[029] - Đề thi thử tốt nghiệp THPT 2024 - Môn Tiếng Anh - LIÊN TRƯỜNG HUYỆN CẨM XUYÊN - HÀ TĨNH

We need to attend to the tree loss because of the following tree benefits. Firstly, trees provide shade for homes, office buildings, parks and roadways, cooling surface temperatures. They also take in and evaporate water, (30) ______ cools the air around them. Secondly, trees absorb carbon and remove pollutants from the atmosphere. Trees also reduce energy costs by $4 billion a year, according to Nowak's study. “The shading of those trees on buildings (31) ______ your air conditioning costs. Take those trees away; now your buildings are heating up, you're running your air conditioning more, and you're burning more fuel from the power plants, so the pollution and emissions go up.” (32) ______, trees act as water filters, taking in dirty surface water and absorbing nitrogen and phosphorus into the soil. Last but not least, (33)______ studies have found connections between exposure to nature and better mental and physical health. Some hospitals have added tree views and plantings for patients as a result of these studies. Doctors are even prescribing walks in nature for children and families due to evidence that nature exposure lowers blood (34) ______ and stress hormones. And studies have associated living near green areas with lower death rates.
(Adapted from IELTS by Cambridge University Press)

Until relatively recently, newspapers were our primary source of daily news. They must now compete, however, with online news, social media and television in a progressively digital age. The internet is changing the way people get their news, leaving a dwindling audience willing to pay for their daily paper. But given that the form first emerged in early-17th century in Europe, it’s probably about time the medium got overhauled. Newspapers have witnessed an extraordinary era of change: from the evolution of democratic institutions and political parties to the reshaping of whole countries and continents.
By the end of the 19th century, newspapers were using a visual template not unlike those of today, and had become the source of not only large profits but also unaccountable political and social influence for their owners – a trend that has continued to the present day. Newspapers prospered in this form for more than 150 years, and in many countries, daily life would have been inconceivable without access to one. But in many places, the continuing existence of newspapers is under threat.
Circulation figures for all types of newspapers, local, regional and national, bear out the fact that, in many Western nations at least, sales of printed newspapers had been falling for many years prior to the emergence of the internet. What is also beyond question, though, is that the arrival and exponential growth of the World Wide Web, leading to near-universal coverage, has accelerated this process greatly. Observing the rapidity and extent of this process around the world provides a fascinating insight into social change.
We now live in an age where speed and convenience have gained precedence over reliability and quality in most aspects of our existence. Regarding the former, newspapers only allow getting updated about events some considerable time after they have actually happened, while online users can access them more or less at the moment at which they occur. Printed newspapers, therefore, provide a less efficient source of news and, furthermore, do so in a less environmentally-friendly way than the internet, and at a direct cost to the consumer. Moreover, with news also available on tap through social media, consumers are continually bombarded from all sides, and therefore may not wish to have each story explained in great detail, as is the case in much of the printed media. Social media sites have also proven to be one of the most effective means of getting information out rapidly, and on a huge scale: news can now be tweeted before the mainstream media have even started their coverage.
(Adapted from Exam Booster Advanced by Carole Allsop, Mark Little and Anne Robinson)

Florists, personal trainers, professors, and nutritionists all have healthy jobs according to research. There are many reasons for this. A florist, for example, sells flowers and plants to customers. This is very relaxing work. A personal trainer, on the other hand, is usually very fit. He or she trains other people to lose weight and to keep fit.
However, research also shows that some jobs are 'unhealthy'. They cause a lot of stress and worry. For example, a taxi driver drives all day. He often faces traffic jams and difficult passengers too. A firefighter puts out dangerous fires and sometimes saves people from burning buildings.
Most people are looking for the perfect job. They want a job that is interesting, with a good salary and not much stress. However, it is difficult to get everything. Healthy, relaxing jobs are usually not very well paid. On the other hand, people with stressful jobs often get good salaries. For example, the head of a big company gets a lot of money, but he or she does not always have good health, or the time to enjoy life.
(Adapted from New Headway Academic Skills by Richard Harrison)