Đề tham khảo THPTQG môn Tiếng Anh năm 2017 - Mã đề 02

WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY A good memory is often seen as something that comes naturally, and a bad memory as something that cannot be changed, but actually (31)______ is a lot that you can do to improve your memory. We all remember the things we are interested in and forget the ones that bore us. This no doubt explains the reason (32)______ schoolboys remember football results effortlessly but struggle with dates from their history lessons! Take an active interest in what you want to remember, and focus on it (33)______. One way to 'make' yourself more interested is to ask questions — the more the better! Physical exercise is also important for your memory, because it increases your heart (34)______ and sends more oxygen to your brain, and that makes your memory work better. Exercise also reduces stress, which is very bad for the memory. The old saying that "eating fish makes you brainy" may be true after all. Scientists have discovered that the fats (35)______ in fish like tuna, sardines and salmon — as well as in olive oil — help to improve the memory. Vitamin-rich fruits such as oranges, strawberries and red grapes are all good 'brain food', too. (Source: ''New Cutting Edge", Cunningham, S. & Moor. 2010. Harlow: Longman)

It used to be that people would drink coffee or tea in the morning to pick them up and get them going for the day. Then cola drinks hit the market. With lots of caffeine and sugar, these beverages soon became the pick-me-up of choice for many adults and teenagers. Now drink companies are putting out so-called "energy drinks." These beverages have the specific aim of giving tired consumers more energy. One example of a popular energy drink is Red Bull. The company that puts out this beverage has stated in interviews that Red Bull is not a thirst quencher. Nor is it meant to be a fluid replacement drink for athletes. Instead, the beverage is meant to revitalize a tired consumer's body and mind. In order to do this, the makers of Red Bull, and other energy drinks, typically add vitamins and certain chemicals to their beverages. The added chemicals are like chemicals that the body naturally produces for energy. The vitamins, chemicals, caffeine, and sugar found in these beverages all seem like a sure bet to give a person energy. Health professionals are not so sure, though. For one thing, there is not enough evidence to show that all of the vitamins added to energy drinks actually raise a person's energy level. Another problem is that there are so many things in the beverages. Nobody knows for sure how all of the ingredients in energy drinks work together. Dr. Brent Bauer, one of the directors at the Mayo Clinic in the US, cautions people about believing all the claims energy drinks make. He says, "It is plausible if you put all these things together, you will get a good result." However, Dr. Bauer adds the mix of ingredients could also have a negative impact on the body. "We just don't know at this point," he says. (Source: "Reading Challenge 2", Casey Malarcher & Andrea Janzen, Compass Publishing)

What is 'extreme' weather? Why are people talking about it these days? 'Extreme' weather is an unusual weather event such as rainfall, a drought or a heat wave in the wrong place or at the wrong time. In theory, they are very rare. But these days, our TV screens are constantly showing such extreme weather events. Take just three news stories from 2010: 28 centimetres of rain fell on Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours, Nashville, USA, had 33 centimetres of rain in two days and there was record rainfall in Pakistan. The effects of this kind of rainfall are dramatic and lethal. In Rio de Janeiro, landslides followed, burying hundreds of people. In Pakistan, the floods affected 20 million people. Meanwhile, other parts of the world suffer devastating droughts. Australia, Russia and East Africa have been hit in the last ten years. And then there are unexpected heat waves, such as in 2003 in Europe. That summer, 35,000 deaths were said to be heat-related. So, what is happening to our weather? Are these extreme events part of a natural cycle? Or are they caused by human activity and its effects on the Earth‘s climate? Peter Miller says it‘s probably a mixture of both of these things. On the one hand, the most important influences on weather events are natural cycles in the climate. Two of the most famous weather cycles, El Niño and La Niña, originate in the Pacific Ocean. The heat from the warm ocean rises high into the atmosphere and affects weather all around the world. On the other hand, the temperature of the Earth‘s oceans is slowly but steadily going up. And this is a result of human activity. We are producing greenhouse gases that trap heat in the Earth‘s atmosphere. This heat warms up the atmosphere, land and oceans. Warmer oceans produce more water vapour – think of heating a pan of water in your kitchen. Turn up the heat, it produces steam more quickly. Satellite data tells us that the water vapour in the atmosphere has gone up by four percent in 25 years. This warm, wet air turns into the rain, storms, hurricanes and typhoons that we are increasingly experiencing. Climate scientist, Michael Oppenheimer, says that we need to face the reality of climate change. And we also need to act now to save lives and money in the future. (Source: © 2015 National Geographic Learning .www.ngllife.com/wild-weather)