Model 12

1-حريق هائل

(1) Over the roar of the fire, Mike heard Ben shout, “Hurry! The fire is almost on us!” Mike’s arms were sore and tired, but he swung his axe even faster. He didn’t even stop to wipe the tears from his stinging eyes. The greedy fire kept coming. The more the fire destroyed, the more it wanted. Mike worked shoulder to shoulder with the other smokejumpers to build a firebreak. His only thought was to stop the flaming monster that was raging through the forest.
(2) At last, the smokejumpers finished the firebreak. If the fire were powerful enough, it would jump over the firebreak that they had worked so hard to make. Then they would have to start all over again. Mike stood motionless, his face black with ash, his shirt wet with sweat. He was too exhausted to move because he had given all of himself to fighting the fire. He turned his head and noticed Ben watching him.
(3) Suddenly all that Ben had taught Mike about proving his bravery was clear. A man was not brave if he did something just to prove his courage. He was brave only when he forgot about himself. Today Mike had showed that he cared very much about the others with whom he was working.

1. According to Paragraph 1), it was hard for Mike to do job because….

2. According to Paragraph 1), Mike’s only thought as he tried to put out the fire was

3. According to Paragraphs (1) and (2), the smokejumpers-built a……… to stop the fire from spreading.

4. The word greedy in Paragraph (1) means wanting ———-.

5. The pronoun it in Paragraph (1) refers to —————..

6. The words the flaming monster in Paragraph 1) refer to…….

7. According to Paragraph (2), Mike was too exhausted to move because ………

8. According to Paragraph (3), Ben taught Mike that being brave involves……….

9. The pronoun his in Paragraph (3) refers to ………

2-الباندا العملاق

1) An American-born giant panda will soon be travelling to China. The Chinese government has an agreement with foreign zoos to lend giant pandas out only for scientific study. After a few years, they, and any cubs they may produce, must all be returned to China. Mei Lan, a three year-old female, is being prepared for her trip to China, where her parents were born. A special FedEx flight from the U.S. is being arranged for her.
2) Chinese Zookeepers are getting ready for her arrival by planning a special diet, and even language lessons for her. They are advertising for a tutor to teach Mei Lan Chinese. The caretakers at her new home, the Chengdu Panda Research Center in Sichuan, want to help her adapt quickly and feel comfortable in her new environment. Mei Lan has lived at a zoo in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, since her birth, and she is unfamiliar with Chinese. The teacher must have a bachelor’s degree or higher and be fluent in both English and Chinese.

10. The word tutor in Paragraph (2) is closest in meaning to………

11. According to Paragraph (2), why do the Chinese zookeepers want Mei Lan to learn Chinese?

12. According to Paragraph 2, Where has Mei Lan been living?

3-النجوم

(1) If we look at the night sky carefully, we will see that the stars are of many different colors. Some are red, others are yellow and some are blue. This is also shown when we take color photographs of the night sky. You can take such a photograph with an ordinary camera as long as it is kept steady. A thirty second exposure is sufficient.
(2) Astronomers have been able to classify stars according to color. They have found that blue stars are the largest and red stars the smallest. However, there are a few stars which cannot be classified in this way. These are the superstars. For example, Ryiejol is a blue superstar as big as 40,000 suns and Beetle juice is a superstar with a size equal to 17,000 suns.
(3) Suppose an astronomer observes two stars, one brighter than the other. If neither of them is a superstar, he will know immediately that the brighter star is closer. Astronomers have instruments like light meters which can measure the brightness of a star quite accurately. It is possible to measure a star’s distance from the earth if astronomers know the color, brightness and whether or not it is a superstar.

13. The pronoun it in Paragraph 1) refers to the ………..

14. According to Paragraph 1, the exposure time needed to photograph the night sky in color is…………….

15. The word sufficient in Paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to ……..

16. According to Paragraph 2), Beetle juice is a superstar ………..

17. The word brighter in Paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to ………

18. According to Paragraph 2), astronomers classify stars according to the following EXCEPT…..

19. Which of the following colors is NOT mentioned in the passage?

20. What is the main idea of the passage?

4-مادة غامضة

(1) A mysterious, orange, sticky gel, found on the beaches of Kivalina, a village situated on the Alaskan coast between Kotzebue and Point Hope, was recently the source of much interest. Many people thought that the sticky gel was some strange compound that had spread as a result of a chemical reaction. Others had more far fetched ideas about the substance’s origins ranging from aliens to volcanic remains.
(2) Scientists at an Alaskan laboratory have been busy analyzing the unknown substance. They have concluded that it is a formation of microscopic eggs. One of the scientists said that there are traces of oil in the eggs, and this is what is causing the strange, orange color.
(3) The scientists have discovered that the eggs belong to a small invertebrate – a spineless animal, but they have not been able to identify the exact species.

21. According to Paragraph 1), the strange, orange substance was found…….

22. The word far-fetched in Paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to ………

23. The word it in Paragraph 2) refers to ………

24. According to Paragraph 2), the gel is orange in color because it …………..

25. Which of the following is TRUE?

5-ثوران بركان فيزوف

(1) It is certain that when the eruption of Vesuvius started on the morning of 24 August, in the year 79 AD, it caught the population in the Roman city completely unprepared. We now know in retrospect that all of the signs were there to warn them.
(2) It is mainly thanks to the vivid eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger that we have some understanding of what happened. And it is through him that we can gain insight into the reactions and feelings of the people caught up in the drama of this natural disaster.
(3) His account Naves no doubt that everyone was caught off guard. His uncle, known as Pliny the Elder, was stationed in command of the imperial naval base at Misenum. In addition to being the senior military officer in the district, he was also a scientist. His 37- volume Natural History is the longest work on science in Latin that has survived from antiquity.
(4) Despite his scientific knowledge, the sighting of a column of smoke on the far side of the bay triggered a response more of curiosity than of alarm. Pliny’s casual reference to earth tremors reveals the Roman’s great ignorance of the link between seismic activity and volcanic eruptions.
(5) The volcanologists of today constantly monitor any changes in levels of seismic activity from the observatory on Vesuvius because they know that the same increase of activity in the deep reservoir of magma causes both earth tremors and volcanic eruptions. Through measuring seismic activity, these scientists expect to predict an approaching eruption months before it happens.
(6) They also know that the activity of Vesuvius is recurrent, meaning it happens again and again, and that the longer the intervals between eruptions, the greater the next explosion will be. The frequent but low-level activity of Vesuvius in recent centuries has relieved the build-up of pressure in the magma chamber. The catastrophic magnitude of the eruption of AD 79 was connected with the extended period of inactivity that preceded it. A long interval combined with mounting seismic activity is a sure sign of coming disaster. Of course, the Romans could not have known this.

26. The pronoun we in Paragraph 1) shows that the writer…….

27. The phrase in retrospect in Paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to ………..

28. From Paragraph 2) we understand that Pliny the Younger——.

29. we can understand from Paragraph 6) that the eruption in 79AD was so severe because…

6-النحل

(1) The Holy Quran tells us that insects form communities Surat al-An’am, 38) and that they can communicate more than 1,400 years afterwards, has accepted that this information is indeed correct. Now, scientists in the United Kingdom are learning that some of these amazing creatures may also have feelings and emotions similar to those of humans.
(2) At Newcastle University, they are trying to discover how some insects feel. In recent years, honeybee numbers have been declining worldwide at a disturbing rate. Many explanations have been given for this. Some say the bees are dying because of disease and pesticides. Others say it may be due to pollution or microwave towers. At any rate, this is a very serious situation, for humans as well as for the bees. At least one-third of the world’s crops depend on bees. Farmers are worried. What about the bees? How do they feel? Are they scared, sad or depressed?
(3) The researchers trained a group of bees to tell the difference between two smells. After one smell, they were always given a sweet sugar reward. After the other smell, they were given a bitter substance. They quickly learned to choose the smell with the sweet prize and to stick out their tongues to get it. The scientists wanted to see what the bees would do if they were put in a stressful situation. They shook up half of the bees, to make them think they were in danger. These stressed bees refused to put out their tongues for new smells, and only chose the old smell which they knew would be followed by a sweet treat. Even though there was an equal chance that a strange smell would taste good, it seemed they believed it would taste bad and were afraid to try it. These bees had become “pessimists”. The other half-the unstressed bees were much more likely to try tastes from new smells, thus remaining “optimists”.
(4) When humans are stressed, anxious, worried or depressed, they have lower levels of the brain hormone serotonin. So did the stressed bees. This may mean that the feelings of anxious and stressed bees are similar to those of humans with mood disorders. This knowledge, along with further investigations into bee behavior and “feelings” can hopefully be used to understand and remedy their declining numbers, for their sake and for ours.

30. The words these amazing creatures in Paragraph 1) refer to ……

31. Why are bees important to humans?

32. Which paragraph describes how the scientists trained the bees?

33. What can we understand about optimists in Paragraph 3)?

34. What is the main idea of Paragraph 4)?

7-رد على شكوى عميل

1. The damage you described in your letter dated Jury has now been inspected. The faults in the wiring appear to have been caused by dripping water from the floor above. The electrical contractor, who installed the wiring in February, tells me that the wall was dry at the time he replaced the old wires. However, we will arrange for repairs to be made and seal off that section.
2. Dura‟s floor is one of the most hardwearing materials of its kind on the market and we were surprised to hear that it had worn away within six months, so we made a closer inspection. We noticed that the floor had been cut into and this seems to have been the result of dragging heavy metal boxes across it. The one-year guarantee we offer on our workmanship is against normal wear and tear’ and the treatment the floor appears to have been subjected to does not fall into this category. I am quite willing to arrange for the surface to be replaced, but we will have to charge you for the materials and work involved. If I may, I would like to suggest that you instruct your staff to use trolleys when shifting heavy containers.
3. I am sorry about the inconvenience you have experienced and will tell the fitters to repair the damage as soon as I have your confirmation that they can begin work.

35. The passage is ……………..

36. According to Paragraph (1), the problems with wiring were caused by ……

37. According to Paragraph (1), the floor problems were caused by …….

38. According to Paragraph (2), which of the following is TRUE?

39. According to Paragraph (3), the replacement of the damaged floor surface ……..

40. The word inconvenience in Paragraph (3) is closest in meaning to ……