Mình đang học trên tienganh123 thấy mấy bài đọc khá hay mọi người cùng làm nhé ^^
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Mountaineers have noted that as they climb, for example, up to the 12,633-foot Humphreys Peak in the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona, plant life changes radically. Starting among the cacti of the Sonoran Desert, one climbs into a pine forest at 7,000 feet and a treeless alpine tundra at the summit. It may seem that plants at a given altitude are associated in what can be called “communities” – groupings of interacting species. The idea is that over time, plants that require particular climate and soil conditions come to live in the same places, and hence are frequently to be found together. Scientists who study the history of plant life are known as paleobotanists, or paleobots for short. They build up a picture of how groups of plants have responded to climate changes and how ecosystems develop. But are these associations, which are real in the present, permanent?
A great natural experiment took place on this planet between 25,000 and 10,000 years ago, when small changes in the earth’s orbit and axis of rotation caused great sheets of ice to spread from the poles. These glaciers covered much of North America and Europe to depths of up to two miles, and then, as the climate warmed, they retreated. During this retreat, they left behind newly uncovered land for living things to colonize, and as those living things moved in they laid down a record we can read now. As the ice retreated and plants started to grow near a lake, they would release pollen. Some would fall into the lake, sink to the bottom, and be incorporated into the sediment. By drilling into the lake bottom it is possible to read the record of successive plant life around the lake. The fossil record seems clear; there is little or no evidence that entire groups of plants moved north together. Things that lived together in the past don’t live together now, and things that live together now didn’t live together in the past. Each individual organism moved at its own pace. The fossil record seems to be telling us that we should be thinking about preserving species by giving them room to maneuver – to respond to environmental changes.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
(A) The effects of the ice age on plants
(B) Plant migration after the ice age
(C) The need to develop a new approach to environmental issues
(D) Communities of plants live at different altitudes
2. The word “radically” is closest in meaning to
(A) variably
(B) demonstrably
(C) quickly
(D) dramatically
3. The author mentions “cacti” and a ”treeless alpine tundra” to illustrate
(A) changes in climate
(B) the effects of the ice age
(C) communities of plants
(D) plant migration
4. The word “which” refers to
(A) the responses of plants to climate changes
(B) the current theories of ecosystems
(C) the developments of ecosystems
(D) plant life changes
5. The passage states that by drilling into the lake bottom it is possible to find successive fossils of
(A) sediment
(B) ice
(C) plant life
(D) pollen
6. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage
(A) that the migratory patterns of plants are dependent upon changes in climate
(B) that modern conservation methods should consider the migratory patterns of plants
(C) that current associations of plants are similar to those in the past
(D) that another ice age is likely to occur at some time
7. All of the following are true except
(A) The ice age occurred when small changes affected the movement of the earth
(B) Fossil records seem to indicate that plants will be preserved if they have sufficient room to move
(C) Fossil records clearly show that entire groups of plants are unlikely to have moved together
(D) In the ice age glaciers covered the world to depths of up to two miles
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Napoleon Bonaparte’s ambition to control all the area around the Mediterranean Sea led him and his French soldiers to Egypt. After losing a naval battle, they were forced to remain there for three years. In 1799, while constructing a fort, a soldier discovered a piece of stele (stone pillar bearing an inscription) known as the Rosetta stone. This famous stone, which would eventually lead to the deciphering of an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics dating to 3100 B.C, was written in three languages: hieroglyphics (picture writing), demotic ( a shorthand version of hieroglyphics), and Greek. Scientists discovered that the characters, unlike those in English, could be written from right to left and in other directions as well.
Twenty-three years after discovery of the Rosetta stone, Jean Francois Champollion, a French philologist, fluent in several languages, was able to decipher the first world – Ptolemy – name of an Egyptian ruler. This name was written inside an oval called a “cartouche”. Further investigation revealed that cartouches contained names of important people of that period. Champollion painstakingly continued his search and was able to increase his growing list of known phonetic signs. He and an Englishman, Thomas Young, worked independently of each other to unravel the deeply hidden mysteries of this strange language. Young believed that sound values could be assigned to the symbols, while Champollion insisted that the pictures represented words.
1. How many years elapsed between the date of the oldest hieroglyphics deciphered by means of the Rosetta stone and the stone’s discovery?
a. 1,301
b. 1,799
c. 3,100
d. 4,899
2. Which of the following languages was not written on the Rosetta stone?
a. French
b. demotic
c. Greek
d. hieroglyphics
3. Which of the following statement is NOT true?
a. Cartouches contained names of prominent people of the period.
b. Champollion and Young worked together in an attempt to decipher the hieroglyphics.
c. One of Napoleon’s soldiers discovered the Rosetta stone.
d. Thomas young believed that sound values could be assigned to the symbols.
4. When was the first word from the Rosetta stone deciphered?
a. 3100 B.C
b. 1766
c. 1799
d. 1822
5. What was the first word from the Rosetta stone deciphered?
a. cartouche
b. Ptolemy
c. demotic
d. Champollion
6. Why were Napoleon’s soldiers in Egypt in 1799?
a. They were celebrating a naval victory.
b. They were looking for the Rosetta stone.
c. They were waiting to continue their campaign.
d. They were trying to decipher the hieroglyphics.
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Although management principles have been implemented since ancient times, most management scholars trace the beginning of modern management thought back to the early 1900s, beginning with the pioneering work of Frederick Taylor (1856-1915) Taylor was the first person to study work scientifically. He is most famous for introducing techniques of time and motion study, differential piece rate systems, and for systematically specializing the work of operating employees and managers. Along with other pioneers such as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, Taylor set the stage, labeling his philosophy and methods “scientific management’. At that time, his philosophy, which was concerned with productivity, but which was often misinterpreted as promoting worker interests at the expense of management, was in marked contrast to the prevailing industrial norms of worker exploitation.
The time and motion study concepts were popularized by Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. The Gilbreths had 12 children. By analyzing his children’s dishwashing and bedmaking chores, this pioneer efficiency expert, Frank Gilbreth, hit on principles whereby workers could eliminate waste motion. He was memorialized by two of his children in their 1949 book called “Cheaper by the Dozen”.
The Gilbreth methods included using stop watches to time worker movements and special tools (cameras and special clocks) to monitor and study worker performance, and also involved identification of “therbligs” (Gilbreth spelled backwards) – basic motions used in production jobs. Many of these motions and accompanying times have been used to determine how long it should take a skilled worker to perform a given job. In this way an industrial engineer can get a handle on the approximate time it should take to produce a product or provide a service. However, use of work analysis in this way is unlikely to lead to useful results unless all five work dimensions are considered: physical, psychological, social, cultural, and power.
1. What is the passage primarily about?
(A) The limitations of pioneering studies in understanding human behavior
(B) How time and motion studies were first developed
(C) The first applications of a scientific approach to understanding human behavior
(D) The beginnings of modern management theory
2. The word “ which” refers to
(A) scientific management
(B) philosophy
(C) productivity
(D) time and motion study
3. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that
(A) workers welcomed the application of scientific management
(B) Talor’s philosophy is different from the industrial norms
(C) by the early 1900s science had reached a stage where it could be applied to the workplace
(D) workers were no longer exploited after the introduction of scientific management.
4. The word “prevailing” is closest in meaning to
(A) predominant
(B) broadly accepted
(C) prevalent
(D) common
5. According to the passage, Frank Gilbreth discovered how workers could eliminate waste motion by
(A) using special tools such as cameras and clocks
(B) using stop watches
(C) applying scientific management principles
(D) watching his children do their chores
6. According to the passage, the time it takes a skilled worker to perform the motion of a given job can be measured by using:
(A) stop watches
(B) all five work dimensions
(C) special tools
(D) therbligs
7. All of the following are true except
(A) scientific management was concerned with productivity.
(B) the beginnings of modern management thought commenced in the 19th century.
(C) Frank Gilbreth’s fame was enhanced by two of his children writing a book.
(D) analyzing work to increase productivity is not likely to be useful unless all of the dimensions are considered.