Bộ đề ôn thi vào Chuyên Anh năm 2023 có lời giải chi tiết (Đề 47)

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

Legend has it that sometime toward the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) a government train carrying oxen traveling through the northern plains of eastern Wyoming was caught in a snowstorm and had to be abandoned. The driver returned the next spring to see what had become of his cargo. Instead of the skeletons he had expected to find, he saw his oxen, living, fat, and healthy. How had they survived?

The answer lay in a resource that unknowing Americans lands trampled underfoot in their haste to cross the “Great American Desert” to reach lands that sometimes proved barren. In the eastern parts of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated plant. It grew well with enough rain, then when cut and stored it would cure and become nourishing hay for winter feed. But in the dry grazing lands of the West that familiar bluejoint grass was often killed by drought. To raise cattle out there seemed risky or even hopeless. Who could imagine a fairy-tale grass that required no rain and somehow made it possible for cattle to feed themselves all winter? But the surprising western wild grasses did just that. They had wonderfully convenient features that made them superior to the cultivated eastern grasses. Variously known as buffalo grass, grama grass, or mesquite grass, not only were they immune to drought; but they were actually preserved by the lack of summer and autumn rains. They were not juicy like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, hard stems. And they did not need to be cured in a barn, but dried right where they grew on the ground. When they dried in this way, they remained naturally sweet and nourishing through the winter. Cattle left outdoors to fend for themselves thrived on this hay. And the cattle themselves helped plant the fresh grass year after year for they trampled the natural seeds firmly into the soil to be watered by the melting snows of winter and the occasional rains of spring. The dry summer air cured them much as storing in a barn cured the cultivated grasses.

Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.     

       The ability to weep is a uniquely human form of emotional response. Some scientists have suggested that human tears are (51)_______ of an aquatic past – but this does not seem very likely. We cry from the moment we enter this world, for a number of reasons. Helpless babies cry to persuade their parents that they are ill, hungry or uncomfortable. As they (52)_______, they will also cry just to attract parental attention and will often stop when they get it. The idea that having a good cry do you (53)_______ is a very old one and now it has scientific validity since recent research into tears has shown that they (54)_______ a natural painkiller called enkaphalin. By fighting sorrow and pain this chemical helps you feel better. Weeping can increase the quantities of enkaphalin you (55)_______. Unfortunately, in our society we impose restrictions upon this naturally (56)_______ activity. Because some people still regard it as a (57)_______ of weakness in men, boys in particular are admonished when they cry. This kind of repression can only increase stress, both emotionally and physically. Tears of emotion also help the body (58)_______ itself of toxic chemical waste, for there is more protein in them than in tears resulting from cold winds or other irritants. Crying comforts, calms and can be very enjoyable – (59)_______ the popularity of highly emotional films which are commonly (60)_______ “weepies”. It seems that people enjoy crying together almost as much as laughing together.

Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.     

       The ability to weep is a uniquely human form of emotional response. Some scientists have suggested that human tears are (51)_______ of an aquatic past – but this does not seem very likely. We cry from the moment we enter this world, for a number of reasons. Helpless babies cry to persuade their parents that they are ill, hungry or uncomfortable. As they (52)_______, they will also cry just to attract parental attention and will often stop when they get it. The idea that having a good cry do you (53)_______ is a very old one and now it has scientific validity since recent research into tears has shown that they (54)_______ a natural painkiller called enkaphalin. By fighting sorrow and pain this chemical helps you feel better. Weeping can increase the quantities of enkaphalin you (55)_______. Unfortunately, in our society we impose restrictions upon this naturally (56)_______ activity. Because some people still regard it as a (57)_______ of weakness in men, boys in particular are admonished when they cry. This kind of repression can only increase stress, both emotionally and physically. Tears of emotion also help the body (58)_______ itself of toxic chemical waste, for there is more protein in them than in tears resulting from cold winds or other irritants. Crying comforts, calms and can be very enjoyable – (59)_______ the popularity of highly emotional films which are commonly (60)_______ “weepies”. It seems that people enjoy crying together almost as much as laughing together.

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

Legend has it that sometime toward the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) a government train carrying oxen traveling through the northern plains of eastern Wyoming was caught in a snowstorm and had to be abandoned. The driver returned the next spring to see what had become of his cargo. Instead of the skeletons he had expected to find, he saw his oxen, living, fat, and healthy. How had they survived?

The answer lay in a resource that unknowing Americans lands trampled underfoot in their haste to cross the “Great American Desert” to reach lands that sometimes proved barren. In the eastern parts of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated plant. It grew well with enough rain, then when cut and stored it would cure and become nourishing hay for winter feed. But in the dry grazing lands of the West that familiar bluejoint grass was often killed by drought. To raise cattle out there seemed risky or even hopeless. Who could imagine a fairy-tale grass that required no rain and somehow made it possible for cattle to feed themselves all winter? But the surprising western wild grasses did just that. They had wonderfully convenient features that made them superior to the cultivated eastern grasses. Variously known as buffalo grass, grama grass, or mesquite grass, not only were they immune to drought; but they were actually preserved by the lack of summer and autumn rains. They were not juicy like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, hard stems. And they did not need to be cured in a barn, but dried right where they grew on the ground. When they dried in this way, they remained naturally sweet and nourishing through the winter. Cattle left outdoors to fend for themselves thrived on this hay. And the cattle themselves helped plant the fresh grass year after year for they trampled the natural seeds firmly into the soil to be watered by the melting snows of winter and the occasional rains of spring. The dry summer air cured them much as storing in a barn cured the cultivated grasses.

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

Legend has it that sometime toward the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) a government train carrying oxen traveling through the northern plains of eastern Wyoming was caught in a snowstorm and had to be abandoned. The driver returned the next spring to see what had become of his cargo. Instead of the skeletons he had expected to find, he saw his oxen, living, fat, and healthy. How had they survived?

The answer lay in a resource that unknowing Americans lands trampled underfoot in their haste to cross the “Great American Desert” to reach lands that sometimes proved barren. In the eastern parts of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated plant. It grew well with enough rain, then when cut and stored it would cure and become nourishing hay for winter feed. But in the dry grazing lands of the West that familiar bluejoint grass was often killed by drought. To raise cattle out there seemed risky or even hopeless. Who could imagine a fairy-tale grass that required no rain and somehow made it possible for cattle to feed themselves all winter? But the surprising western wild grasses did just that. They had wonderfully convenient features that made them superior to the cultivated eastern grasses. Variously known as buffalo grass, grama grass, or mesquite grass, not only were they immune to drought; but they were actually preserved by the lack of summer and autumn rains. They were not juicy like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, hard stems. And they did not need to be cured in a barn, but dried right where they grew on the ground. When they dried in this way, they remained naturally sweet and nourishing through the winter. Cattle left outdoors to fend for themselves thrived on this hay. And the cattle themselves helped plant the fresh grass year after year for they trampled the natural seeds firmly into the soil to be watered by the melting snows of winter and the occasional rains of spring. The dry summer air cured them much as storing in a barn cured the cultivated grasses.

Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.     

       The ability to weep is a uniquely human form of emotional response. Some scientists have suggested that human tears are (51)_______ of an aquatic past – but this does not seem very likely. We cry from the moment we enter this world, for a number of reasons. Helpless babies cry to persuade their parents that they are ill, hungry or uncomfortable. As they (52)_______, they will also cry just to attract parental attention and will often stop when they get it. The idea that having a good cry do you (53)_______ is a very old one and now it has scientific validity since recent research into tears has shown that they (54)_______ a natural painkiller called enkaphalin. By fighting sorrow and pain this chemical helps you feel better. Weeping can increase the quantities of enkaphalin you (55)_______. Unfortunately, in our society we impose restrictions upon this naturally (56)_______ activity. Because some people still regard it as a (57)_______ of weakness in men, boys in particular are admonished when they cry. This kind of repression can only increase stress, both emotionally and physically. Tears of emotion also help the body (58)_______ itself of toxic chemical waste, for there is more protein in them than in tears resulting from cold winds or other irritants. Crying comforts, calms and can be very enjoyable – (59)_______ the popularity of highly emotional films which are commonly (60)_______ “weepies”. It seems that people enjoy crying together almost as much as laughing together.