Đề thi học sinh giỏi môn Tiếng Anh không chuyên lớp 11 tỉnh Vĩnh Phúc năm 2014 - 2015

China’s ‘violent philanthropist’ gives away fresh air.

Even through the thick Beijing smog, it is impossible to mistake the ebullient figure shaking hands, signing autographs and barking at startled passersby: “Come on, two cans for each one – free fresh air. Open it and drink it and breathe it! It keeps you fresh the whole day!” It is the kind of offer that has made Chen Guangbiao a household name in China: giving away thousands of tins of air to raise awareness of China‟s pollution. “If we don‟t act in the next 10 years, our descendants will have to carry oxygen tanks and wear masks all the time,” he said at the publicity event in Beijing this month.

Chen, 44, is a multimillionaire entrepreneur who bills himself as the country‟s number one philanthropist and environmentalist. In January, he lay under a sheet of wood and steel while two cars drove over him, to demonstrate that the world would be better without cars. In another comment on the drawbacks of motoring he smashed up a Mercedes Benz car. Recently he put an advert in the New York Times proclaiming the disputed Diaoyu Islands – currently at the heart of the territorial row with Japan – to be Chinese, and announced he was giving new cars to drivers whose vehicles were destroyed in anti-Japanese protests – while simultaneously promoting a cycling initiative. He also plans to give away $240,000 to young entrepreneurs in the next weeks.

But he is best known for his personal deliveries to the victims of natural disasters. He arrived in Sichuan with a fleet of heavy machinery after the earthquake in 2008. When the tsunami struck Japan, he flew over with cash and goods. He has apparently an unsinkable self-belief. “I want to record the name of Chen Guangbiao in Chinese history,” he said.

His party trick is to lift a bike using his teeth and spin it around in the air. It is, says Chen, all down to kung fu training at the famous Shaolin temple. Chen grew up in the countryside near Nanjing, in such poverty that two of his siblings starved to death. He earned his first cash – around 60 cents – carrying water from a well to villagers one summer, and used some of the money to help pay for a neighbour‟s schooling. In recognition of his good deed, a teacher pasted a red star on his face. “I ran around the classes … Every student wanted to learn from me and do good things,” he explained.

He made his fortune recycling materials from demolished buildings and has vowed to give it all away before his death. The Hurun rich list estimated his worth at $740m last year. Already, he says, he has made donations worth $278m. Others rank far ahead of him in independent lists of charitable donors and sceptics say it is hard to assess the real value of his gifts since they are often in kind. He counters that other philanthropists give to charities in the sectors they work in, with the hope of commercial returns.

Chen calls his high-profile tactics “violent philanthropy”. He says: “My individual power is limited. I want to use my high-profile way to wake people up to take action together to do good things. I can only awake them with my performance art and creativity.” Admirers point out that most millionaires are doing little for their fellows. And Chen‟s stunts have, as he predicted, got people talking about philanthropy and the environment. “We need these kinds of people to tell us that if you want to help people you need to take responsibility,” says Wang Lanjun, pausing to have her photo taken with him. “He‟s great!” enthused another passing pedestrian. “He said I‟m great,” Chen points out. “You see? Ordinary people love me.”

A love of travelling

For Nigel Portman, a love of travelling began with what‟s (14) _______ a „gap year‟.
In common with many other British teenagers, he chose to take a year out before (15) _______ to study for his degree. After doing various jobs to (16)_______ some money, he left home to gain some experience of life in different cultures, visiting America and Asia. The more adventurous the young person, the (17) ________ the challenge they are likely to set themselves for the gap year, and for some, like Nigel, it can (18) _______ in a thirst for adventure.

Now that his university course has (19) ________ to an end, Nigel is just about to leave on a three-year trip that will take him right around the world. What‟s more, he plans to make the whole journey using only means of transport which are (20) _______ by natural energy. In other words, he‟ll be (21) ________ mostly on bicycles and his own legs; and when there‟s an ocean to cross, he won‟t be taking a (22) _______ cut by climbing aboard a plane, he‟ll be joining the crew of a sailing ship (23) ________.

As well as doing some mountain climbing and other outdoor pursuits along the way, Nigel hopes to pass on to the people he meets the environmental message that lies behind the whole idea.

Number of blue whales increasing

This is a good-news story about sea life. Scientists (24) _______ reported that the numbers of blue whales in the eastern Pacific Ocean (25) ________ the highest they have been in over a century. Researchers at the University of Washington report that there are now over 2,200 blue whales (26) ______ Mexico and Alaska. Hunters killed nearly all the blue whales in that area and they were (27) _______ to extinction. (28) _______ became illegal in 1971 and the numbers of the world's largest mammal started increasing. It has (29) ________ over 40 years for the blue whale to recover. Lead (30) _______ Dr Cole Monnahan was very happy at this positive news. He said: "For us, this is a great conservation success story."