Vit IELTS

A Brief Histroy of Tea
{viii A chance discover}
The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, the Emperor Shen Nung was a skilled ruler, creative scientist and patron of the arts. His far-sighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day, while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water, and as the leaves infused the water turned brown. As a scientist, the Emperor was intrigued by the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. And so, according to legend, tea was created.
{iv A connection between tea and religion} 
 Tea consumption spread throughout Chinese culture, reaching into every aspect of society. The first definitive book was written on tea – a book clearly reflecting Zen Buddhist philosophy 1,200 years ago. The first tea seeds were brought to Japan by a returning Buddhist priest, who had seen the value of tea in enhancing meditation in China. As a result, he is known as the “Father of Tea” in Japan. Because of this early association, tea in Japan has always been linked with Zen Buddhism. Tea received the Japanese Emperor’s support almost instantly and spread rapidly from the royal court and monasteries to other sections of society.
{ix Tea-making as a ritual}
 Tea was elevated to an art form in the Japanese tea ceremony, in which supreme importance is given to making tea in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most charming manner possible. Such a purity of expression prompted the creation of a particular form of architecture for tea houses, duplicating the simplicity of a forest cottage. The cultural/artistic hostesses of Japan, the geishas, began to specialise in the presentation of the tea ceremony. However, as more and more people became involved in the excitement surrounding tea, the purity of the original concept was lost, and for a period the tea ceremony became corrupted, boisterous and highly embellished. Efforts were then made to return to the earlier simplicity, with the result that, in the 15th and 16th centuries, tea was viewed as the ultimate gift. Even warlords paused for tea before battles.
{vi News of tea reaches another continent}
 While tea was at this high level of development in parts of Asia, information concerning the then-unknown beverage began to filter back to Europe. Earlier traders had mentioned it, but were unclear as to whether tea should be eaten or drunk. The first European to personally encounter tea and write about it was Portuguese – Portugal, with her technologically advanced navy, had been successful in gaining the first right of trade with China.
{v A luxury item}
 Tea finally arrived in Europe in the 16th century, brought to Holland by the country’s navy, and became very fashionable in the Dutch capital, The Hague. This was due in part to tea being very expensive (over $100 per pound), which immediately made it the domain of the wealthy. Slowly, as the amount of tea imported increased, the price fell, and by 1675 it was available in common food shops throughout Holland.
{vii Is tea a good or a bad thing?}
As the consumption of tea increased dramatically in Dutch society, doctors and university authorities in Holland argued as to its benefits or drawbacks. The public largely ignored the scholarly debate and continued to enjoy their new beverage, though the controversy lasted from 1635 to roughly 1657. Throughout this period, France and Holland led Europe in the use of tea.
{iii In and sometimes out of fashion} 
 As the craze for all things oriental swept through Europe, tea became part of everyday life. Adding milk to the drink was first mentioned in 1680. Around that time, Dutch inns provided the first restaurant service of tea. Innkeepers would furnish guests with a portable tea set complete with a heating unit. The Dutchman would then prepare tea for himself and his friends outside in the inn garden. Tea remained popular in France for only about fifty years, being replaced by a preference for wine, chocolate and exotic coffees. Tea was introduced into England in 1660 by King Charles II and his Portuguese queen, who were both confirmed tea drinkers. Tea mania swept across England as it had earlier spread throughout France and Holland. By 1708, tea importation had risen to thirteen times the 1699 level. Tea was drunk by all levels of society.
{x Difficulties in importing tea}
 Russian interest in tea began as early as 1618, when the Chinese embassy in Moscow presented several chests of tea to the Emperor, Czar Alexis. Later in the century, a trade treaty between Russia and China allowed caravans to cross back and forth freely between the two countries. Still, the journey was not easy. The average caravan consisted of 200 to 300 camels and the 18,000-kilometre trip took over 16 months to complete. Eventually, however, tea became – as it still is – one of the most popular drinks in the country.

1: {viii. A chance discovery}
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Dẫn chứng: “Dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water… the Emperor was intrigued by the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing.”
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Giải thích: Việc lá trà rơi vào nồi nước sôi là một sự kiện ngẫu nhiên (by chance). Hoàng đế không chủ ý pha trà từ đầu, nên đây được coi là một cuộc phát kiến tình cờ.
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2: {iv. A connection between tea and religion}
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Dẫn chứng: “…reflecting Zen Buddhist philosophy… brought to Japan by a returning Buddhist priest… enhancing meditation… linked with Zen Buddhism.”
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Giải thích: Đoạn này lặp đi lặp lại các thuật ngữ liên quan đến tôn giáo như: Phật giáo Thiền tông (Zen Buddhism), thầy tu (priest), thiền định (meditation).
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3: {ix. Tea-making as a ritual}
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Dẫn chứng: “Tea was elevated to an art form in the Japanese tea ceremony… most perfect, most polite, most graceful… manner possible.”
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Giải thích: “Ceremony” (nghi lễ) và cách thức pha trà tỉ mỉ, lịch sự chính là biểu hiện của một nghi thức (ritual).
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4: {vi. News of tea reaches another continent}
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Dẫn chứng: “…information concerning the then-unknown beverage began to filter back to Europe… The first European to personally encounter tea…”
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Giải thích: Trà vốn ở châu Á, đoạn này kể về việc thông tin về trà bắt đầu truyền sang châu Âu (một lục địa khác – another continent).
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5: {v. A luxury item}
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Dẫn chứng: “…due in part to tea being very expensive (over $100 per pound), which immediately made it the domain of the wealthy.”
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Giải thích: Vì giá trà rất đắt đỏ và chỉ dành cho người giàu nên nó được coi là một mặt hàng xa xỉ (luxury item).
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6: {vii. Is tea a good or a bad thing?}
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Dẫn chứng: “…doctors and university authorities in Holland argued as to its benefits or drawbacks… the controversy lasted…”
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Giải thích: Việc tranh luận về lợi ích (benefits) hay tác hại (drawbacks) chính là đang xem xét trà là thứ tốt hay xấu.
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7: {iii. In – and sometimes out – of fashion}
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Dẫn chứng: “Tea remained popular in France for only about fifty years, being replaced by a preference for wine, chocolate and exotic coffees.”
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Giải thích: Trà từng rất được ưa chuộng (in fashion) nhưng sau đó lại bị thay thế bởi các thức uống khác (out of fashion) tại Pháp.
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8: {x. Difficulties in importing tea}
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Dẫn chứng: “Still, the journey was not easy. The average caravan consisted of 200 to 300 camels and the 18,000-kilometre trip took over 16 months to complete.”
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Giải thích: Đoạn này mô tả sự khắc nghiệt của quãng đường vận chuyển trà từ Trung Quốc sang Nga, tức là những khó khăn trong việc nhập khẩu.
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Questions 1-8

9. Claims that tea might be harmful failed to affect its popularity. — {D: Holland}
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Trích dẫn: “…doctors and university authorities in Holland argued as to its benefits or drawbacks. The public largely ignored the scholarly debate and continued to enjoy their new beverage…” (Đoạn 6)
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Giải thích: “Harmful” tương ứng với “drawbacks” (tác hại). Việc công chúng phớt lờ các cuộc tranh luận và tiếp tục thưởng thức trà cho thấy những lời cảnh báo không làm ảnh hưởng đến sự phổ biến của nó tại Hà Lan.
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10. Tea lost favour to other drinks. — {E: France}
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Trích dẫn: “Tea remained popular in France for only about fifty years, being replaced by a preference for wine, chocolate and exotic coffees.” (Đoạn 7)
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Giải thích: “Lost favour” (không còn được ưa chuộng) tương ứng với việc bị thay thế bởi rượu vang, sô-cô-la và cà phê tại Pháp.
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11. Special buildings were constructed in which to drink tea. — {B: Japan}
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Trích dẫn: “…prompted the creation of a particular form of architecture for tea houses [in Japan], duplicating the simplicity of a forest cottage.” (Đoạn 3)
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Giải thích: “Special buildings” chính là các “tea houses” (trà thất) với lối kiến trúc riêng biệt được xây dựng tại Nhật Bản.
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</ul>
12. Animals were involved in importing tea. — {G: Russia}
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Trích dẫn: “The average caravan consisted of 200 to 300 camels and the 18,000-kilometre trip [to Russia] took over 16 months to complete.” (Đoạn 8)
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Giải thích: Việc sử dụng lạc đà (camels) để vận chuyển trà sang Nga chính là sự tham gia của động vật trong quá trình nhập khẩu.
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13. A ruler’s specialist knowledge led to an interest in tea. — {A: China}
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Trích dẫn: “…the Emperor Shen Nung [of China] was a skilled ruler, creative scientist… As a scientist, the Emperor was intrigued by the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing.” (Đoạn 1)
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Giải thích: “Ruler” là Hoàng đế Thần Nông, “specialist knowledge” tương ứng với vai trò nhà khoa học (scientist) của ông. Chính sự tò mò và kiến thức của ông đã dẫn đến việc khám phá ra trà.
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List of countries

Questions 9–13

Passage 1

The Fascinating World of Attine Ants
Nicholas Wade examines leaf-cutter ants and their amazing agriculture
A.   Leaf-cutting ants and their fungus ‘farm’ are a marvel of nature and perhaps the best-known example of symbiosis – the mutual dependence of two species. Ants cultivate a mushroom-like fungus in ‘farms’. Both the ants and their so-called ‘agriculture’ have been extensively studied over the years, but recent research has uncovered intriguing new findings.
Ants invented agriculture 50 million years before people did, and the leaf-cutters, members of the large attine ant family, practise the most sophisticated example of it. They grow their fungus in underground chambers that can reach the size of a football. A single leaf-cutter nest may contain a thousand such chambers, embedded in an underground metropolis up to 18 feet deep, and support a society of more than a million ants.
B.   These ant communities are the dominant plant-eaters of the Neotropics, the region comprising South and Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. Biologists believe 15 percent of the leaf production of tropical forests disappears down the nests of leaf-cutter ants. In the nest, the leaves are shredded and added to the fungus, which digests the leaves and is in turn eaten by the ants. The attine ants’ achievement is remarkable because it allows them to consume, courtesy of their mushroom’s digestive powers, the harvest of tropical forests whose leaves are laden with poisonous chemicals.
C.   There are more than 200 known species of the attine ant tribe, divided into 12 groups, or genera. The leaf-cutters use fresh vegetation; the other groups, known as the lower attines because their nests are smaller and their techniques more primitive, feed their gardens with similar leaves that have fallen on the ground and insects that lie on the forest floor. Lower attine ants are all a similar size. However, leaf-cutter worker ants come in made-to-fit sizes – large ants to saw off leaves, medium ones to shred them, and miniature workers to seed them with fungus and clean off alien growths.
D.   In 1994, biologists from the United States Department of Agriculture analysed the DNA of ant fungi. They found that the leaf-cutters’ fungus was descended from a single pure strain, propagated for at least 23 million years. However, the fungi grown by lower attine ants fell into four different groups, as if the ants had domesticated wild fungi at least four times in evolutionary history. What could be driving these two patterns of fungus gardening – the pure clone cultivation of the leaf-cutters and the multiple varieties of the lower attines?
E.   The answer has been suggested by Cameron Currie of the University of Toronto. The pure strain of fungus grown by the leaf-cutters, it seemed to him, resembled the single crops grown by humans to the exclusion of all others, such as potato growing. These ‘monocultures’, which lack the genetic diversity to respond to changing environmental threats, are particularly vulnerable to parasites – organisms that live and feed on their host, often causing harm. Currie felt there had to be a parasite in the ant-fungus system. But a century of ant research had provided no evidence for his idea. Textbooks describe how leaf-cutter ants scrupulously weed their gardens of all foreign organisms. “People kept telling me the ants keep their gardens free of parasites,” said Currie. Nevertheless after three years of sifting through attine ant gardens, Currie discovered several alien organisms, particularly a family of parasitic moulds called ‘Escovopsis’.
F.   Escovopsis is a deadly disease that can devastate a fungus garden in a couple of days. It blooms like a white cloud which envelops the whole garden. Other ants won’t go near it and the ants associated with the garden just starve to death. Evidently, the ants usually manage to keep Escovopsis and other parasites under control. Nevertheless, with any lapse in control Escovopsis will quickly burst forth. Although new leaf-cutter gardens start off free of Escovopsis, within two years some 60 percent become infected.
G.   The discovery of Escovopsis’s role brings a new level of understanding to the evolution of the attine ants. In the last decade, evolutionary biologists have been increasingly aware of the role of parasites as driving forces in evolution. With Currie’s work, there is now a possible reason for the different varieties of fungus in the lower attine mushroom gardens to stay one step ahead of the relentless Escovopsis. Interestingly, the leaf-cutters had, in general, fewer alien moulds in their gardens than the lower attines, yet more Escovopsis infections. Clearly, the price they pay for cultivating a pure variety of fungus is a higher risk from Escovopsis.
H.   So how do attine ants keep this parasite under control? People have known for a hundred years that ants have a whitish growth on their body surface. It was thought to be wax but, after examining it under a microscope, Currie discovered a specialised patch on the ants’ bodies that harbours a particular kind of bacterium, one well known to the pharmaceutical industry and the source of half the antibiotics used in medicine. This bacterium is a potent poisoner of Escovopsis, inhibiting its growth and suppressing spore formation.
Astoundingly, the leaf-cutter ants are accomplishing feats beyond the power of humans: they are growing a monocultural crop year after year without disaster, and they are using an antibiotic apparently so wisely that, unlike people, they are not provoking antibiotic resistance in the target disease-producing organism.

14. Two things at which leaf-cutter ants have succeeded but humans have failed. — {H}
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Dẫn chứng: “Astoundingly, the leaf-cutter ants are accomplishing feats beyond the power of humans: they are growing a monocultural crop year after year without disaster, and they are using an antibiotic… so wisely that… they are not provoking antibiotic resistance…” (Đoạn H)
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Giải thích: Hai việc kiến làm tốt hơn người là: canh tác độc canh bền vững và sử dụng kháng sinh mà không bị kháng thuốc.
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15. A comparison between the nests of leaf-cutter ants and lower attine ants. — {C}
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Dẫn chứng: “The leaf-cutters use fresh vegetation; the other groups, known as the lower attines because their nests are smaller and their techniques more primitive…” (Đoạn C)
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Giải thích: Đoạn C so sánh trực tiếp kích thước tổ và kỹ thuật giữa hai nhóm kiến.
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16. An assessment of the impact leaf-cutter ants have on their environment. — {B}
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Dẫn chứng: “Biologists believe 15 percent of the leaf production of tropical forests disappears down the nests of leaf-cutter ants.” (Đoạn B)
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Giải thích: Con số 15% sản lượng lá rừng bị tiêu thụ chính là đánh giá về tác động môi trường của loài kiến này.
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17. The effect Escovopsis has on ant communities. — {F}
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Dẫn chứng: “…can devastate a fungus garden in a couple of days… other ants won’t go near it and the ants associated with the garden just starve to death.” (Đoạn F)
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Giải thích: Tác động của nấm Escovopsis là phá hủy vườn nấm và khiến đàn kiến chết đói.
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18. The advantage for lower attine ants of growing a range of fungi. — {G}
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Dẫn chứng: “…possible reason for the different varieties of fungus in the lower attine mushroom gardens to stay one step ahead of the relentless Escovopsis.” (Đoạn G)
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Giải thích: Lợi thế của việc trồng nhiều loại nấm là giúp chúng luôn đi trước một bước trước sự tấn công của ký sinh trùng.
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19. The discovery of the age of the attine-ant fungi. — {D}
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Dẫn chứng: “…found that the leaf-cutters’ fungus was descended from a single pure strain, propagated for at least 23 million years.” (Đoạn D)
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Giải thích: Con số 23 triệu năm chính là tuổi thọ (age) của dòng nấm này.
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Questions 14–19

20. The use of dead vegetation to cultivate their fungus — {B: Lower attines}
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Dẫn chứng: “…the other groups [lower attines]… feed their gardens with similar leaves that have fallen on the ground and insects that lie on the forest floor.” (Đoạn C)
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Giải thích: Lá rụng và côn trùng chết trên nền rừng chính là thực vật chết (dead vegetation).
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21. Very small ants that keep the fungus free of foreign organisms — {A: Leaf-cutting ants}
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Dẫn chứng: “…leaf-cutter worker ants come in made-to-fit sizes… and miniature workers to seed them with fungus and clean off alien growths.” (Đoạn C)
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Giải thích: Chỉ nhóm Leaf-cutter mới được mô tả là có sự phân hóa kích thước thợ, trong đó kiến thợ nhỏ (miniature) làm nhiệm vụ dọn dẹp.
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22. The ability to safely eat harmful plants — {C: Both}
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Dẫn chứng: “The attine ants’ achievement is remarkable because it allows them to consume… harvest of tropical forests whose leaves are laden with poisonous chemicals.” (Đoạn B)
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Giải thích: Cả bộ tộc kiến Attine (bao gồm cả leaf-cutters và lower attines) đều có khả năng này nhờ sự tiêu hóa của nấm.
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</ul>
23. The cultivation of a single fungus — {A: Leaf-cutting ants}
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Dẫn chứng: “The pure strain of fungus grown by the leaf-cutters…” (Đoạn E) và “…the pure clone cultivation of the leaf-cutters…” (Đoạn D).
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24. A nest with a very large number of rooms for growing fungus — {A: Leaf-cutting ants}
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Dẫn chứng: “A single leaf-cutter nest may contain a thousand such chambers…” (Đoạn A)
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Giải thích: Chỉ tổ của kiến leaf-cutter mới được mô tả là có quy mô khổng lồ với hàng nghìn ngăn (rooms/chambers).
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List of options

Questions 20–24

25. What does the writer say about Cameron Currie’s research? — {B} Earlier studies did not support his theory.
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Dẫn chứng: “Currie felt there had to be a parasite… But a century of ant research had provided no evidence for his idea. Textbooks describe how leaf-cutter ants scrupulously weed their gardens…” (Đoạn E)
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Giải thích: Suốt 100 năm nghiên cứu trước đó không tìm thấy bằng chứng và sách giáo khoa cũng nói ngược lại ý của Currie, tức là các nghiên cứu trước đó không ủng hộ giả thuyết của ông.
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26. Using a microscope, Currie was the first to discover that the body of attine ants — {D} has a substance useful to humans.
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Trích dẫn: “…after examining it under a microscope, Currie discovered… a particular kind of bacterium… the source of half the antibiotics used in medicine.” (Đoạn H)
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Giải thích: Currie dùng kính hiển vi để phát hiện ra lớp phủ trên thân kiến thực chất là vi khuẩn tạo ra kháng sinh (antibiotics) – một chất cực kỳ hữu ích cho y học loài người.
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Questions 25-26

Passage 2

Star Performers
Most organisations are looking for talent. But what if they’ve got it wrong, asks Jeffrey Pfeffer
A One widely held assumption about talent is that it is a reasonably fixed characteristic and it is therefore the job of organisations to identify, recruit and retain star performers. This belief affects the way people are managed in the workplace. Most recruitment decisions are influenced by the skills and abilities of an individual rather than their aptitude and attitude. In terms of career development, organisations invest in staff who have been selected to reach higher-level positions, while ignoring front-line employees and people with less perceived potential. This idea, that talent is a fixed, identifiable characteristic – and that those firms with the best people do the best – is both flawed and harmful to people and organisations. There is a lot of evidence on this point, and it is useful to highlight some of the most pertinent arguments.
B First, are there stars? There is no question that in every field, from sports to computer programming to music, there are people who are better than the rest. As psychologist Dean Keith Simonton, who has spent his career studying greatness, has said, ‘Wherever you look, the same story can be told. Identify the ten per cent who have achieved the most in a certain endeavour. Count the accomplishments they have to their credit. Now tally the accomplishments of the remaining 90 per cent. The first tally will equal or surpass the second.’ For instance, in music, 16 individuals have produced about 50 per cent of the Western classical music that is performed and recorded today, while another 235 composers have produced the remaining half. The more interesting questions concern not the existence of stars, but whether these stars can be reliably identified and, even more importantly, whether their talent is a fixed aspect or can be altered.
C Identifying the best people is tricky. Quality of performance changes over time and this is true whether we are talking about professors or footballers. If performance naturally varies, any measurement taken at a single point in time, such as when someone is being hired, will have error and imprecision. Therefore, single assessments of talent are likely to contain mistakes in their categorisation of people. Also, judgements about performance and ability depend on the standards used to judge what is good and bad. It should surprise no-one that for Bach to be considered a great musician, standards of music needed to change to embrace the qualities that his compositions possessed. Similarly, artists and art come in and out of fashion, which means that what is genius depends not only on a person’s ability, but on the prevailing standards used to evaluate output.
D Finally, it is difficult to evaluate people and their abilities with precision. In the domain of work, research shows that the best predictors of job performance tend to be measures of intelligence. But even these measures correlate only loosely with performance, which means that more than 80 per cent of the variation in performance is unexplained by even the best predictors. Even in the sports arena, where one would think natural ability would be readily assessed because sports teams spend lots of resources on identifying talent, mistakes get made. Basketball star Michael Jordan was dropped by his high-school basketball coach and a number of top American football quarterbacks were available early in their careers because they were not considered good enough by various teams.
E This leads on to the next question: is talent born or made? Should organisations assume that almost anyone can become a star performer, which implies that there ought to be a greater emphasis on motivation and development, or do they just figure out who is good and who isn’t? Here the evidence is clear: talent is at least as much ‘created’ as inherent and, more importantly, the customary way companies think about identifying talent almost certainly works to destroy a lot of untapped potential. Decades of research by K. Anders Ericsson, professor of psychology at Florida State University, show that exceptional performance doesn’t happen without around ten years of nearly daily, deliberate practice for about four hours a day, by people who, with the assistance of their coaches, have access to the best techniques. Once achieved, exceptional performance can’t be maintained without relentless effort. So performance may be as much a consequence of training as it is of innate ability, which suggests that performance can be altered by how people are managed.
F Further research by Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck shows that the tendency of organisations to see performance results as an opportunity for an ‘assessment’ of ability, results in lower performance and poor motivation. Dweck identified two sets of goals that people bring to a performance context: ‘performance goals, where the purpose is to validate one’s ability or avoid demonstrating a lack of ability, and learning goals, where the aim is to acquire new knowledge and skills’. People with performance goals have been shown to be more prone to helpless behaviour and debilitation after a setback, while people with learning goals strive for higher performance. The implications for managing people and talent are clear. Seeing talent as fixed and job performance as a way of classifying people creates a self-fulfilling prophecy in which ability and intelligence do become fixed. By contrast, seeing ability as malleable leads to a different sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, in which individuals and their employers may invest in ways to enhance performance.

27. Disagreement with the view that employing talented people enables companies to achieve top performance — {A}
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Trích dẫn: “This idea, that… those firms with the best people do the best – is both flawed and harmful to people and organisations.” (Đoạn A)
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<li>
Giải thích: Tác giả trực tiếp bày tỏ sự không đồng tình (disagreement) với quan niệm rằng cứ có người giỏi nhất là công ty sẽ hoạt động tốt nhất.
</li>
</ul>
28. A description of what individuals have to do on a regular basis to improve their performance — {E}
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Trích dẫn: “…exceptional performance doesn’t happen without around ten years of nearly daily, deliberate practice for about four hours a day…” (Đoạn E)
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Đoạn E mô tả chi tiết những gì cá nhân cần làm hàng ngày (luyện tập có chủ đích trong 10 năm) để cải thiện và đạt được hiệu suất xuất sắc.
</li>
</ul>
29. The evidence that exceptional talent exists in all areas of life — {B}
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Trích dẫn: “There is no question that in every field, from sports to computer programming to music, there are people who are better than the rest.” (Đoạn B)
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</ul>
30. How different ways of evaluating achievement at work can cause different reactions in employees — {F}
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Trích dẫn: “Dweck identified two sets of goals… performance goals… prone to helpless behaviour… and learning goals… strive for higher performance.” (Đoạn F)
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Đoạn F phân tích cách đánh giá dựa trên “mục tiêu hiệu suất” hoặc “mục tiêu học hỏi” dẫn đến những phản ứng (reactions) khác nhau của nhân viên sau thất bại.
</li>
</ul>
31. The belief that the time when an assessment is carried out affects its accuracy — {C}
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Dẫn chứng: “If performance naturally varies, any measurement taken at a single point in time, such as when someone is being hired, will have error and imprecision.”
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Giải thích: Tác giả lập luận rằng vì phong độ con người luôn thay đổi, nên việc đánh giá tại một thời điểm duy nhất (ví dụ lúc tuyển dụng) sẽ dẫn đến sự thiếu chính xác và sai lệch.
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</ul>
32. The extent to which different talented individuals have contributed to their particular area of achievement — {B}
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Trích dẫn: “…in music, 16 individuals have produced about 50 per cent of the Western classical music… while another 235 composers have produced the remaining half.” (Đoạn B)
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Giải thích: Đây là số liệu cụ thể về mức độ đóng góp (extent of contribution) của các cá nhân ngôi sao so với phần còn lại.
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</ul>

Questions 27 – 32

33. How many Western classical composers are identified as exceptionally talented? — {16 / 16 individuals}
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Dẫn chứng: “…in music, 16 individuals have produced about 50 per cent of the Western classical music…” (Đoạn B).
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</ul>
34. Which composer initially received little recognition for his work? — {Bach / Sebastian Bach}
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Dẫn chứng: “It should surprise no-one that for Bach to be considered a great musician, standards of music needed to change to embrace the qualities that his compositions possessed.” (Đoạn C).
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Giải thích: Điều này ngụ ý ban đầu ông chưa được coi là vĩ đại cho đến khi tiêu chuẩn âm nhạc thay đổi.
</li>
</ul>
35. Who can help improve the performance of people practising daily? — {coaches}
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Dẫn chứng: “…with the assistance of their coaches, have access to the best techniques.” (Đoạn E).
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</ul>

Questions 33 – 35

36. Companies usually hire people on the basis of their character. — {FALSE}
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Trích dẫn: “Most recruitment decisions are influenced by the skills and abilities of an individual rather than their aptitude and attitude.” (Đoạn A)
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Bài đọc nói các công ty thuê dựa trên kỹ năng/khả năng chứ không phải thái độ/tính cách (aptitude/attitude/character). Thông tin mâu thuẫn nên chọn FALSE.
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</ul>
37. There are some areas of sport that have a greater proportion of talent than others. — {NOT GIVEN}
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Giải thích: Bài đọc có nhắc đến thể thao (bóng rổ, bóng bầu dục) để làm ví dụ về việc đánh giá sai tài năng, nhưng không hề so sánh tỷ lệ tài năng giữa các môn thể thao với nhau.
</li>
</ul>
38. Measures of intelligence accurately predict performance at work. — {FALSE}
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<li>
Trích dẫn: “…research shows that the best predictors… tend to be measures of intelligence. But even these measures correlate only loosely with performance…” (Đoạn D)
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Bài đọc nói các thước đo trí tuệ chỉ liên quan lỏng lẻo (loosely) chứ không phải chính xác (accurately). Do đó câu này mâu thuẫn. (Lưu ý đáp án bạn đưa ra là T nhưng dẫn chứng bài học cho thấy nó phải là F).
</li>
</ul>
39. There are cases in which talented sportspeople have been overlooked. — {TRUE}
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<li>
Trích dẫn: “Basketball star Michael Jordan was dropped by his high-school basketball coach and a number of top American football quarterbacks were available early in their careers because they were not considered good enough…” (Đoạn D)
</li>
<li>
Giải thích: Michael Jordan từng bị loại, điều này chứng minh các vận động viên tài năng từng bị bỏ qua/đánh giá thấp.
</li>
</ul>
40. Newly formed organisations have the most highly motivated staff. — {NOT GIVEN}
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<li>
Giải thích: Bài đọc không có thông tin về “tổ chức mới thành lập” (newly formed organisations).
</li>
</ul>

Reading Test 42

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