Tuyển tập 353 đề thi học sinh giỏi môn Tiếng Anh lớp 6,7,8,9,10,11,12 (có đáp án)

SECTION C – READING
I. Read the following passage, and then choose the best answer from A, B, C or D.
Napoleon Bonaparte’s ambition to control all the areas around the Mediterranean Sea led
him and his French soldiers to Egypt. After loosing a naval battle, they were forced to remain there
for three years. In 1799, while constructing a fort, a soldier discovered a peace of stele (a stone
pillar bearing an inscription) known as the Rosetta stone, in commemoration of the town near the
fort. This famous stone, which would eventually lead to the deciphering of ancient Egyptian
hieroglyphics dating to 3100 B.C, was written in three languages: hieroglyphics (picture writing),
demotic (a shorthand version of Egyptian hieroglyphics) and Greek. Scientists discovered that the
characters, unlike those in English, could be written from right to left and in other directions as
well. The direction in which they were read depended on how the characters were arranged. Living
elements (animals, people, and body parts) were often the first symbols, and the direction that they
face indicated the direction for reading them.
Twenty-three years after the discovery of the Rosetta stone, Jean Francois Champollion, a
French philologist fluent in several languages, was able to decipher the first word - Ptolemy - the
name of an Egyptian ruler. This name was written inside an oval called a “cartouche”. Further
investigation revealed that cartouches contained names of important people of that period.
Champollion painstakingly continued his search and was able to increase his growing list of known
phonetic signs. He and an Englishman, Thomas Young, worked independently of each other to
unravel the deeply hidden mysteries of this strange language. Young believed that sound values
could be assigned to the symbols, while Champollion insisted that the pictures represented words.
41. What is the best title for the passage?
A. Napoleon’s Great Discovery B. Deciphering the Hieroglyphics of the Rosetta Stone
C. Thomas Young’s Great Contribution D. The importance of Cartouches
42. Napoleon’s soldiers were in Egypt in 1799 because they were __________
A. celebrating a naval victory B. looking for the Rosetta Stone
C. waiting to continue their campaign D. trying to decipher the hieroglyphics
43. Why was the piece of newly discovered stele called the Rosetta Stone?
A. It was shaped like a rosette B. It was to honor Napoleon’s friend Rosetta.
C. The town near the fort was called Rosetta D. The fort was called Rosetta.
44. The person who was responsible for deciphering the first word was __________
A. Champollion B. Thomas Young C. Ptolemy D. Napoleon
45. All of the following statements are true EXCEPT __________.
A. cartouches contained names of prominent people of the period.
B. Champollion and Thomas Young worked together in an attempt to decipher the hieroglyphics
C. one of Napoleon’s soldiers discovered the Rosetta stone
D. Thomas Young believed that sound values could be assigned to the symbols
41. 42. 43. 44. 45.
II. Choose the best answer from A, B, C or D to fill in the gaps in the following passage.
Do you ever wish you were more optimistic, someone who always, to be successful?
Having someone around who always (46) ______ the worst isn’t really a lot of we all know
someone who sees a single cloud on a sunny day and says, it looks (47) ______ rain. But if
you catch yourself thinking such things, it’s important to do something (48) ______ it.
You can change your view of life, (49) ______ to psychologists. It only take a little
effort, and you’ll find life more rewarding as a (50) ______. Optimism, they say, is partly about
self-respect and confidence but it’s also a more positive way of looking at life and all it has to
(51) ______. Optimists are more (52) ______ to start new projects and are generally more prepared
to take risks.
Upbringing is obviously very important in forming your (53) ______ to the world. Some
people are brought up to (54) ______ too much on others and grow up forever blaming other people
when anything wrong. Most optimists, on the (55) ______ hand, have been brought up not to failure
as the end of the world – They just with their lives.
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