ASSORTED EXERCISES

1. It is easy to forget, in a landscape so fetching and at one to nature, that the beauty of the landscape is largely
accidental, the mere by-product of century of largely practical pursuits. The features that ennoble it, the neat fields,
the meandering stone walls and hedgerows, were put there for a purpose but have also functioned as adornment.
For hundreds of years, these circumstances held swing.

In many of modern Britain it still does, but the question is for how much longer this heritage can be maintained. A
revolution in the technology and economic of farming, short-sighted government policies and the inexorable creep
of suburb and shopping mall have altogether subjected large areas of Britain’s shrinking countryside to more
upheaval in a single lifetime that in perhaps the whole preceding five hundred years.

Hedgerows are a traditional landscape feature trying to survive in a twentieth century environment and no law
stands between Britain’s ancient hedgerows and their destruction. If a road needed width or the owner of a
property decided that he or she preferred their property to be bounded with barbed wire, it would be the work of
but a couple of hours to bulldoze away a thousand years of history.

Key:

1. to => with 6. many => much

2. century => centuries 7. economic => economics

3. adornment => an adornment/adornments 8. altogether => together

4. these circumstances => this circumstance 9. width => widening

5. swing => sway 10. with => by

Explanation:

1. (be) at one with sb/sth: (phr, f) to feel that you completely agree with sb/sth, or that you are part of sth

2. adornment: (n) (1) [c] sth you wear to make urself look more attractive; sth used to decorate a place/an object;
(2) [unc] the action of making sth/sb look more attractive by decorating it or them with sth

3. sway: (n, lit) power or influence over sb => hold sway: remain power/influence

4. economics: (n, plural, unc) the way in which money influences, or is organized within, an area of business or
society

5. altogether: (adv) (1) completely, in every way; (2) used to give a total number or amount; (3) used to introduce a
summary when you have mentioned a number of different things

6. bound: (v, f, T, passive) to form the edge or limit of an area => be bounded by sth
Source:

Practice Testst for the revised CPE 1 SB – Test 5 – Part 5 UoE (page 129)

2. The importance of saving plastic

Many artefacts of (1. ENDURE) _________________ cultural significance from the last century were made from
plastic. It was always confidently assumed that this rather mundane material was virtually (2. DESTROY)
_________________. Now that some of these artefacts have become museum pieces, we have discovered that this
notion was sadly mistaken.

The (3. GRADE) ________________ of plastics is (4. WORRY) ________________ both scientists and historians,
who are racing against time to save our plastic heritage before it crumbles into dust. Our love affair with plastics
stems in large part frm the fact that they can be moulded into just about any shape (5. IMAGINE)
_________________. When it comes to (6. LONG) _________________, however, they have a serious flaw: their
chemical structure breaks down when they are exposed to air and sunlight.

Many now argue that we must consider the cultural legacy we will be leaving future generations. Without urgent
(7. INTERVENE) _______________ many artefacts will be lost forever. But developing (8. EFFECT)
_________________ conservation strategies is difficult because what works to preserve one type of plastic can
have a (9. CATASTROPHE) _________________ effect on the (10. LIFE) _________________ of another.

Key:

1. enduring 2. indestructible 3. degradation 4. worrying 5. imaginable

6. longevity 7. intervention 8. effective 9. catastrophic 10. lifespan

Source:

CPE 2 new format – Test 4 – Part 1 R+UoE (page 68)

3. In today’s globalised world, the role the translator plays is, (1) _____________ a doubt, crucial. Each and (2)
_____________ time translators set to work they have a heavy responsibility to communicate as accurately as
possible. A poor translation might merely cause amusement, but at (3) _____________, the consequences could
sometimes be extremely serious.

There are a great many problems encountered in the translation process, some deriving (4) _____________ the
grammatical differences between languages and others caused by idioms, (5) _____________ to mention highly
specific cultural references that some argue, with good (6) _____________ perhaps, cannot be successfully
translated.

It (7) _____________ without saying that translators should have a well-developed sensitivity to their mother
tongue and the second language they work with. But whereas once they needed little (8) _____________ than
exceptional linguistic skills, translators nowadays may require specialist knowledge of areas such as medicine, law
or technology.

One factor they consider is how the translation sounds. Here, they may make (9) _____________ of strategies such
as reading their translation aloud, thereby ensuring that words are not put in a sentence, if (10) _____________
individually accurate and appropriate, together they sound harsh or unpleasant.

Key:

1. without 2. every 3. worst 4. from 5. not

6. reason 7. goes 8. more 9. use 10. while

Source:

CPE 2 new format – Test 3 – Part 2 R+UoE (page 50)

4. Luckily, societies have built-in (1. WEIGH) _________________ to such present bias – ways of investing in the
future that they call research and education. Though both have suffered this year, the fact that they have a long
investment horizon means that previous generations’ efforts have tided us over. Hence a pandemic that for 11 long
months has felt ancient, because our only shield against it was the (2. AGE) _________________ one of social
distancing, suddenly slipped through a (3. HOLE) _________________ and became postmodern. The Covid-19
vaccines that have recently been approved mark a technological (4. WATER) _________________ – one from
which the world is unlikely to look back.

Those vaccines offer us the possibility of herd immunity and a return to something approaching (5. NORMAL)
_________________ – but only if enough people take them. Unless governments make them compulsory for some
or all of the population – which hopefully won’t be necessary – this will be an individual decision, which means
our (6. COLLECT) _________________ future lies in every individual’s hands. Getting in line for a dose seems
like a(n) (7. BRAIN) _________________, given that our regulators have deemed the vaccines to be safe and
effective, and not only our future but potentially that of the next generation is riding on them. At any rate, we are
the ones staring down the marshmallow now.

Once the pandemic has receded, there will be lessons to digest and implement. One of them is that experts should
be treated once again with the respect they deserve. They are, after all, the dividend of our investment in research
and education – our guides to the future. They should be allowed to disagree, to say they don’t know, to fail, as all
human beings occasionally do. But we should keep them on their toes too, and point out their (8. BLIND)
_________________ ,because it’s not really droll that more than 300,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 to
date, or that the UK has had the sixth highest number of deaths in the world at the time of writing. It’s a tragedy of
dimensions that would have been literally (9. CONCEIVE) _________________ a little over a year ago, when the
GHSI was published.

Key to preventing any (10. OCCUR) _________________ is understanding why that coloured chart got it so
wrong, because hindsight is all very well but it should at least sing for its supper. As Dalglish pointed out, 85% of
global health organisations are headquartered in Europe or North America, and half of all global health leaders are
UK or US nationals. The community of experts that seeks to protect us from future pandemics needs to open up to
Vietnam, Senegal, China, New Zealand and all the other countries that learned from their diverse past experiences,
and learned well – in many cases, with fewer resources. [...]

Key:

1. counterweight(s) 2. age-old 3. wormhole 4. watershed 5. normality

6. collective 7. no-brainer 8. blind(-)spots 9. inconceivable 10. recurrence

Source:

“The UK and the US need to learn from countries that better handled Covid-19” – written by Laura Spinney,
published on The Guardian, Tue 29 Dec 2020

5. Even the most (1) a _ _ _ _ _ fan of elasticated waistbands would have to concede that 2020 has been an ugly
year for (2) _ _ s _ fashion. The industry’s environmental issues are well known. It (3) _ m _ _ _ more carbon
emissions than all international flight and (4) m _ _ _ t _ _ _ shipping combined, according to UNEP, the UN
Environment Programme. The UK (5) a _ _ _ _ sends an estimated £140m worth, or 350,000 tonnes, of used
clothing to landfill. And 2020 highlighted the human cost of over-production, with (6) _ r i _ reports from Pakistani
factories supplying clothes to Boohoo topping off a year in which (7) g _ _ _ _ n _ workers in Bangladesh,
Cambodia and Vietnam were among the first to pay the price of the pandemic as western companies refused to pay
for (8) o _ d _ _ _.

But there has been good news too, even within the limitations of this strange, sad year – sometimes because of
them. Here are five promising developments – from (9) _ i _ d _ _ _ shifts to (10) _ _ _ r _ _ t _ _ e technology –
which could help us emerge from this wearing something we can feel good about.

Secondhand and DIY fashion

In an expression of collective stuffification, two in five people in the UK had a Covid clearout, a real problem as
charity shops received more goods than they could (11) h _ _ _ _ e. The (12) s _ _ _ _ _ lining was a boom in
secondhand shopping: Depop had a stellar year, with traffic up 200% year-on-year and (13) t _ _ _ o _ _ _ doubling
globally since 1 April. Ebay sold 1,211% more preloved items in June than at the same time in 2018, with a
dramatic 195,691% rise in purchases for secondhand designer fashion during the same period.

There was a sense of make do and mend in designer fashion too, as disruption to the supply chain – and a (14) m _
_ n t _ _ _ of unsold garments and fabric – helped (15) p _ _ p _ _ the trend for using “deadstock” (fabric which
may otherwise go to waste). Small brands such as Gemma Marie The Label and Justine Tabak bought (16) a _ _ _
d _ _ _ d fabric to make (17) _ e _ p _ k _ pieces for clients over Instagram, and designers including JW Anderson
made clothes using fabrics and trims from previous seasons.
Some used lockdown to make not sourdough bread but their own (18) c _ _ t _ _ _ _, with handmade and DIY
fashion up by 30% on Depop between May and July, and tie dye (19) o _ _ i _ r _ _ e _ t. A TikTok trend for
crochet, (20) s _ _ _ _ _ d by fans trying to recreate a multi-coloured cardigan worn by Harry Styles, was so
pronounced that the V&A acquired the knit for its permanent collection.

Key:

1. ardent 2. fast 3. emits 4. maritime 5. alone

6. grim 7. garment 8. orders 9. mindset 10. disruptive

11. handle 12. silver 13. turnover 14. mountain 15. propel

16. abandoned 17. bespoke 18. clothing 19. omnipresent 20. sparked

Source:

“Could the Covid pandemic make fashion more sustainable?” – written by Hannah Marriott, published on The
Guardian, Mon 28 Dec 2020

6. At the peak of the pandemic, Britons were searching for coronavirus-related information six times a day on (1)
____________, an analysis of search engine data reveals. And although our preoccupations have changed over the months,
our (2) ____________ for Covid-related information continues to outstrip that for all other health and social care-related
topics.

2020 has been an extraordinary year. (3) ____________ before have we been so united in our concerns and
interests as we roller-coasted through the months. To better understand what that psychological journey looked
like, Kaiasm, a Somerset-based data intelligence company, (4) ____________ the searches people make on
Google, Bing and other internet sites. But (5) ____________ than analysing the top search terms people use, it
groups these together into underlying concepts, to better understand people’s needs and interests.

Using (6) ____________ approach, its analysts charted the Covid-related search topics that Britons typed into their
(7) ____________ engines during 2020, ranking them by absolute increase in interest. “We wanted to understand
the worries we all had during this year of Covid and how that changed month by month, reflecting on what was
important to ordinary people beyond the daily news cycle,” said Liam McGee, Kaiasm’s chief scientist.

Doing so revealed some interesting insights into the British (8) ____________: for instance, people appeared to
care more about Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway’s husband, Derek Draper, who was treated in
hospital with Covid during April, than they did about Boris Johnson’s (9) ____________ with the virus. Also, once
coronavirus restrictions began to ease during the summer months, it was information about the coronavirus
situation in France, Greece and Croatia that we avidly searched for – presumably in the (10) ____________ of
booking holidays to these destinations.

Key:

1. average 2. thirst/craving/... 3. Never 4. crunches/... 5. rather

6. this 7. search 8. psyche/... 9. brush/... 10. hope

Source:

“Analysis of Covid search terms reveals Britons’ hopes and fears in 2020” – written by Linda Geddes, published on
The Guardian, Mon 28 Dec 2020

7. The British are notorious for working the longest hours in Europe. For many of us, long hours are a (1)
__________ of addiction. For some, it’s about proving your dedication. For others, it is just part of the culture. But
Britain’s long hour’s culture is not necessarily achieving a great (2) __________; British companies are 25% less
productive than their continential (3) __________.

When the BBC’s Money programme asked office staff at one large company to try to keep their (4) __________
hours for a week (some of them work up to 60 hours a week), they were unwilling to try. But management was
keen to reduce stress by improving the (5) __________ between employees’ home and work life, and thought the
experiment might be a (6) __________ way to get everyone thinking about their working hours and how they
might be able to reduce them.

As the week (7) __________, staff found it hard to cope with the pressure of leaving work undone. They felt they
were letting people down and worried about the effect on the business. By the middle of the week, the pressure was
bringing some of them to breaking (8) __________. With the help of work/life specialist Lynne Copp, the stressed
workers were encouraged to try delegation, reorganising priorities and making meetings more focused. Did the
company suffer? Despite some catching up the following week, the running of the company as a whole did not
seem to be greatly (9) __________. In fact it had (10) __________ a reappraisal of the whole attitude to staying
late.

Key:

1. form 2. deal 3. counterparts 4. set/fixed/... 5. balance

6. good/... 7. progressed/... 8. point 9. affected/... 10. caused/...

Source:

Upstream Proficiency SB – Module 5 – Exercise 41 (Summary Writing) – Page 205

8.

The age of waste: five designers modelling a ‘circular economy’

A. Tobias Juretzek – Rememberme chair

The Berlin-based designer Tobias Juretzek has been making things out of the stuff people throw away all his life.
“As a child, I never considered waste as only waste,” he says. “I often experienced the magic of turning discarded
objects into something new.”

Today, he works with an Italian recycling company to source unwanted clothes and with Italian furniture
manufacturer Casamania & Horm to saturate them with a binding agent and compress them into chair-shaped
moulds. It is a very hands-on, and therefore small-scale, process, but he has big plans. He would like to scale up
and use the pre-consumer waste streams of the fashion industry.

As its name suggests, the Rememberme chair was inspired by an interest in the nature and value of our
relationships with the objects we own. Describing each piece as a “time capsule of living history”, he says:
“Characteristics [of clothes] like details, colours and craftsmanship remain visible and create a vibrant product
language. Clothes can encapsulate moments and adventures. My furniture transports these memories and gives
them a new expression.

“With its unconventional appearance, the chair serves as an ambassador for the value of discarded or unused
materials. Even though sustainability is such a hot topic these days, a decrease in consumption is not noticeable. In
order to create a more sustainable and progressive world, everybody needs to be involved. The Rememberme chair
challenges people to think differently.”

B. Simone Post – Post Adidas

When Adidas heard about Rotterdam-based designer Simone Post’s graduate project to make rugs from the
misprinted fabric of a Dutch wax print company, they approached her to make something similar for their stores.
But she had a better idea: what about getting them to look at their own waste streams?

The difficulty was that the Adidas supply chain is global – or “big, far away and difficult to see”, as Post puts it.
But she hit upon the idea of using old trainers, calling the project Post Adidas. The brand made 409m pairs of
trainers between 2008 and 2018, so she didn’t have to look very far for material.

“Sports shoes are made from multiple materials glued together – textiles, metal, soft plastics, hard plastics – and
that needs to change because it makes them very difficult to recycle,” she says. “But as a designer, you work with
what you’ve got.”

She collaborated with I:CO, a German company specialising in the collection, reuse and recycling of used clothing
and shoes that had already developed a method of shredding shoes.

Post decided to sort the trainer fragments into two colourways: light and dark. More complex separation is beyond
the scope of current technologies, but this simple move enabled her to create complex graphic patterns – the
melange of different colours is only discernible on close inspection.

The rugs are pressed, with a binding agent, into geometric shapes. “I never stop being amazed by the fresh, perfect-
looking thing that emerges from what was considered waste,” she says.
She hopes eventually to use the process to make sports shoes for a fully circular product. Having been told at art
school that “fashion is inherently unsustainable, so you don’t have to bother”, Post believes things are starting to
shift. “My generation and the generation after us really want to bring about change,” she says.

“There is so much leftover material that we cannot really ignore it any more – and there are now so many initiatives
that using waste to improve the system is almost becoming the obvious choice.”

C. James Shaw – Plastic Baroque

Even recycling generates waste. London-based designer James Shaw’s collection of furniture is made from the
sweepings that are left on a plastic-recycling facility’s floor after the processing of high-density polyethylene
(HDPE) milk bottles and other food packaging.

With an extrusion gun of his own design, Shaw melts down the plastic pellets and squirts the results into Play-Doh-
like strands. With these, he “paints in three dimensions” to create each piece. “I don’t really believe in waste – it
shouldn’t exist,” he says. “For my generation of designers, this kind of thinking is just implicit. We have so many
high-quality waste products and materials that we are currently doing silly things with, like burying them in the
ground or letting them escape into the oceans. It just seems logical to use them.”

The collection is named Plastic Baroque – by combining the word “plastic”, suggestive of cheapness, disposability
and ubiquity, with the word “baroque”, evocative of luxury, opulence and excess, Shaw is attempting to challenge
perceptions, elevate plastic’s value and inspire positive solutions to the environmental crisis. But it’s not to
everyone’s taste and Shaw admits he receives mixed responses. “I am up for things being provocative or disruptive,
but at the same time I am chasing beauty,” he says. “Some people really get it, and can see the beauty in it, but
some people find it very ugly.”

Despite a few negative reactions, Shaw believes attitudes are starting to change. “Whatever happens, waste will
become much more widely used as a raw material,” he argues. “Whether you are predicting ‘climate Armageddon’
or business as usual, resources are becoming more scarce and we cannot keep relying on extraction for the
materials we use in everyday life.”

D. Bethan Gray – Exploring Eden

A collection of accessories and furniture – created in collaboration with sustainable surface specialist Nature
Squared – Bethan Gray’s Exploring Eden uses shells and feathers that are discarded in food production. “As long
as people are eating shellfish and poultry, this waste is being created,” she says. “It just makes sense to find a use
for it.”

Bright pink scallop shells are embedded into black eco-resin to showcase their zig-zag cross-section in a striking
desk. “The bold, graphic pattern is amazing,” says Gray. “Just like something I would have designed, but
completely natural.”

Nature Squared was already using the brown part of a pen shell but hadn’t yet found a use for its iridescent nib.
“It’s a black rainbow,” enthuses Gray. “We just had to use it.”
With it, they created a fluted coffee table, a lounge chair and a paperweight. The project is part of a wider
environmental stewardship programme, so the additional income fishermen make from selling these shells to the
furniture-maker is invested into replacing plastic nets with more ecological ones.

In her London studio, Gray has always designed high-quality, long-lasting furniture and ensured her materials are
ethically sourced, but this project was a catalyst for working in a more circular way. “In some ways I’m quite late
to the party,” she admits. “But working with these materials has changed the way I think about everything. Once
your eyes are open, you rethink everything. This project has made me think differently. More consciously. Less
wastefully.”

E. Yinka Ilori – If Chairs Could Talk

Growing up in a working-class family on a council estate in north London, designer Yinka Ilori was used to a
make-do-and-mend approach to clothes and distinctly remembers arriving at school in a uniform two sizes too big
that his mum assured him he would grow into.

However, it was on his first trip to Nigeria – where his parents were born and raised – that he really became aware
of reuse and recycling. “People were using old concrete blocks or tyres as seating, or previously worn fabrics for
upholstery,” he says. “It was fascinating to see them using the everyday objects around them as part of designed
objects.”

He studied furniture design at London Metropolitan University, where a brief to combine two discarded chairs into
one reignited his passion for reuse. “Seeing two chairs from two different worlds come together to create a new
narrative blew my mind,” he says. “I suddenly saw chairs not just as seats, but as objects that could have power and
depth in society, and perhaps even change perspectives.”

For Ilori, the use of waste in his work is about more than just the environmental impact – it is about storytelling.
Inspired by the Nigerian parable, “No matter how long the neck of a giraffe is, it still can’t see the future,” his
breakthrough project, If Chairs, Could Talk, told the stories of five childhood friends.

“I grew up in a society where people are pre-judged,” he says. “Of those friends, some are famous actors, some are
lawyers, and some are stuck inside a criminal justice system they’ve lost all faith in. I wanted to tell their stories.”

Ilori is now working on larger-scale architectural projects, but is still concerned with reuse – Colour Palace for
Dulwich Picture Gallery was dismantled and repurposed into planter kits for schoolchildren and he now has a
commitment to legacy written into his contracts, arguing that there is little point in using recycled materials if they
can’t go back into the circular economy later. “For the first time ever, I am really hopeful,” he says. “The
conversations I am having now are positive, empowering and fair. I am excited for the future.”

Which designer mentions the following?

1. a revival of interest? E

2. a keenness for interrelations between people and their possessions? A

3. a shift in responses? C

4. a never-ending feeling of surprise at the outcomes? B

5. an absolute negation of a particular thought? A

6. the recognition of certain methods to treat waste? E

7. motivation by a story? E

8. the tardiness of participation in a trend? D

9. the difficulty caused by a massive-scale system? B

10. the acknowledgement of ambivalence? C

Explanation:

1. [...] a brief to combine two discarded chairs into one reignited his passion for reuse [...]

2. [...] an interest in the nature and value of our relationships with the objects we own [...]

3. [...] attitudes are starting to change [...]

4. [...] “I never stop being amazed by the fresh, perfect-looking thing that emerges from what was considered
waste,” [...]

5. [...] “As a child, I never considered waste as only waste,” [...]

6. [...] it was on his first trip to Nigeria – where his parents were born and raised – that he really became aware of
reuse and recycling [...]

7. [...] Inspired by the Nigerian parable [...]

8. [...] “In some ways I’m quite late to the party,” [...]

9. [...] The difficulty was that the Adidas supply chain is global – or “big, far away and difficult to see” [...]

10. [...] Shaw admits he receives mixed responses [...]

Source:

“The age of waste: five designers modelling a ‘circular economy’ “ – written by Katie Treggiden, published on The
Guardian, Sat 3 Oct 2020

9.

Among Us: the video game that has shot 100 million players into outer space

If “sus” and “vent” mean nothing to you, then you’ve somehow missed out on the smash-hit multiplayer game
Among Us. But with numbers playing the online game heading towards 100 million, maybe you’ll find out before
Christmas how good you are at being an “impostor” .

For the (1. INITIATE) _________________, Among Us is the sleeper game hit of 2020. The premise is simple:
it’s Cluedo or Wink Murder on a spaceship with four to 10 players of crewmates and impostors. The crewmates
perform simple tasks for take-off, while impostors sabotage operations and kill other players. Impostors are the
only players who can travel through vents – hence the significance of vent in Among Us. Gamers hold meetings to
pick a suspect – which is where the word sus comes in – to (2. JET) _________________. The aim is to catch the
impostors.

The game, launched in 2018 by US software company InnerSloth, had been downloaded a (3. RESPECT)
_________________ 1 million times by May 2019. But as lockdowns forced people around the world to stay at
home and find new ways to link up with their friends, Among Us surged in popularity. By the end of September
2020, 60 million people were playing every day.

This (4. PHENOMENON) _________________ success started in July on video-streaming platform Twitch when
(5. PROFILE) _________________ gamers began streaming themselves playing Among Us. Many YouTubers and
TikTok influencers immediately followed suit. Its popularity even spread to politicians – a fortnight before the US
presidential election, Hasan Piker, a political commentator on Twitch with 4.5 million followers, streamed a game
of Among Us with leftwing congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar as part of an initiative to
encourage young people to vote.

Key:

1. uninitiated 2. jettison 3. respectable 4. phenomenal 5. high-profile

Source:

“Among Us: the video game that has shot 100 million players into outer space” – written by Alice Fisher,
published on The Guardian, Sun 29 Nov 2020

10.

Among Us: the video game that has shot 100 million players into outer space

If “sus” and “vent” mean nothing to you, then you’ve somehow missed out on the smash-hit multiplayer game
Among Us. But with numbers playing the online game (1) _____________ towards 100 million, maybe you’ll find
out before Christmas how good you are at being an “impostor” .

For the (2) _____________, Among Us is the sleeper game hit of 2020. The premise is simple: it’s Cluedo or
Wink Murder on a spaceship with four to 10 players of crewmates and impostors. The crewmates (3)
_____________ simple tasks for take-off, while impostors sabotage operations and kill other players. Impostors are
the only players who can travel through vents – (4) _____________ the significance of vent in Among Us. Gamers
hold meetings to pick a suspect – which is where the word sus comes in – to jettison. The aim is to (5)
_____________ the impostors.

The game, (6) _____________ in 2018 by US software company InnerSloth, had been downloaded a respectable 1
million times by May 2019. But as lockdowns forced people around the world to stay at home and find new ways
to link (7) _____________ with their friends, Among Us surged in popularity. By the end of September 2020, 60
million people were playing every day.
This phenomenal (8) _____________ started in July on video-streaming platform Twitch when high-profile gamers
began streaming themselves playing Among Us. Many YouTubers and TikTok influencers immediately followed
(9) _____________. Its popularity even (10) _____________ to politicians – a fortnight before the US presidential
election, Hasan Piker, a political commentator on Twitch with 4.5 million followers, streamed a game of Among
Us with leftwing congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar as part of an initiative to encourage
young people to vote.

Key:

1. heading 2. uninitiated/... 3. perform/conduct 4. hence 5. catch/...

6. launched 7. up 8. success 9. suit 10. spread

Source:

“Among Us: the video game that has shot 100 million players into outer space” – written by Alice Fisher,
published on The Guardian, Sun 29 Nov 2020

11. To look back at the year in fashion is to look back at a year of crisis. In the first few months of 2020, as the
severity and scale of the coronavirus pandemic became clear, businesses around the world faced (1. COMPARE)
_________________ challenges posed by the largest global public health crisis in generations. The fashion
industry was not immune.

Making clothes became extremely difficult, and many of us -- forced to stay at home amid job (2. SECURE)
_________________ and health concerns -- lost our appetite for buying them.

A recent report by consulting firm McKinsey and The Business of Fashion showed that fashion sales in China
dropped significantly at the beginning of the year, while in Europe and the US they fell off a cliff edge in March.
The same report predicted that fashion companies' (3. YEAR) _________________ profits will decline by
approximately 90 percent for 2020, following a 4% rise the year before.

But the pandemic wasn't the only crisis the industry faced. While the fashion world was already reckoning with
uncomfortable truths about its impact and practices -- from its role in the climate crisis and poor working
conditions for garment factory workers, to its failure to create (4. INCLUDE) _______________, diverse
workplaces -- the events of 2020 have only served to further (5. LIGHT) ________________ these problems.

Key:

1. incomparable 2. insecurity 3. year-on-year 4. inclusive 5. highlight

Source:

“2020’s biggest fashion trends reflect a world in crisis” – written by Fiona Sinclair Scott, published on CNN, 30
December 2020
12. To look back at the year in fashion is to look back at a year of crisis. In the first few months of 2020, as the
severity and scale of the coronavirus pandemic became clear, businesses around the world faced incomparable (1)
_______________ posed by the largest global public health crisis in generations. The fashion industry was not (2)
_______________.

Making clothes became extremely difficult, and many of us -- forced to stay at home amid job insecurity and health
concerns – (3) _______________ our appetite for buying them.

A recent report by consulting firm McKinsey and The Business of Fashion (4) _______________ that fashion
sales in China dropped significantly at the beginning of the year, while in Europe and the US they fell off a cliff (5)
_______________ in March. The same report (6) _______________ that fashion companies' year-on-year profits
will decline (7) ______________ approximately 90 percent for 2020, following a 4% rise the year before.

But the pandemic wasn't the (8) _______________ crisis the industry faced. While the fashion world was already
reckoning with uncomfortable truths about its impact and practices -- from its (9) _______________ in the climate
crisis and poor working conditions for garment factory workers, to its failure to create inclusive, diverse
workplaces -- the events of 2020 have only (10) _______________ to further highlight these problems.

Key:

1. challenges/... 2. immune/... 3.lost/... 4. showed/... 5. edge

6. predicted/... 7. by 8. only 9. role 10. served/...

Source:

“2020’s biggest fashion trends reflect a world in crisis” – written by Fiona Sinclair Scott, published on CNN, 30
December 2020

13. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced on Instagram that they would be "stepping back" as senior
members of the British royal family in January. (Yes, this happened in 2020).

Instead of being granted the hybrid role they originally pitched for, Prince Harry and Meghan gave up their royal
titles and (1. SEQUENCE) _________________ duties entirely as they packed up and moved to California. Far
from shrinking into the shadows, their post-royal lives have been highly visible.

They urged Americans to vote in the US (2. PRESIDENT) _________________ election (a move criticized for
breaching the British royal family's tradition of political (3. NEUTRAL) _________________). Then, in an op-ed
for the New York Times, Meghan revealed she had suffered a (4. CARRY) _________________ earlier in the year,
another example of (5. PROFILE) ________________ figures helping to break the taboo around pregnancy loss.
And, like the Obamas, the pair is set to become Hollywood producers, closing a multi-year deal with Netflix that
will see them create scripted series, docu-series, documentaries, features and children's programming.

Key:

1. subsequent 2. presidential 3. neutrality 4. miscarriage 5. high-profile

Source:

“The cultural moments that defined 2020” – written by Stephy Chung, published on CNN, 21 December 2020

14.

Streaming hits its stride

As the pandemic forced people to shelter at home, streaming and video-on-demand platforms took (1)
_______________ of the captive audience and pumped (2) _______________ new shows and movies directly to
content-hungry viewers. (3) _______________ the focus on streaming, Warner Bros. even announced a dramatic
new model for (4) _______________ film releases in 2021, which will be available online to subscribers on the
same day they (5) _______________ theaters.

"This was a (6) _______________ year for streaming video," said Rich Greenfield of media research firm
LightShed Partners. "But it's not just Netflix and Disney+ in (7) _______________ of the surge of demand that
happened. It’s also the explosion of time spent watching and playing video games."

Greenfield (8) _______________ to one area that suffered during the pandemic, (9) _______________ a
monthslong suspension of professional sports.

"A lot of the casual sports fans are (10) _______________ to on-demand entertainment," he said. "This shift in
focus is a major risk or theme that came out of 2020."

Key:

1. advantage 2. out 3. Given 4. its 5. hit

6. huge/... 8. terms 8. pointed 9. causing/... 10. shifting/...

Source:

“From diversity to streaming, 2020 was a year of reckoning for media industry” – written by Ahiza Garcia-Hodges,
published on NBC News, Dec 29 2020

15. The first post-lockdown crops of the land army have been harvested. The food – chard, spinach, lettuce and radish – is
being parcelled (1) _______________ to the local shops, market stalls and those in (2) _______________. Now the volunteer
labour force has its (3) _______________ on a new goal: a land-use revolution that will make UK farming more nature
friendly, plant-based and (4) _______________ to future shocks.

At Machynlleth, a bucolic town on the southern fringe of Snowdonia, the recently formed Planna Fwyd! (Plant
Food!) movement is (5) _______________ sheep farmers to diversify into vegetable production as their ancestors
did. Teams of volunteers have sown crops of potatoes and, once or twice a week, they now fan across the slopes to
(6) _______________ gooseberry bushes, peas and squash. Others (7) _______________ seed packets to local
families and run online classes on how to grow plants at home.

“If the whole coronavirus experience has taught us anything, it is (8) _______________ we should be more self-
sufficient. It was terrifying seeing the empty shop shelves,” said Chris Higgins, a retired academic who gets as
much (9) _______________ as he gives from the voluntary work. “It’s very enriching. Growing and cooking food
and working together is a great way of (10) _______________ with the local community and nature at the same
time.”

Key:

1. out 2. need 3. sights 4. resilient/... 5. encouraging/...

6. tend/... 7. distribute/... 8. that 9. back 10. engaging/...

Source:

“Britian beyond lockdown: can we make more space for nature?” – written by Jonathan Watts, published on The
Guardian, Tue 30 Jun 2020

16. When Julie Blackburn was diagnosed with (1. TRAUMA) _________________ stress disorder in 2016 she was
told to avoid her triggers, scenarios which cause upsetting (2. BACK) _________________. “But when your
trigger is rain, there is no getting over it,” she said. “My husband and I don’t sleep when it’s raining, we take it in
turns to stand at the window watching the rain – it’s just living in constant fear.”

[...]

“It’s not just a little bit of water in your house, it’s the whole (KNOCK) _________________ effect,” Blackburn
said. “Mental health illness is still a taboo so perhaps it’s just not spoken about.”

Research from the University of York and the Centre for Mental Health found people who have been flooded in the
UK are nine times more likely to experience long-term mental health problems than the general population. PTSD
was the most commonly reported condition, with a (4. PREVAIL) _________________ rate of between 7.06% and
43.7%. Anxiety and depression were also common.

The report, which examined studies on flooding events in the UK from 1968 to 2016, found people affected by
flooding experienced anxiety during heavy rain even years after being flooded. Symptoms included stress, sleep
problems, panic attacks, nightmares, anger, mood swings and increased use of alcohol, prescription drugs or (5.
DEPRESS) _________________.

Key:

1. post-traumatic 2. flashbacks 3. knock-on 4. prevalence 5. antidepressants

Source:
“ ‘We don’t sleep when it’s raining’: the mental health impact of flooding” – written by Jessica Murray, published
on The Guardian, Wed 30 Dec 2020

17. Back at work (which for me, as for many, means moving the rejected Quality Street off the kitchen table), I was
halted by a Twitter post I (1) _______________ while flicking between tabs. “Productivity culture is a scam,” it
read. It is a message that has (2) _______________ momentum over the past year of enforced inactivity,
furlough, kurzarbeit (if you are in Germany) and other expedients, the effects of which have been to shift work
from front and centre, giving some of us space to wonder whether it is all it is (3) _______________ up to be.

We are a world away from the 15-hour week Keynes predicted but employers are scrambling to devise new
working models, individuals are evaluating their commitment to uncertain and unreasonably demanding career
trajectories and the campaign for a safer, saner four-day week is gaining (4) _______________. When we are
forced into existential questioning, the worth of work is put (5) _______________ the microscope: the old
deathbed chestnut feels less abstract.

Recently, Elle Hunt’s lovely article describing the revelation that she used work as a self-soothing coping (6)
_______________ set off an eerie chime of recognition. I would never claim to work hard – all my work takes (7)
_______________ seated, for a start – but I work long hours for no particularly good (8) _______________. My
last holiday was in spring 2019: “And it was four days,” I found myself telling people with an unedifying blend of
pride and self-pity, wearing my eyestrain as a badge of honour, dabbing the scent of burning martyr behind my
ears.

Time to break free. Over Christmas, I vowed, I (9) _______________ rest, read fat books and have proper
conversations (10) _______________ my sons. This is how it went.

Key:

1. spotted 2. gathered 3. cracked 4. traction 5. under

6. mechanism 7. place 8. reason 9. would 10. with

Source:

“Productivity is a sham and a scam. So why do I love work so much?” – written by Emma Beddington, published
on The Guardian, Mon 4 Jan 2021

18. Back at work (which for me, as for many, means moving the rejected Quality Street off the kitchen table), I was
halted by a Twitter post I spotted while flicking between tabs. “Productivity culture is a scam,” it read. It is a
message that has gathered momentum over the past year of enforced inactivity, furlough, kurzarbeit (if you are in
Germany) and other (1. EXPEDITE) _________________, the effects of which have been to shift work from front
and centre, giving some of us space to wonder whether it is all it is cracked up to be.

We are a world away from the 15-hour week Keynes predicted but employers are scrambling to devise new
working models, individuals are evaluating their commitment to uncertain and (2. REASON) _________________
demanding career trajectories and the campaign for a safer, saner four-day week is gaining traction. When we are
forced into (3. EXIST) _________________ questioning, the worth of work is put under the microscope: the old
deathbed chestnut feels less abstract.

Recently, Elle Hunt’s lovely article describing the (4. REVEAL) _________________ that she used work as a self-
soothing coping mechanism set off an eerie chime of recognition. I would never claim to work hard – all my work
takes place seated, for a start – but I work long hours for no particularly good reason. My last holiday was in spring
2019: “And it was four days,” I found myself telling people with an (5. EDIFICE) _________________ blend of
pride and self-pity, wearing my eyestrain as a badge of honour, dabbing the scent of burning martyr behind my
ears.

Time to break free. Over Christmas, I vowed, I would rest, read fat books and have proper conversations with my
sons. This is how it went.

Key:

1. expedients 2. unreasonably 3. existential 4. revelation 5. unedifying

Source:

“Productivity is a sham and a scam. So why do I love work so much?” – written by Emma Beddington, published
on The Guardian, Mon 4 Jan 2021

19. The first major sign of the fungus’ (1. EMERGE) _______ came in 2006, when experts at the New Hampshire
Fish and Game Department noticed some of their (2. DANGER) _______ timber rattlesnakes had brown, crusty
blisters on their necks and face.

“Initially, there didn’t seem to be a huge level of concern,” says Michael Marchand, a wildlife biologist and
supervisor of the state’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program.

But they soon found the body of one of their rattlers, (3. APPEAR) _______ dead due to a “severe fungal infection
in the mouth,” he and his co-authors wrote in a 2011 study.

The (4. BREAK) _______, later associated with snake fungal disease, ultimately claimed around 50 percent of the
state’s timber rattlesnake population, which dropped from 40 to 19 adult snakes.

“It was significant,” he says, “and (5. CONCERN) ______.”

Fortunately, the population survived, and now numbers around 50, Marchand says. It’s unclear how they (6.
BOUNCE) ______, though he says it’s possible the surviving snakes were able to pass on some level of (7.
IMMUNE) _______ to the fungus.

Question 5: _______, the meeting began.

A. Our having seated B. All of us having taken the seats

C. After we have sat down D. Once we have seated

Gthich: Mệnh đề rút ngọn dạng Possessive pronoun + V-ing/having V(pp) – 2 vế ko cùng chủ ngữ.

Question 6: Archer tries to persuade May to spend the summer on a remote island off the coast of Maine whence
_______ reports of enchanting scenery.

A. to come B. coming C. come D. had come

Gthich: whence = from where (từ nơi đó). Đảo ngữ đưa V (come) lên trước S (reports of enchanting scenery).

Question 7: The rumour about some artists’ embezzlement has done the _______.

A. lines B. rounds C. squares D. dots

Giải thích: do the rounds = be passed on quickly from a person to another (được lan truyền nhanh).

Question 8: My grandfather is 80 years old but is still _______ fit. He jogs around our town literally every day.

A. fiddling B. fickling C. finding D. fighting

Giải thích: fighting fit = extremely fit or healthy.

Question 9: We followed the road that _______ the lake.

A. dressed B. clothed C. skirted D. panted

Giải thích: skirt = go round the edge of sth (đi vòng quanh)

Question 10: There’s no point in _______ at Dr. Barker. She’s not responsible for what’s happened.

A. cottoning on B. warding off C. blacking out D. lashing out

Giải thích: lashing out at sb = criticize sb in an angry way

Question 11: 45 minutes _______ enough to finish the test as it was too difficult.

A. weren’t B. wasn’t C. hadn’t been D. ‘d been

Giải thích: S-V agreement: S là thời gian, tiền bạc => V chia ngôi 3 số ít.
Question 12: Along the street _______.

A. came he B. came her C. she came D. his came

Giải thích: Inversion: Adverbial of place đảo lên trước, không đảo S+V nếu S là pronoun.

Question 13: Stay tuned and keep your eyes _______ for any updates.

A. haired B. handed C. skinned D. mouthed

Giải thích: keep sb’s eyes skinned/peeled for sth = look out for sth (để ý)

Question 14: I had first _______ and chose the biggest part.

A. dibs B. dabs C. debs D. dubs

Giải thích: dibs (inf): the right to choose before other people (quyền được lựa trước).

Question 15: The national debt is an _______ around the president’s neck.

A. albatross B. cardinal C. kingfisher D. mockingbird

Giải thích: albatross: a thing that causes problems or prevents you from doing sth (thứ gây cản trở, chướng ngại).

Question 16: The sudden, tragic death of the young princess sparked off a feeding _______ in the media.

A. turmoil B. spasm C. frenzy D. fever

Giải thích: feeding frenzy: a situation in which a lot of people compete with each other in an excited way because
they want to get sth

Question 17: Many Europeans want nuclear weapons _______ entirely.

A. eliminating B. be eliminated C. that be eliminated D. eliminated

Giải thích: Cấu trúc want sb/sth done: mong muốn ai/gì đó được/bị làm sao.

Question 18: The lack of shade and overwhelming number of sweat bees made the location _______ it first
appeared.

A. nothing near as idyllic as B. nowhere near as idyllic as

C. near nothing as idyllic as D. near nowhere as idyllic as

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/perpetual-planet-cliff-art-majesty-amazon-
aquatic-region

Giải thích: nowhere near as + adj + as => not close in distance, time, amount, or quality

(khác xa so với điều gì)

Question 19: I am well versed in how not to get bitten by a shark or crushed by a feeding whale, but I am a
neophyte in the jungle.

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/perpetual-planet-cliff-art-majesty-amazon-
aquatic-region

Question 20: Finally an unbroken _______ of pristine rainforest rolls out to the horizon.

A. rug B. coaster C. carpet D. trivet

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/perpetual-planet-cliff-art-majesty-amazon-
aquatic-region

Giải thích:

C. carpet (of something): (literary) (n) a thick layer of something on the ground (một lớp dày đặc)

A. rug: (n) thảm chùi chân

B. coaster: (n) đế lót cốc

D. trivet: (n) miếng lót nồi

Word formation (sentence)

1. The other pole argues that indigenous people must be (CULTURE) _______ to dominant society values and
economic activities so that they can participate in national development. => acculturated

2. The court has the power to apply sanctions for (TUMOUR) ______ conduct. => contumacious

3. (AIR) _______ species require little oxygen, but animals or humans need a fair supply.

anaerobic: not needing oxygen (biological term)

4. The protagonist is sort of a(n) (DIMENSION) _______ character, which renders the book tedious.

one-dimensional: without depth or variety and so not interesting

5. As an alternative to prison, the judge may choose to give a(n) (CUSTODY) _______ sentence.

non-custodial: (of a punishment) that does not involve a period of time in prison

6. Several broadcasters have been criticized for failing to give (HAND) _______ treatment to all the parties during
the electrion campaign.

even-handed: completely fair, especially when dealing with different groups of people

Word formation (paragraph)

Exercise 1.
Living (1. PRIME) ___________________ in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-
Pacific, the (2. FAME) ___________________ box jellyfish developed its (3. FRIGHT) ___________________
powerful venom to instantly stun or kill prey. Their venom is considered to be among the most (4. DIE)
___________________ in the world, and it is so (5. POWER) ___________________ painful that human victims
have been known to die of (6. CRUX) ___________________ pain before reaching shore. Survivors can
experience (7. CONSIDER) ___________________ agony for weeks and often have significant scarring.

For stings by box jellyfish, emergency first aid is a (8. REQUIRE) ___________________ to hospital treatment.
First, the affected area should be rinsed with vinegar. (9. ALTER) ___________________, sea water can be
applied. The sting area should not be rubbed as this can (10. GRAVE) ___________________ the pain. The victim
should have their breathing and pulse monitored and if need be, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be
performed.

Source:

1. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/box-jellyfish

2. https://www.redcross.org.au/firstaid/basics/jellyfish/

Answer key:

1. primarily 2. infamous 3. frighteningly 4. deadly 5. overpoweringly

6. excruciating 7. considerable 8. prerequisite 9. Alternatively 10. aggravate