Qualifying Examination For Applicants For The Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship 2015
Qualifying Examination For Applicants For The Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship 2015
Qualifying Examination For Applicants For The Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship 2015
EXAJY.IINATIONQUESTIONS
UNDERGRADUATE·RESEARCHSTUDENTS
ENGLISH
·~-~-----· ·--
(2015)
Nationality
ENGLISH I -.
(Please print your full name,
underlining your family name) Marks
Name
2 The president believes that all ( ) in her company should help one
another even if they belong to different departments.
A customers B employees e retirees D thermometers
5 She didn't sound.very ( ) about the idea of her parents comingto visit.
A enthusiastic B exclusive C pleasant D provocative
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A agomzmg B overw helming e painstaking D sustaining
1 O In this country, the film mar ket is ( ) by a few majar corporations that
have monopoly control over the production, distribution, and scr~ening of movies.
A benefited B confiscated C dominated D witnessed ·
5 John spent 50 dollars and had his watch ( ) ata watchmaker's shop.
A to repair B repair e repaired D repamng
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8 Strange ( ) it may seem, there is no generally agreed·upon way to
distinguish between a "language" anda "dialect."
A as B although C so D despite
9 Our planet is home to a bewildering variety of plants and animals. We still don't
know exactly ( ) many insects or sea creatures there are. ·
A what B how C that D whether
1 A Many of us see planes as cold and flu factories, with recirculated air spreading
virus around a long metal tube. B But that's only partly true. e There's no doubt
that traveling by plane increases the risk of developing respiratory infections.
o but it has more to do with passengers being crowdedinto a confined space than
because of the recirculated air. says infectious diseases specialist Dr. Irani
Ratnam.
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two Australian books, my literature collection consisted British and American
titles. e I never tackled anything in translation. o My reading was confined to
stories by English-speaking authors.
6 A A sari is a lifelong garment. B Tied tight or loase, low slung with your navel
showing, or over a pregnant bump, the same one will fit you from adolescenceinto
old age. e It can be worn as a dress, a sarong. as pantaloons. and even shorts.
o What more, the handwoven sari industry supports tens of thousands of Indian
workers in rural areas.
7 A France once hada great literary culture, and most French people would say it
still do. B But if so, how come their books don't sell in the English-speaking world?
e Is that our fault or theirs? o And how come the French themselves read so many
books that are translated from English and other languages? These are
provocative questions.
8 Cats, accordingto new research from Japan, recognizetheir owner's voice.A They
just can't be bothered to react to it. B "Historically speaking. cats have not been
domesticated to obey humans' orders," the research team said. e This is in
contrast to the history of dogs and humans. o The former has been bred over
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thousands of years to respond to orders and commands. Cats, it seems, never
needed to learn.
9 Unless reductions in the emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels
begin soon, A the Earth might be much closer to catastrophic warming than is
widely believed. B So argues climatologist James Hansen of the Columbia
University Earth Institute. e Their paper further underscores other recent studies.
Such research shows that neven small delays in shrinking the industrial output
of carbon dioxide could complicate attempts to temper climate change far
generations.
10 In days of old, A the platforms of train stations were knee deep in what looked like
fog. We can see it all the time in black·and·white movies. B I always thought was
steam from the engines. e but now I wonder if it didn't come from cigarettes. You
could smoke everywhere back then. n Depending on your preference, it was either
absolute heaven or absolute hell.
IV Choose the most suiteble word or phrase from the list to Iill each ofthe numbered
blanks in the passage below.
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The Greeks and the Romans also wrote grammars, and ( 5 ) the sounds of
language and the structures of words and sentences. This interest continued through
the medieval period and the Renaissance in an unbroken thread to the present period.
Linguistic scholarship, ( 6 ), was not confined to Europe: in India the
Sanskrit language was the subject of detailed analysis as ( 7 ) as the twelfth
century BCE. Pánini's Sanskrit grammar dated about 500 BCE is ( 8 )
considered to be one of the greatest scholarly linguistic achievements. In ( 9 ),
Chinese and Arabic scholars have ali contributed to our understanding of human
language.
The major efforts of the linguists in the nineteenth century were devoted to
historical and comparative studies. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913), a Swiss
linguist in this tradition, turned his attention to the structural principles of language
( 10 ) to the ways in which languages change and develop, and in so doíng,
became a major influence on twentieth-century linguistics.
V Part I : Read the following passage and select the best answer to each questíon
listed below it.
Long befare guns and arrows, spears were the tool of choice for ancient hunters.
Topped with sharp, pointed rocks, spears at first made it possible to kili animals by
stabbing them close·up. Later, spears were sturdy enough to be thrown át animals from
a distance.
Until recently, the earliest known throwing spears dated back 80,000 years. But a
recent discovery in East África now extends that type of spear hunting to a far earlier
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time, one that precedes humans. It suggests that at least 279,000years ago, an earlier,
humanlike species must have been hunting big game, li.ke hippos and antelope.
Scientists dug up spear tips from that far back in time ata site in Ethiopia called
Gademotta. Back then, during the Stone Age, tools were usually made from found
materials like stone, wood or bone. Any early spear·throwers at that time weren't
people but early ancestors of humans called hominids. Hominids are a family of
primates that includes humans and their extinct ancestors (known only from fossils).
The ancient hominids' spears most likely were long wooden poles topped with
sharp, hand·chipped (sharpened) tips made from glassy volcanicrock, explains Yonatan
Sahle, an archaeologist who has been studying the ancient spear tips made from this
rock, known as obsid.ian.Given the tips' age, his team concludesthat prehuman species
must have spear-hunted too. His team reported its find.ingson November 13, 2013, in
the journal PLOS ONE.
· The new find.ingchallenges previously held ideas about the earliest throwers of
stone·tipped spears, says archaeologist John Shea, who d.id not work on the new study.
Previous stud.ies had suggested ancient peoples started attaching stones to spears
capable of stabbing animals close·up no earlier than 100,000years ago.
The new find shows that more complexthrowing spears were made at Gademotta
long before then. They probably belonged to a species "out of which the human species
evolved in eastern Africa," Shea told Science News. Which hominid left behind the
points? No one knows. Scientists have unearthed no prehuman fossils at the site.
1 Accordingto the article, the earlier type of spears d.ifferfrom the later type in that
they were _
A topped with sharp, pointed rocks. B
used to kill animals at close range. C
used to attack hippos and antelope. D
the tool of choicefor early hunters.
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3 According to the recent discovery, spears may have been used by _
A people who lived in an area in Ethiopia.
B humans who lived during the StoneAge.
C creatures different from humans.
D humans at least 279,000 years ago.
5 Just who made the recently discovered, earliest known throwing spear is
V Pert Il: Read the following passage and select the best answar to each question
listed below it.
For most of human history, science has been used alongside magic, religion, and
technologyto try to understand and control the world. Science might be something as
simple as observing the sun rise each morning, or as complicated as identifying a new
chemical element. Magic could be looking at the stars to foretell the future, or maybe
what we would call a superstition, like keeping out of the path of a black cat. Religion
might lead you to sacrifice an animal to appease the gods, or to pray for world peace.
Technologymight involve knowing how to light a fire or build a new computer.
Science,magic, religion, and technologywere used by the earliest human societies
that settled in river valleys across India, China, and the Middle East. The river valleys
were fertile, which allowed crops to be planted each year, enough to feed a large
community. This allowed some people in these communities enough time to focus on
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one thing, to practice and practice, and become expert at it. The first "scientists''
(though they wouldn't have been called that at the time) were probably priests.
In the beginning, technology (which is about "doing") was more important than
science (which is about "knowing''). You need to know what to do, and how to do it,
before you can successfully grow your crops, make your clothes, or cook your food. You
don't need to kñow why sorneberries are poisonous, or some plants edible, to learn how
to avoid one and grow the other. Youdon't have to have a reason why the sun rises each
morning and sets each evening, for these things to happen, each and every day. But
human beings are not only able to learn things about the world around them, they are
also curious, and that curiosity líes at the heart of science.
We know more about the people of Babylon (in present·day Iraq) than we do about
other ancient civilizations for a simple reason: They wrote on clay tablets. Thousands of
these tablets, written almost 6,000 years ago, have survived. They tell us how the
Babylonians viewed thei.r world. They were extremely organized, keeping careful
records of their harvests, stores, and state finances. The priests spent much of thei.r
time looking after the facts and figures of ancient life. They were also the main
"scientists," surveying land, measuring distances, viewing the skY, and developing
techniques for counting. We still use sorne of their discoveriestoday. Like us, they used
tally marks to keep count: this is when you make four vertical marks and cross through
these diagonally with a fifth, which you might have seen in cartoons of a prison cell,
made by the prisoners keeping count of how many years they have been locked up. Far
more importantly, it was the Babylonians who said there should be sixty seconds in a
minute and sixty minutes in an hour, as well as 360 degrees in a circle and seven days
in the week. It is funny to think that there is no real reason why sixty seconds make a
minute, and seven days make a week. Other numbers would have worked just as well.
But, the Babylonian system got picked up elsewhere and it has stuck.
2 What made it possible for the earliest human societies to settle in the areas ofindia,
China, and the Middle East?
A The land was rich enough to sustain a large society.
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i
.,
B Sciencewas regarded as more important than technology.
C Most scientists and priests attempted to feed their communities.
D People in ancient civilizations were curious about these areas.
3 Why do people today know more about Babylon than other ancient civilizations?
A The discoveriesof Babylon are widely used even today.
B Babylon developedthe largest ancient civilization.
C People in Babylon attempted to dominate the world.
D Various documents from Babylon are available today.
4 Based on the information provided in the article, which diagram best represents
the tally marks described?
A B C D
~ itll ~ -00-
5 Which ofthe followingstatements is TRUE?
A There is no special reason that sixty seconds equals one minute.
B Religion might lead people to look at the stars to foretell the future.
C Technologywill answer the question as to why sorneplants are edible.
D Human beings are usually not curious about the world around them.
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