Đề chính thức tốt nghiệp THPT môn Tiếng Anh năm 2025 chương trình 2006 - Mã đề 403

We all had the experience of trying to learn something new only to find out that we’re not very good at it. We look around at (26) ______ people we are learning with, those seemingly more gifted than us. It seems to come naturally to them. Undoubtedly, there are people (27) ______ are brilliant at certain things. (28) ______, many of them are not really born with talents. Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson studied students at Berlin’s Academy of Music. He found that while all the participants in the study had all the (29) ______ of world famous musicians, only some of them actually reached international stardom. What made the difference? The answer is simple: practice. The people that became (30) ______ were more competitive and practised about 2,000 hours more than others. It turns out that practice really does make perfect. (Adapted from Empower)

With a view to shedding new light on the effects of sleeplessness, Randy Gardner, a student in the United States, came up with an experiment for a school science project, in which he stayed awake for over 264 hours. Meanwhile, Dr. William from Stanford University and Gardner’s two friends closely observed him. After 24 hours without sleep, Gardner started having trouble reading and watching television. By the third day, he was all thumbs. By the fourth day, he was hallucinating. Over the next few days, not only did Gardner’s speech become so slurred that people could not understand him, but he was also incapable of remembering things. By the eleventh day, Gardner could not pass a counting test, during which he simply stopped counting. He could not remember what he was doing. When the experiment was over, Gardner slept for 14 hours on end. By the fourth night, he had returned to his normal sleep schedule. Gardner’s rapid recovery notwithstanding, scientists believe that going without sleep can be dangerous. They say people should not repeat Gardner’s experiment. Although a person may spend around 25 years sleeping, the purpose of sleep is still shrouded in mystery. The brain was formerly thought to become inactive during sleep, but it turns out to be very active. Some scientists think that sleep aids the body growth and relieves stress. Whatever the reason, it is vital to get enough sleep. (Adapted from Select Readings)

In the distance, an enormous, menacing-looking tornado can be seen. Luckily, the area has been evacuated and there is no one to be seen. Then, out of the blue, a few kilometres away a van appears and races down the road straight towards the tornado. Both in their twenties, Joe Hammond and his wife Emma are heading for it. Their purpose is to monitor various characteristics of a tornado, such as its speed, direction, and temperature. The storm chasers are planning to plant themselves directly in the path of the tornado, to amass as much information as they can. Joe and Emma are dedicated storm chasers. They began to chase storms as university students, and in recent years they have been travelling vast distances around the USA in their efforts to locate tornadoes. Bizarre as it may sound, they are not the only people to do it. During the tornado season, hundreds of people cross Tornado Alley, an area between South Dakota and Texas. Their vehicles are almost unrecognisable, as they are concealed underneath an assortment of electronic equipment and contain all manner of communication devices. When asked why people are so fascinated by tornadoes, Joe said some tornado chasers relish the challenge, while others might just love the exhilaration of being in a treacherous situation. Some experienced chasers have even turned their hobby into a business and set up travel agencies offering tourists trips which guarantee a ringside view of the twisters. It seems, however, that people like Joe and Emma also make a pivotal contribution to the study of tornadoes. The fact is, although there are about a thousand tornadoes in the USA each year, meteorologists still do not fully comprehend why they happen. This is partly because the research done by radars in laboratories is not as efficacious as mobile equipment deployed directly at the scene. Thus, some research meteorologists even go storm chasing themselves. It seems that the thrill, combined with a desire to understand nature, is the reason why people like Joe and Emma chase tornadoes. (Adapted from Venture into First for Schools)