Đề thi tổng ôn tốt nghiệp THPT Tiếng Anh (Đề số 10)

From Cave Walls to Social Media Walls

The word ‘media’ refers to the different ways in which people transmit information. By this definition, we can say with confidence that (18) ______ when we first began painting simplistic symbols on the walls of caves. Since then, (19) ______.

According to experts, it was sometime around 3,400 BC when human beings first began utilising written language as a means of communication. For generations, apart from verbal communication, people had to write everything manually until the mid-1440s. It was Johannes Gutenberg (20) ______. This marked the beginning of what we now call ‘mass media’. Gutenberg’s innovative invention enabled the large-scale production ofprintmedia like books, newspapers and magazines, making it possible to share information with a wider audience than ever before.

Several hundred years after the invention of the printing press, during the 19th century, we created cameras and later, the radio. The invention of the radio began the age of broadcast media, (21) ______. This allowed many people to watch fascinating movies, programmes and documentaries, all of which remain popular today.

In the 2000s, we saw the rise of digital media. Now, we visit web pages, listen to podcasts, (22) ______. We even use QR codes to share information instantly. We have come a long way, and so have the ways we communicate!

(Adapted from Bright)

MYTH BUSTING

Never wake a sleepwalker

Waking a sleepwalker was once widely believed to be dangerous because it was thought something (1) ______ would happen to them. While nobody likes (2) ______ up, the worst thing they will experience is confusion because they are not in bed!

Drink eight glasses of water a day

This myth is thought to have been started by the (3) ______ industry. In fact, some of us need as little as a litre of liquid a day, (4) ______ have to be consumed as water. Food, soft drinks, milk, tea and coffee all count.

Being a bit overweight is unhealthy

It is often reported that serious health problems can be caused by obesity. However, people (5) ______ an extra couple of kilos (6) ______ weight might actually live longer.

(Adapted from Friends Global)

Culture is an integral part of every society. [I] It is a learned pattern of behaviour and ways in which aperson lives his or her life. [II] Culture is essential for the existence of a society, because it binds people together.[III] In the explicit senseof the term, culture constitutes the music, food, arts and literature of a society. [IV]

According to English Anthropologist Edward B Taylor, culture is that complex whole which includesknowledge, belief, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Culture is something that a person learns from his family and surroundings, and is not ingrained in himfrom birth. Even if a person is brought up in a culturedifferent from that in which he was born, he imbibes the culture of the society where he grows up. Some people feel the need to follow the beliefs and traditions of their own culture,even though they might be not subscribing to certain ideologies within.

Culture is the means through which people interact with others in the society. It acts in a subconsciousway and whatever we see and perceive, seems to be normal and natural. Sometimes, other societies andpeople seem to be a little odd because they have a different culture from ours. We must rememberthat every society has a distinct culture that forms the backbone of the society. Culture does not remainstagnant, on the other hand it is evolving constantly and is in fact somewhat influenced by the othercultures and societies.

Every society has a different culture, where people share a specific language, traditions, behaviours,perceptions and beliefs. Culture gives them an identity which makes them unique and different frompeople of other cultures. When people of different cultures migrate and settle in another society, theculture of that society becomes the dominant culture and those of the immigrants form the subculture ofthe community. Usually, people who settle in other nations embrace the new culture, while at the same timestrive to preserve their own.

Although every society has a specific culture, there are certain elements of culture that are universal. They are known as cultural universals, in which there are behavioural traits and patterns that areshared by all cultures around the world. These include classifying relations based on blood relations andmarriage, telling right from wrong, having some forms of art, use of jewelry, classifyingpeople according to gender and age, etc.

Culture is necessary to establish an order and discipline in the society. It creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness among people in the society.

(Adapted from THiNK)