UBND TỈNH TIỀN GIANG CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM
SỞ GIÁO DỤC& ĐÀO TẠO Độc lập - Tự do – Hạnh phúc
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KỲ THI LẬP ĐỘI TUYÊN HỌC SINH GIỎI LỚP 9 DỰ THI CẤP TỈNH
Khóa ngày 22 tháng 01 năm 2008
Đề chính thức Môn TIẾNG ANH
Thời gian làm bài: 150 phút ( không kể thời gian giao đề )
( Đề gồm 4 trang )-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART I : LISTENING COMPREHENSION : ( 2.0 pts )

Question 1 : Listen to the passage then state whether the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE. The passage will be read twice :

April Fool’s Day is only kept in Britain and the United States.
April Fool’s Day was started in the beginning of the 13th century.
On April Fool’s Day, people tell others false things or play jokes to make them laugh.
April Fool’s Day is only played on April 1st.

Question 2 : Listen to the passage then pick out ONE best option ( A,B,C or D ) to complete each sentence. The passage will be read twice :

Most people are familiar with lotus because :
it is the biggest water plant.
it is planted in the Botanic Gardens.
it is beautiful and useful.
it is planted everywhere in the countryside.
The lotus flower :
is always pink.
may have various colours when it is cultivated.
is not used in Singapore.
is less valuable than its edible products.
Which kind of plant has its leaves floating on top of the water ?
A. Water-lily B. Lotus
C. Both of lotus and water-lily D. none of them
4. Which kind of plant has smaller flowers and less variety of colours ?
A. Wild lotus B. Cultivated lotus
C. Cultivated water-lily D. Wild water-lily

PART II : READING COMPREHENSION : ( 6.0 pts )

Question 3 : Read the passage below then state whether the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE :
TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain, traditions play a more important part in the life of the people than in other countries.
Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. It has been the law for about three hundred years that all the theatres are closed on Sundays. No letters are delivered, only a few Sunday papers are published.
To this day, an English family prefers a house with a garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating. English people like gardens. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered with cement painted green in imitation of grass and a box of flowers.
Holidays are especially rich in old traditions and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English national holiday, and in Scotland it is not kept at all, except by clerks in banks; all the shops, mills and factories are working. But six days later, on New Year’s Eve the Scotch begin to enjoy themselves. All the shops, mills and factories are closed on New Year’s Day. People invite their friends to their houses and “ sit the Old Year out and the New Year in”. When the clock begins to strike twelves, the head of the family goes to the entrance door, opens it wide and holds it until the last stroke. Then he shuts the door. He has let the Old Year out and the New Year in. Now greetings and small presents are offered.
A new national tradition was born in Britain. Every year, a large number of ancient motor-cars and motor-cycles__ sometimes described as Old Crocks__drive from London to Brighton. “Crocks” means something or someone who is “ crocked up”__broken down and in bad condition. Englishmen keep up the old veterans. Veteran cars are those which were made before the year 1904. Some cars look very funny,some are steered by a bar, like a boat. Some cars are driven by steam-engines ( by boiling water and not by petrol ). This run from London to Brighton is a colourful demonstration. People are dressed in the clothes of those times. The cars start from Hyde Park only in the morning, the oldest cars are leading. It is not a race, and most of the cars come to Brighton, which is sixty miles from London, only in the evening. This demonstration takes place on the day of the announcement of the law in 1896 which said that a man with a red flag must walk in front of every motor-car when it moved along the streets. These were the early days of motor-cars and people were afraid of them.

In Britain, traditions are very important in the life of people.
Englishmen have always changed their traditions.
English families prefer living in modern flats to in houses with gardens.
Christmas is the biggest holiday in Scotland