000 TELEVISION SETS IN NORTH AMERICAN HOMES; ONE YEAR LATER THERE...

100,000 television sets in North American homes; one year later there were more than a million.

Today, it’s not unusual for a home to have three or more television sets, each with cable access to

perhaps over a hundred channels. News is the subject of many of those channels, and on several of

them it runs 24 hours a day.

What’s more, after the traumatic events of September 11, 2001, live newscasts were paired with

perennial text crawls across the bottom of the screen – so that viewers could stay abreast of every

story all the time.

Needless to say, the news that is reported to us is not good news, but rather disturbing images and

sound bytes alluding to disaster (natural and man-made), upheaval, crime, scandal, war, and the like.

Compounding the problem is that when actual breaking news is scarce, most broadcasts fill in with

scare stories about things that possibly might threaten our health, safety, finances, relationships,

waistline, hairline, or very existence in the future. This variety of story tends to treat with equal alarm

a potentially lethal flu outbreak and the bogus claims of a wrinkle cream that overpromises smooth

skin.

Are humans meant to be able to process so much trauma – not to mention so much overblown

anticipation of potential trauma – at once? The human brain, remember, is programmed to slip into

alarm mode when danger looms. Danger looms for someone, somewhere at every moment. Exposing

ourselves to such input without respite and without perspective cannot be anything other than a

source of chronic stress.

Question 71: According to the passage, which of the following has contributed to the intense nature of

twenty-first-century stress?

A. An overabundance of special news B. The degree to which stress affects our life

C. Our inability to control ourselves D. Our continual exposure to the media

Question 72: In the past, we had less news of distant people and lands because ______.

A. means of communication and transportation were not yet invented

B. the printing press changed the situation too slowly

C. printing, transportation, and telecommunications were not developed

D. most people lived in distant towns and villages

Question 73: The pronoun “them” in paragraph 3 refers to ______.

A. TV channels B. television sets C. TV news D. cable access

Question 74: The word “traumatic” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.

A. boring B. fascinating C. upsetting D. exciting

Question 75: According to the passage, when there is not enough actual breaking news, broadcasts

______.

A. are full of dangerous diseases such as flu

B. send out live newscasts paired with text across the screen

C. send out frightening stories about potential dangers

D. are forced to publicise an alarming increase in crime

Question 76: As stated in the passage, a flu outbreak and the bogus claims of a wrinkle cream tend to

A. involve natural and man-made disasters B. be treated with equal alarm

C. be scarce breaking news D. be warmly welcomed by the public

Question 77: Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?

A. The news that is reported to us is not good news.

B. Many people are under stress caused by the media.

C. Many TV channels supply the public with breaking news.

D. The only source of stress in our modern life is the media.

Question 78: The word “slip” in paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ______.

A. release B. bring C. fail D. fall

Question 79: According to the passage, our continual exposure to bad news without perspective is

obviously ______.

A. the result of human brain’s switch to alarm mode

B. a source of chronic stress

C. the result of an overabundance of good news

D. a source of defects in human brain

Question 80: What is probably the best title for this passage?

A. Effective Ways to Beat Stress B. More Modern Life – More Stress

C. The Media – A Major Cause of Stress D. Developments in Telecommunications

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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐỀ THI TUYỂN SINH CAO ĐẲNG NĂM 2012

Môn: TIẾNG ANH; Khối A1 và Khối D1

Thời gian làm bài: 90 phút, không kể thời gian phát đề

(Đề thi có 07 trang)

Mã đề thi 972

ĐỀ THI GỒM 80 QUESTIONS (TỪ QUESTION 1 ĐẾN QUESTION 80)

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the

following questions.

Question 1: I have two sisters, ______.

A. most of whom are nurses B. most of them are nurses

C. one of them are nurses D. both of whom are nurses

Question 2: Switch off all the lights ______.

A. until you enter the room B. before you leave the room

C. by the time you enter the room D. after you will leave the room

Question 3: ______, the less polluted the environment will be.

A. The fewer landfills we have B. The more polluted landfills will be

C. The less landfills are polluted D. The more landfills are there

Question 4: It is believed ______.

A. why is Alice such a talented ballet dancer

B. when Alice to become a talented ballet dancer

C. that Alice is a talented ballet dancer

D. how is Alice a talented ballet dancer

Question 5: ______ that she does not want to stay any longer.

A. A little homesick does Beth feel B. Beth feels such homesick

C. Homesick though Beth may feel D. So homesick does Beth feel

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the

correct answer to each of the questions from 6 to 15.

One of the factors contributing to the intense nature of twenty-first-century stress is our continual

exposure to media – particularly to an overabundance of news. If you feel stressed out by the news,

you are far from alone. Yet somehow many of us seem unable to prevent ourselves from tuning in to

an extreme degree.

The further back we go in human history, the longer news took to travel from place to place, and

the less news we had of distant people and lands altogether. The printing press obviously changed all

that, as did every subsequent development in transportation and telecommunication.

When television came along, it proliferated like a population of rabbits. In 1950, there were