avid reader, entertaining 
(2)________ with books and developing a fervent imagination. She even (3)________ up her 
own secret languages. 
Cowell believes that today’s children still have a real (4)________ for language, even though 
their attention (5)________ may not be as great as in her day, (6)________ them less tolerant of 
descriptive passages in stories. Her books are outlandish and exciting, with vivid imagery, 
cliffhangers and eye-catching illustrations. Dragons seem to (7)________ to children of all 
nationalities, who also seem to (8)________ with her protagonist, Hiccup, quite easily. Hiccup is 
a boy who battles his way through’s life problems, often against the (9)________ . 
Cowell is currently planning an illustrated book for teenagers. In her own words, she enjoys 
breaking the (10)________ and finds that kids are open-minded enough to accept this.
devices – herself – dreamt – ear – span – making – appeal – identify – odds – mould 
Part 2. Recent research carried out in Ireland amongst chefs and consumers found that 48% of 
people (1)________ to regularly over-ordering in restaurants. A campaign has been launched as a 
result calling for the food-service industry to join (2)________ with chefs and consumers to 
address the issue of food waste.
To bring the research findings to (3)________, the owner of a restaurant in Dublin is creating a 
"Great Irish Waste" menu, reconsidering food ingredients that have been thrown away, rejected 
or (4)________ inedible and turning them into imaginative dishes that are both appetising and of 
a suitable (5)________ to serve his customers. He says that while there will always be some 
(6)________ of waste in the kitchen due to elements such as bones or fat trimmings, there's an 
opportunity to minimize wastage in the restaurant (7)________ through better communication. 
"Even though so much food comes back on customers' plates and goes in the bin, the majority of 
diners aren't aware of the environmental or cost (8)________ of that waste." Without consumers 
shifting their (9)________ restaurants will struggle to reduce food waste significantly. 
Tackling this problem as a consumer is straightforward. Ultimately, it (10)________ down to 
smart shopping, clever cooking and shrewd storage.
admitted – forces - life – deemed – standard – degree – itself – implications - mindset - 
comes
Part 3. The relationship between the modern consumer and his or her rubbish is a complex one. 
Getting rid of rubbish has come to mean a great deal more than simply consigning breakfast 
leftovers (1)________ a plastic bag. With the (2)________ of recycling, rubbish has now invaded 
many people’s personal lives to an unprecedented degree. 
There was a time, in living (3)________, when rubbish collection was a simple matter – but 
today’s household rubbish, (4)________ being discarded, has to be filed and sorted into colour-
coded containers according to its recycling category. 
What is more, we are (5)________ out in a rash of irritation by the suggestion that, if rubbish 
collections (6)________ to become more infrequent, people would then make the effort to cut 
down on shopping and recycle more. We might be excused for wondering how this would be 
(7)________. Can people realistically buy fewer eggs or tubes of toothpaste than their lives 
(8)_______?
Recycling is (9)________ to be good for us. But for some, it’s just a (10)________ of rubbish. 
to – advent – memory – before – brought – were – possible – require - supposed – load born – march – looking – factors – abundance – sight – cycle – hardly – involved –matters
Part 7. It seems that a large percentage of today’s population is addicted to all forms of digital 
media and no one seems (1)________ of the nagging phone that buzzes, rings or sings to its 
owners incessantly. Many people no longer trust their own fallible memories and (2)________ 
every detail of their lives to some digital device or (3)________ and are completely lost without 
it. Generally speaking, it is the younger generation who are so addicted, but more and more 
people seem to be (4)________ their way of life eroded by the digital world. People ‘tweet’ the 
most mundane of (5)________ as well as the most interesting – in their world, having a cup of 
coffee is as exciting as climbing Mount Everest! There is a grave danger that people are allowing 
technology to take (6)________ over everything else in their lives. And in educational circles, 
concern is (7)________ over the influence of social media, which seems to be adversely 
affecting students’ progress in some cases. 
free – commit – other – having – matters – precedence - growing
Part 8. Social networking is here to (1)________ and interaction between people all over the 
world has never been (2)________. We can share our lives with our network friends who can 
help us solve problems or offer advice. Although these sites can (3)________ as a kind of group 
therapy session with people who seem to care and who will listen, there is little or no censorship, 
so cyber-bullying is a growing problem. Perhaps there need to be more (4)________ on what 
people are allowed to say. Nevertheless, social networking sites can be a great way to find people 
with shared (5)________ and they can also be very informative if used wisely. For many people, 
it offers them a feeling of (6)________ from the real world. Furthermore it gives them a chance 
to chat about anything and (7)________, often quite meaningless, without fear of being 
rejected by others. (8)________ the drivers, it has become a compelling activity for many, so it is 
hardly surprising that some people feel a (9)________ of disconnectedness if they are unable to 
get online for any period of time. And when they do get back online after a few hours of 
downtime, there is an unmistakable feeling of relief at being a (10)________ of the world once 
more. 
stay – easier – act – constraints – interests – escapism – everything – Whatever – sense - 
part
Part 9. It is hardly surprising, in light of their desperation, that the peoples of the developing 
world who are on the very bottom (1)________ of the ladder have little time for the 
conservationists and environmentalists who (2)________ bloody murder at what they perceive to 
be a total (3)________ for the environment in some parts of the “Third World”. And while they – 
the nature campaigners, that is – have, on the (4)________ of it, a very valid point after all, 
serious, and, in some cases, irrevocable (5)________ has been done to many precious habitats 
and the rare creatures that inhabit same – we must understand that the rules of supply and demand 
are in (6)________ here in the developing world just as much as anywhere else. For example, on 
the African plains, where (7)________ is still rife, and in the mountain forests where rogue 
hunters patrol, ask yourself this; would they bother if there wasn’t a market for their kill? Believe 
me, for every bull elephant slaughtered for its ivory (8)________, there is a rich, greedy, fat-cat 
collector ready to pay a premium to acquire this ‘find’ – in fact, there are probably ten of them. 
Similarly, for every mountain gorilla murdered, whose dismembered limbs appear in tourist 
outlets (9)________ so-called ‘ornaments’ – ashtrays and jewellery boxes, if you don’t mind – 
there has to be a willing buyer; an admirer of these grotesque trinkets. And there are plenty of 
them it (10)________ out. It’s the same principle with rare animal furs and skins; who do you 
think buys the crocodilian handbag? I doubt the local tribespeople could afford the price tag, 
don’t you? It is an absolute tragedy that endangered species of animals are being (11)________ 
to the verge of extinction, of this there can be no doubt. But we must try to understand the own (8)________ but rather that of the global economy. Facing up to difficult situations by doing 
something about it rather than running away and coming up with new ways of solving these 
problems is the (9)________ to survival, and ongoing education helps you do this. Don’t 
(10)________ around complaining. Get out there and do something about it. Remember, actions 
speak louder than words!
offers – lose – settle – excuse – pace – bite – loans – making – key - sit
Part 13. According to some psychologists, we should examine our deeper (1)________ when we 
attempt to help others who appear to be in need of our support. Helping others is clearly a good 
thing to do, and it can have a therapeutic effect on both giver and (2)________. If, however, we 
begin to focus on what we might (3)________ out of helping someone, rather than how that 
person might be helped, we could be in (4)________ of adopting a somewhat calculating attitude. 
This would be to lend (5)________ to the ideas of those psychologists who believe that, 
ultimately, we only do things for our own (6)________ that no actions are truly altruistic. And, of 
course, we can all think of examples of problems that have been exacerbated by the well-
intentioned, but ill-considered intervention of third (7)________. We should also (8)________ in 
mind that doing too much for people and protecting them from the consequences of their actions 
can (9)________ their motivation and even rob them of the resources to (10)________ things out 
for themselves.
motives – recipient – get – danger – weight – ends – parties - bear – reduce – sort
Part 14. We live in culture that values participation over ability: the karaoke culture. In 
broadcasting, it seems we cannot (1)________ the vogue for “access TV”, “people shows” and 
“video diaries”. (2)________ is our apparent obsession with documenting our own lives that, in 
future, programmes will be replaced by cameras in every room, so that we can watch 
(3)________ endlessly on TV. In the countless shows that (4)________ our daytime schedules, 
the audience has become the star. The public make programmes, the public participate in 
programmes, the public become performers. Anybody can do it!
But there is a world of (5)________ between enjoying something and joining in. If we all join in, 
what is the (6)________ of artists or experts? If everything (7)________, there can be no 
mystery, no mystique. I love listening to a genius and learning from (or even just appreciating) 
his or her skill. To assume then that I can “have a (8)________ at” their craft would be 
monstrous impudence on my part.
escape – Such – ourselves – fill – difference – point – accessible - go
Part 15. Few inventions have had more scorn and praise (1)________ upon them at the same 
time than television. And few have done so much to unite the world (2)________ one vast 
audience for news, sport, information and entertainment. Television must be rated (3)________ 
printing as one of the most significant inventions of all time in the field of communications. In 
just a few decades it has (4)________virtually every home in the developed world and an ever-
increasing proportion of homes in developing countries. It took over half a century from the first 
suggestion that television might be (5)________ before the first flickering (6)_______were 
produced in laboratories in Britain and America. In 1926 John Logie Baird’s genius for publicity 
brought television to the (7)________ of a British audience. It has since reached such 
(8)________ of success and (9)________ on such a pivotal function that it is difficult to imagine 
a world (10)________ of this groundbreaking invention.
heaped – into - alongside – reached – possible – pictures – attention – heights – taken - 
bereft
Part 16. Concentration is good in exams, bad in orange juice. Concentration happens when you 
manage to focus on one thing to the (1) ______ of all others, and concentrating on that one thing 
(2) ______ you to stop worrying about a lot of other things. Sometimes, of course, your mind