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 following questions.

          Women often complain that the men in their lives are not romantic enough. But men sometimes have trouble expressing their feelings, often resorting to cheesy Hallmark cards or pricey bejeweled baubles to do the job for them. But there is a far better way to be romantic and it doesn’t involve spending a fortune or even opening your mouth.

          In the days before courting consisted of hanging our and getting drinks, courting was a formal and dignified endeavor. Symbols were used to express feelings and thoughts deemed too special for mere words. During the Victorian Era, a whole romantic language developed around the giving and receiving of flowers. Everything from the type and size of the flower to the way it was held or presented conveyed layers of meaning and communicated a gentleman’s feelings and intentions. Each bouquet contained a secret message for a lady to eagerly interpret and endlessly dissect.

          These days giving flowers has become a somewhat ho-hum cliché. Resurrecting this Victorian tradition will infuse the gesture with new life and romance and bring back some of the subtly, mystery, and fun of courtship. Your lady will swoon that you put far more thought into your selection of flowers than grabbing a bouquet out of the case at Wal-Mart. You’ll come off as a real gentleman and a hopeless romantic. It can become an amazing tradition you’ll both enjoy. Seriously, women eat this stuff up.

          Of course, even women nowadays have forgotten the meanings of flowers. So by your lady a flower dictionary. And keep a copy for yourself (it’s important that you both use the same reference, as the meanings were never set in stone and can sometimes vary from book to book). Then, each time you present her with a bouquet, she can search the volume to find what secret messages you have embedded in the flowers.

(Source: www.artofmanliness.com)

What is the author’s main purpose in the passage?

He ____________ a terrible accident while he ____________ along Ben Luc Bridge.

____________ extremely bad weather in the mountains, we’re no longer considering our skiing trip.

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 following questions.

          The principle difference between urban growth in Europe and in the North American colonies was the slow evolution of cities in the former and their rapid growth in the latter. In Europe they grew over a period of centuries from town economies to their present urban structure. In North America, they started as wilderness communities and developed to mature urbanism in little more than a century.

          In the early colonial days in North America, small cities sprang up along the Atlantic Coastline, mostly in what are now New America, small cities sprang up along the Atlantic United States and in the lower Saint Lawrence valley in Canada. This was natural because these areas were nearest England and France, particularly England, from which most capital goods (assets such as equipment) and many consumer goods were imported Merchandising establishments were, accordingly, advantageously located in port cities from which goods could be readily distributed to interior settlements. Here, too, were the favored locations for processing raw materials prior to export. Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Montreal, and other cities flourished, and, as the colonies grew, these cities increased in importance.

          This was less true in the colonial South, where life centered around large farms, known as plantations, rather than around towns, as was the case in the areas further north along the Atlantic coastline. The local isolation and the economic self-sufficiency of the plantations were antagonistic to the development of the towns. The plantations maintained their independence because they were located on navigable streams and each had a wharf accessible to the small shipping of that day. In fact, one of the strongest factors in the selection of plantation land was the desire to have it front on a water highway.

          When the United States became an independent nation in 1776, it did not have a single city as large as 50,000 inhabitants, but by 1820 it had a city of more than 10,000 people, and by 1880 it had recorded a city of over one million. It was not until after 1823, after the mechanization of the spinning and weaving industries, that cities started drawing young people away from farms. Such migration was particularly rapid following the Civil War (1861-1865).

Many people think that Steve stole the money.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 15 to 19.

          Each family forms its own set of values and decides what is most important to them. Discipline also varies among families. Families have different ways of dealing with different issues. In some families, one or both parents make all the decisions with no (15) ____________ from the children, while other families may encourage input from all family members before decisions are made. Perhaps you know of a family (16) ____________ there is equal decision making among family members.

          There is no one family style for everyone. A family’s style develops based on each family’s individual situation and the values they care about. (17) ____________, your family may be laid-back, while another family is very active and hurried. Many different ways of living together can work. What makes a family strong is not just (18) ____________ of people in it, whether its members are related, or their pace of life; people caring for one another and sharing their lives is what really matters.

          Many families also share faiths such as religious activities with one another. As a Scout, part of your duty is to do your best to make your family strong and help your family thrive. By doing this, you are helping to lay the (19) ____________ for a stronger community and society.

Tom: “Who’s going to win the contest?” – Jerry: “____________.”

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best completes each of the following exchanges.

According to the passage, all of the following aspects of the plantation system influenced the growth of southern cities EXCEPT the ____________.