1. Hãy đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn câu trả lời tốt nhất trong số A, B, C và D.
Maggie was very glad that James was not a frequent visitor to the house So far
as the children were concerned, he had a mystery about him that stirred their
imagination. He stirred Maggie’s anger, however, so that she often said to her
husband, “It’s a mercy that brother of yours doesn’t come oftener.”
In fact James came once a year, unexpectedly, around eight o’clock in the
evening, and he stayed for six hours of close discussion with his brother His arrival
was a signal to the children that their bedtime would be delayed. Not that he ever
spoke to them or played with them. He ignored them, as if he was unable to see
children, at least until the time came for him to go. Indeed, after his first greeting
and a careless kiss, James took no notice of Maggie either, except to add, ‘You’ll
be getting on with the supper, Maggie.’ Such was his regard for her.
Maggie paid him back in her own way. She kept the children up, the four of
them, to keep her company, she said, but of course they sang and made a noise and
broke the endless sound of James’s voice. Very late, they dropped off to sleep in
their chairs. Then, when James was about to go, Maggie woke them up and so
more or less forced him to part with four shillings before he left. That gave her
some satisfaction, for James, though well to do, was mean. He always went home
by the last train, just after two o’clock.
Maggie’s children secretly stared at their uncle. They could not forget that he
had, in their mother’s words, ‘lost two wives and taken a third’. They wondered
about those two unfortunate, lost ladies. They asked each other what their fate had
been, and if neither could ever be found again. James never brought his third wife
with him nor ever mentioned her. The children decided that he must be so
frightened of losing her that he never allowed her outside the door.
1. How did Maggie feel about James’s visits?
A. She wished he would come to see them more often.


B. Although she disliked his visits, she took pity on James.
C. She looked forward to his visits, but they made her tired

D. James’s visits annoyed her very much.
2. Maggie never prepared anything special for James because _______
A. he was a difficult man to please.
B. she never knew when he was coming.
C. she was too busy looking after her children.
D. he never stayed long enough for a meal.
3. When their uncle visited them, the children _______
A. enjoyed the stories he told them.
B. did not speak to him or look at him.
C. were allowed to stay up late.
D. spent the evening playing with him.
4. What do we know about James’s behaviour?
A. James was a kindly man, with love for the family.
B. Although James was blind, he acted normally enough.
C. James was anxious to please the family, especially the children.
D. James was rude to his sister-in law.
5. What was James’s reason for visiting the family?
A. To talk to his brother.
B. To get away from his own family.
C. To find out how his brother’s children were.
D. To see Maggie and to kiss her.
6. Maggie felt pleased when
A. she paid James the money that she owed him.
B. James gave some money to the children.
C. she had to wake James up, to catch his train.


D. James thanked her for the nice supper.
7. The children did not realise that two of James’s wives _______
A. were dead.

B. were alive but suffered from loss of memory.
C. had run away from James because they hated him.
D. might very well reappear one day.
2. Hãy đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn câu trả lời tốt nhất trong số A, B, C và D.
That afternoon Molly almost danced along the street, as she walked home with
her father from the station. They had seen Mrs. Gibson and Cynthia off to London.
She wished her step-mother would take herself off to London much more often
“Well now, dad,” she said, “I’m going to have you all to myself for a whole
week. You must be very obedient.”
“I hope you aren’t going to boss me, Molly. You’re walking me out of breath
already. We mustn’t pass Mrs. Goodmays in our hurry.”
They crossed the street to speak to Mrs. Goodmays, one of the doctor’s patients.
“We’ve just been seeing my wife and her daughter off to London. They’ve gone
up for a week.”
“Dear me, to London, and only for a week!” said Mrs. Goodmays, with
surprise. “It seems hardly worth the packing. It’ll be lonely for you, Molly, without
your step-sister.”
“Yes,” said Molly, suddenly feeling as if she ought to have taken this view of
the case. “I’ll miss Cynthia.”
“And you, Dr Gibson I hope you won’t feel like a widower once again. You
must come and have supper with me one evening. What about Tuesday?”
Dr Gibson felt a sharp blow on his leg from the toe of Molly’s shoe, but even so
he accepted the invitation, much to the old lady’s satisfaction.
A moment later Molly said to him, “How could you go and waste one of our


precious evenings! We’ve only got five now. I’ve been planning all sorts of things
for us to do together.”
“What sort of things?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Things you used to like.” She looked at him boldly.

“Forbidden things now.”
Her father’s eyes lit up, but his face remained serious. “I’m not going to be
pulled down, Molly. With hard work and sensible guidance I’ve reached a very fair
height of civilised behaviour, and there I’m going to stay.”.
“Oh no you’re not. We’re having bread and cheese for supper tonight, in
armchairs in front of the TV! And you shall wear your dressing-gown at breakfast
tomorrow-and every morning for a week! And you shall read the paper at the
dining-table! That’s only a start. I haven’t finished by a long way yet.”
1. What were Molly’s feelings as they walked home?
A. She wished she had gone to London too.
B. She was delighted to be alone with her father.
C. She was looking forward to Mrs. Gibson’s return.
D. She hated being apart from Cynthia.
2. Mrs. Gibson was _______.
A. Dr Gibson’s mother
C. Cynthia’s daughter

B. Molly’s mother
D. the doctor’s wife

3. Dr. Gibson could hardly keep up with Molly because _______
A. he was anxious to get home quickly.
B. he had not forgotten how to dance.
C. they were walking so fast.
D. she stopped and talked to Mrs. Goodmays
4. What did Mrs. Goodmays think about the visit to London?
A. She was jealous of the two who had gone.


B. She thought the visit was much too short.

C. She was glad that the doctor and Molly had not gone.
D. She was surprised they had not taken more clothes with them.
5. From the passage we can be certain that _______
A. the doctor’s first wife had died.
B. Mrs. Gibson had no children of her own.
C. Mrs. Gibson had never been married before.
D. the doctor had never had another wife.
6. When Molly kicked her father, _______
A. she meant him to turn down the invitation.
B. it seems to have been a pure accident.
C. it was a sign that Tuesday was inconvenient.
D. it showed she was pleased to have been invited.
7. What was Molly’s father afraid of?
A. He feared he might lose his position as a doctor.
B. He suspected Molly wanted him to do something criminal.
C. He thought Molly would encourage his old bad habits.
D. He believed Molly was trying to make him leave his wife.
3. Hãy đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn câu trả lời tốt nhất trong số A, B, C và D.
Byrne turned the key in the heavy lock and put it calmly in his pocket. He did
so much more from caution than from any kind of fear. This was the only entrance
to the house, and he did not mean to be caught unaware by any danger from
outside. He wondered if Tom Corbin had been as cautious the night before.
Though Tom would be away for at least three days, Byrne had a strange feeling of
his nearness. In the stillness he seemed to hear Tom’s voice. He looked round
quickly, for the tricks of hearing are the most realistic of all. But there were only
the women. It seemed impossible that Tom should not be there


The girl, carrying a smoky oil lamp, led Byrne upstairs. He threw open one after
another the doors along the passage. At this, the girl stopped and raised the lamp in

each doorway, staring at him meanwhile. Satisfied he was the only guest, Byrne
came to the last door, which the girl threw open herself.
“You sleep here, sir,” she said, giving him the lamp. “Your friend slept here
too. It’s our most comfortable bed.”
“Good night, miss,” he said politely.
Her lips moved in reply, but he did not catch the words. Her eyes never for a
moment left his face. He stepped in, and as he turned to close the door she was still
standing there motionless. He paused, and in the silence he thought he again heard
the sound of Tom’s voice. The sound terrified him now, not only because it
seemed much nearer but also because he imagined a note of warning in it.
He shut the door in the girl’s face then, leaving her in the dark. He opened it
again almost at once. She had disappeared without a sound. He closed and bolted
the door. A deep mistrust suddenly took possession of him. Why had that girl
stared at him so? Did she wish to remember him clearly? It was as if she knew that
she was seeing his face for the last time.
1. Why did Byrne take the key with him?
A. To let Tom in, when he returned.
B. Because he was afraid of what was going to happen.
C. To stop any enemy being let into the house.
D. Because he did not want the women to escape.
2. We know from the passage that Tom Corbin _______
A. had left the house three days before.
B. had-felt quite as suspicious as Byrne was.
C. had stayed in the house for three days.
D. had slept in the house the night before.


3. Byrne was surprised when he turned round because

_______


A. Tom was not in the room.
B. he had not expected to find Tom there
C. there was no danger behind him.
D. the women were there.
4. Why did Byrne look inside each room?
A. He wanted to choose the best room for himself.
B. He was looking for Tom Corbin.
C. The girl wanted him to examine each of the rooms.
D. He wished to make sure there was no one inside.
5. Although Byrne politely wished the girl good, night, _______.
A. she gave him a rude answer.

B. she did not leave him.

C. she refused to look at him.

D. she said nothing to him.

6. What made Byrne very frightened?
A. The strangeness of the place.

B. Being alone, at the end of the passage.

C. The sound he thought he heard.

D. The danger outside.

7. When Byrne shut the door, _______.
A. the room was in darkness.

C. it hit the girl in the face.

B. the girl went away.
D. the girl had already disappeared.

8. Byrne did not trust the girl because _______.
A. he had never seen her before
B. of the way she moved about
C. he knew she would be gone by morning
D. of the way she looked at him
4. Hãy đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn câu trả lời tốt nhất trong số A, B, C và D.
Bill Jarvis took over our village news agency at a time of life when most of us
only want to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to


do, and the news agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for
him, but then Bill was a chap who only wanted the simplicity and order and
regularity of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done
everything by the clock.
Every day he opened his shop at six a.m. to catch the early trade; the papers
arrived on his door-step before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers,
and the shop was convenient for the station. Business was tailing off by ten
o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who
wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down
on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometres away.
Some time in the afternoon, the evening papers landed on the door-mat, and at four
o’clock Bill reopened. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worth while.
He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in very bad weather, you always
knew where to find him in the afternoons, as I have said. Once, on a sunny
afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village.

By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting
there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had had no luck, I could see, but
he was making no effort to move.
“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.
For answer, he put a hand inside his jacket and took out a big, golden object.
For a moment I had no idea what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a
noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back:
“Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.” He stood up then and began to wind
in his line.
I had never known anyone carry a brass alarm clock round with them before.
1. Bill Jarvis became a newsagent when _______
A. he needed the money.

B. he decided to take things easy.


C. he was quite an old man.

D. he gave up clock-repairing.

2. What does the passage tell us about the news agency?
A. It was an easy job with fixed hours.
B. It was opened specially for Bill Jarvis
C. It was a very profitable business
D. It belonged to the railway and was part of the station.
3. Why did Bill open the shop so early in the day?
A. He liked to do as much as possible before he went to work.
B. The shop had to be open when the morning papers came.
C. Bill was never sure of the time.
D. It was then that he did a lot of business.

4. We understand from the passage that the shop closed for lunch _______
A. at eleven o’clock more or less. B. before eleven o’clock.
C. at exactly eleven o’clock.

D. always after eleven o’clock.

5. You might say “Hard luck” to someone who _______
A. has just heard some very good news!
B. is less fortunate than he or she ought to be.
C. puts great effort into whatever he or she tries.
D. fails through his or her own fault entirely.
6. Why was the writer on the riverbank that afternoon?
A. He was going to do some shopping in the village.
B. He was going to get the evening paper.
C. He was fishing.
D. He was on his way home from the village.
7. Why was the writer surprised when he saw Bill Jarvis?
A. He thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing.
B. He thought Bill was ill, because he was not moving at all.


C. Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange.
D. He was surprised because Bill stayed in his flat in the afternoons.
8. From the information given in the passage, who - or what - do you think was
wrong?
A. The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time.
B. Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep
C. The writer’s watch was fast.
D. Bill’s clock was wrong; it was very old.
5. Hãy đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn câu trả lời tốt nhất trong số A, B, C và D.

Becket not only travelled light, he lived light. In all the world he owned just the
clothes he stood up in, a full suitcase and a bank account. Arriving anywhere with
these possessions, he might just as easily put up for a month or a year as for a
single night. For long stays, not less than a month, he might take a furnished flat,
sometimes even a house. But whatever the length, he rarely needed anything he did
not have with him. He was, he liked to think, a self-contained person.
Becket had one occasional anxiety: the suspicion that he owned more than
would fit comfortably into the case. The feeling, when it came, was the signal for
him to throw something away or just leave it lying about. This was the automatic
fate of his worn-out clothes for example. Having no use for choice or variety, he
kept just a raincoat, a suit, a pair of shoes and a few shirts, socks and so on; no
more in the clothing line. He bought and read many books, and left them wherever
he happened to be silting when he finished them. They quickly found new owners.
Becket was a professional traveller, interested and interesting. He was not one
to ‘do’ a country in a week or a city in three days. He liked to get the feel of a
place by living in it, reading its newspapers, watching its TV, discussing its affairs.
He always tried to make a few friends - if necessary even by stopping a suitablelooking person in the street and talking to him. It worked well in about one case in


ten. Though Becket’s health gave him no cause for alarm, he made a point of
seeing a doctor as soon as he arrived anywhere. “A doctor knows a place and its
people better than anyone,” he used to say. He never went to see a doctor; he
always sent for one; that, he found, was the quickest way to confidences, which
came out freely as soon as he mentioned that he was a writer.
Becket was an artist as well. He painted pictures of Ins places and, when he had
gathered enough information, he wrote about them. He sold his work, through an
agent, to newspapers and magazines. It was an agreeable sort of life for a good
social mixer, lived nearly always in fine weather; and as Becket never stayed
anywhere for long, he enjoyed the satisfying advantage of paying very little in tax.
1. What do we know about Becket’s possessions?

A. He had enough baggage to stay for one night.
B. He carried all of them around with him.
C. He had thrown or given them away.
D. He left most of his things at home when he travelled.
2. Becket took over a flat when _______
A. there were no suitable hotels.
B. he meant to stay somewhere for several nights.
C. he was sure of staying a year or more
D. he expected not to move on for a month at least.
3. If anything worried Becket, it was _______
A. the thought of having too much baggage.
B. his habit of leaving things lying about.
C. the fact that he owned so little.
D. the poor state of his clothes.
4. Becket did not keep books because _______
A. he had no interest in literature.


B. the books he read belonged to other people.
C. he had no room in his case for them.
D. he preferred to give them to his friends
5. What was the usual result when Becket talked to strangers in the street?
A. People thought he was ill and sent for a doctor.
B. He made many new friends that way
C. The people he spoke to felt annoyed with him.
D. The approach failed in its purpose.
6. We understand from the passage that Becket was _______
A. a travel agent.

B. a journalist.


C. a spy.

D. a social worker.

7. How did Becket feel about taxation?
A. It worried him, so he kept moving from place to place.
B. He hated it, so he broke the tax laws.
C. He was pleased he could honestly avoid it.
D. He felt ashamed of not paying taxes.