I could hear voices but I couldn’t ______ what they were saying.

They ______ the floor when their mother came home.

The businessman inspected the contract carefully before signing it.

Bill really wants to buy a pair of shoes. He doesn't have enough money.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best combines a pair of sentences in the following questions.

That library book must be returned within a week.

'No, no, you really must stay a bit longer!' said the boys.

Their chances of success are small.

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3?

Which of the following happens when air pressure drops before a storm?

What does the writer say about space solar power?

The best title for the article would be_______.

Why does the writer use the example of the aeroplane?

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.

In the past, technology and progress was very slow. People "invented" farming 12,000 years ago but it took 8,000 years for the idea to go around the world. Then, about 3,500 years ago, people called "potters" used round wheels to turn and make plates. But it took hundreds of years before some clever person thought, if we join two wheels together and make them bigger, we can use them to move things.

In the last few centuries, things have begun to move faster. Take a 20th-century invention like the aeroplane, for example. The first aeroplane flight on 17 December 1903 only lasted 12 seconds, and the plane only went 37 metres. It can't have been very exciting to watch, but that flight changed the world. Sixteen years later, the first plane flew across the Atlantic, and only fifty years after that, men walked on the moon. Technology is now changing our world faster and faster. So what will the future bring? One of the first changes will be the matter we use. Scientists have just invented an amazing new material called graphene, and soon we will use it to do lots of things. With graphene batteries in your mobile, it will take a few seconds to charge your phone or download a thousand gigabytes of information! Today, we make most products in factories, but in the future, scientists will invent living materials. Then we won't make things like cars and furniture in factories - we will grow them! Thirty years ago, people couldn't have imagined social media like Twitter and Facebook. Now we can't live without them.

But this is only the start. Right now, scientists are putting microchips in some disabled people's brains, to help them see, hear and communicate better. In the future, we may all use these technologies. We won't need smartphones to use social media or search the internet because the internet will be in our heads! More people will go into space in the future, too. Space tourism has already begun, and a hundred years from now, there may be many hotels in space. One day, we may get most of our energy from space too. In 1941, the writer Isaac Asimov wrote about a solar power station in space. People laughed at his idea then, but we should have listened to him. Today, many people are trying to develop a space solar power station. After all, the sun always shines above the clouds!

Races are also recorded and uploaded to YouTube and other video platforms (33)________ they can be viewed over and over again.

Drone racing is an exciting new sport that has become popular faster than (29)______ other sport before it. Pilots steer small and lightweight, but high-powered drones along courses with obstacles. They fly through gates and around flags at speeds of over a hundred miles an hour. They control the drones using VR-like headgear. Every drone has a camera (30)________ to it so that spectators can also view flights either on a big screen or with special headgear. The races take place either outdoors - in big stadiums, or indoors in old warehouses and sports arenas. (31)________ are short because the battery time of drones is limited. (32)_______ drone racing started only a few years ago, there are already international competitions that take place all over the world. In professional leagues, drone pilots compete for thousands of dollars. In March, the World Drone Prix was staged in Dubai. A 16-year-old British teenager not only one the race but also received a prize money of 250 000 dollars. Television and other media have become aware of drone racing. ESPN, an American sports channel, will be broadcasting international drone races starting this August. Races are also recorded and uploaded to YouTube and other video platforms (33)________ they can be viewed over and over again.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Am I disturbing you? -" ___________”

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct response to each of the following exchanges.

Skills can be enhanced by the appropriate use of technology in certain circumstances.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.