Reading Comprehension

Situation

Daughter: Mom, I'm going shopping with my friends at Chatuchak Weekend Market.

Mother: Beware of pickpockets. There are a lot of people there.

Daughter: Thank you, mom.

The mother says that because _____?

• she wants her daughter to take good care of her purse

• she doesn't want her daughter to go there

• she doesn't want to let her daughter go there alone

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READING COMPREHENSION 
Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical theater an actor's dramatic performance is primary, and the music plays a lesser role. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, or libretto, are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

It is pointed out in the reading that opera ----.

• has developed under the influence of musical theater
• is a drama sung with the accompaniment of an orchestra
• is not a high-budget production
• is often performed in Europe

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Dolphins are regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea and stories of them helping drowning sailors have been common since Roman times. The more we learn about dolphins, the more we realize that their society is more complex than people previously imagined. They look after other dolphins when they are ill, care for pregnant mothers and protect the weakest in the community, as we do. Some scientists have suggested that dolphins have a language but it is much more probable that they communicate with each other without needing words. Could any of these mammals be more intelligent than man? Certainly the most common argument in favor of man's superiority over them that we can kill them more easily than they can kill us is the least satisfactory. On the contrary, the more we discover about these remarkable creatures, the less we appear superior
It is clear from the passage that dolphins ----.

• don't want to be with us as much as we want to be with them
• are proven to be less intelligent than once thought
• have a reputation for being friendly to humans
• are the most powerful creatures that live in the oceans

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Naval architects never claim that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely should have never have happened. It was well designed and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It had been thoroughly inspected the day of its fatal voyage. Yet hours later, the Estonia rolled over and sank in a cold, stormy night. It went down so quickly that most of those on board, caught in their dark, flooding cabins, had no chance to save themselves: Of those who managed to scramble overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of hypothermia before the rescuers could pluck them from the cold sea. The final death toll amounted to 912 souls. However, there were an unpleasant number of questions about why the Estonia sank and why so many survivors were men in the prime of life, while most of the dead were women, children and the elderly.
One can understand from the reading that ---

• the lifesaving equipment did not work well and lifeboats could not be
   lowered
• design faults and incompetent crew contributed to the sinking of the
   Estonia ferry
• naval architects claimed that the Estonia was unsinkable
• most victims were trapped inside the boat as they were in their cabins

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Erosion of America's farmland by wind and water has been a problem since settlers first put the prairies and grasslands under the plow in the nineteenth century. By the 1930s, more than 282 million acres of farmland were damaged by erosion. After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has accelerated due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production. In the years ahead, soil erosion and the pollution problems it causes are likely to replace petroleum scarcity as the nation's most critical natural resource problem.
As we understand from the reading, today, soil erosion in America ----.

• causes humans to place new demands on the land
• is worse than it was in the nineteenth century
• happens so slowly that it is hardly noticed
• is the most critical problem that the nation faces

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In the 16th century, an age of great marine and terrestrial exploration, Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail around the world. As a young Portuguese noble, he served the king of Portugal, but he became involved in the quagmire of political intrigue at court and lost the king's favor. After he was dismissed from service by the king of Portugal, he offered to serve the future Emperor Charles V of Spain. 1.
The 16th century was an age of great ______ exploration.

• A. cosmic
• B. land 
• C. mental
• D. common man 

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In the 16th century, an age of great marine and terrestrial exploration, Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail around the world. As a young Portuguese noble, he served the king of Portugal, but he became involved in the quagmire of political intrigue at court and lost the king's favor. After he was dismissed from service by the king of Portugal, he offered to serve the future Emperor Charles V of Spain. 
2. Magellan lost the favor of the king of Portugal when he became involved in a political 

• A. entanglement 
• B. discussion 
• C. negotiation 
• D. problem 

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A papal decree of 1493 had assigned all land in the New World west of 50 degrees W longitude to Spain and all the land east of that line to Portugal. Magellan offered to prove that the East Indies fell under Spanish authority. On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships. More than a year later, one of these ships was exploring the topography of South America in search of a water route across the continent. This ship sank, but the remaining four ships searched along the southern peninsula of South America. Finally they found the passage they sought near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan named this passage the Strait of All Saints, but today it is known as the Strait of Magellan. 
3. The Pope divided New World lands between Spain and Portugal according to their location on one side or the other of an imaginary geographical line 50 degrees west of Greenwich that extends in a _________ direction.

• A. north and south 
• B. crosswise 
• C. easterly 
• D. south east

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More than a year later, one of these ships was exploring the topography of South America in search of a water route across the continent. This ship sank, but the remaining four ships searched along the southern peninsula of South America. Finally they found the passage they sought near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan named this passage the Strait of All Saints, but today it is known as the Strait of Magellan. 
4. One of Magellan's ships explored the _________ of South America for a passage across the continent.

• A. coastline 
• B. mountain range 
• C. physical features 
• D. islands 

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 This ship sank, but the remaining four ships searched along the southern peninsula of South America. Finally they found the passage they sought near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan named this passage the Strait of All Saints, but today it is known as the Strait of Magellan. 
5. Four of the ships sought a passage along a southern ______.

• A. coast 
• B. inland 
• C. body of land with water on three sides
• D. border 

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