Bộ Đề Thi Mẫu Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh B1 B2 VSTEP - ĐỌC HIỂU PART 1 - Đề số 1
Bộ Đề Thi Mẫu Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh B1 B2 VSTEP - ĐỌC HIỂU PART 1 - Đề số 1
1. Cấu trúc đề thi tổng quát
2. Đề Viết B1 B2 VSTEP: ĐỌC HIỂU PART 1 - Đề số 1
Question 1-10
You should spend about 15 minutes on this task.
Starry nights and sunflowers, self-portraits and café settings all painted in bold, intense colors. Today, people around the world immediately recognize these as the work of Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter. [A]
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in a small village in southern Holland. As a child, he was serious and sensitive. He loved to draw, and his work showed talent, but no one encouraged him to become an artist. Instead, his father thought he should take a "sensible" job - something like a salesclerk or carpenter. As a young adult, he wandered from job to job with little success and very little money, becoming more depressed with each failure. In March 1880, however, just before his 27th birthday, something changed inside Van Gogh. He realized that he was meant to be a painter, and he began to study art in Brussels, receiving a subsidy from his brother Theo, which helped him to live. [B]
In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris, hoping to learn more about color techniques being used by Impressionist artists there. Instead of grays and browns, his work began to emphasize blue and red and then yellow and orange. Soon he began to see life differently: Go slow. Stop thinking. Look around. You'll see something beautiful if you open yourself. These were the principles that guided his art. With his innovative color combinations, Van Gogh wanted to show his viewers how to better appreciate a flower, the night sky, or a person's face.
Few who lived in Van Gogh's time appreciated his work, however. Many laughed when they saw his paintings, which hurt the sensitive artist terribly. In February 1888, he moved away from Paris to Arles, a town in southern France. Often he could not eat or sleep, and stayed up into the early morning hours painting. Days passed, and he spoke to no one. Following an argument with fellow artist Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh took a razor and cut off his own earlobe.
He never explained why, but by now, many were convinced that Van Gogh was crazy, and indeed, his mental health started to decline. He began to have attacks during which he would hear strange sounds and think people were trying to hurt him. In the spring of 1889, he was sent to a mental hospital in St. Rémy, a town near Ades.
What exactly was van Gogh suffering from? No one knows for sure, but some now think it may have been a form of manic depression. Whatever his condition, Van Gogh's illness both inhibited and inspired his creativity. When his attacks came, he could not paint. But during his periods of calm, he was able to complete more than a hundred masterpieces, including the classic Starry Night. "Working on my pictures is almost a necessity for my recovery." he wrote.
Following his release from the hospital in May 1890, Van Gogh took a room in a town just north of Paris. For the 70 days that he lived there, he produced, on average, a painting a day. Until his death, however, he was unable to sell a single one; today, those paintings would be worth more than a billion U.S. dollars. [C]
It was at this time that Van Gogh either borrowed or stole a gun. On the afternoon of July 27, 1890, he went out to the country and shot himself in the stomach. Two days later, Vincent Van Gogh died at age 37. What caused him to take his own life - his lack of financial success, mental illness, his loneliness? [D]
1. Which statement is NOT true about Van Gogh's youth?
A. He grew up in Holland.
B. He was born in a small village.
C. His parents encouraged his artistic talent.
D. He tried several jobs but was unsuccessful.
2. What is the purpose of paragraph 2?
A. to advise when Van Gogh was born
B. to describe how Van Gogh became a painter
C. to show that Van Gogh was a troubled man
D. to show how Van Gogh survived on his own
3. What is the main idea in paragraph 32
A. Van Gogh was unhappy working with painters in Holland
B. Van Gogh's move to Paris changed his attitude toward art.
C. Van Gogh was less successful than other Impressionist painters.
D. Van Gogh's paintings of flowers were very popular in Paris.
4. What best paraphrases the following sentence in paragraph 6? Working on my pictures is almost a necessity for my recovery
A. I need to paint in order to heal myself
B. I need to get better so that I can paint again.
C. I will improve only if I slop painting.
D. I will paint only after I feel better.
5. In paragraph 7, the word 'took' is closest in meaning to
A. left
B. moved into
C. stole from
D. sold
6. What health problem did Van Gogh have before his death?
A. manic depression
B. sleeplessness
C. heart attack
D. people are unsure about his illness.
7. How many paintings did Van Gogh produce during his stay in the town north of Paris?
A. 27
B. about 70
C. 100
D. more than 100
8. What is NOT suggested as a possible motive for Van Gogh's suicide?
A. lack of financial success
B. mental illness
C. his parents' lack of support
D. loneliness
9. What is true about Van Gogh's paintings?
A. They were sold after his death.
B. They were loved by people at his time.
C. Van Gogh used different colors especially gray and brown in his paintings.
D. Most of them were painted during his attacks.
10. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit? The question, like so many others in Van Gogh's life, remains unanswered.
A. [A]
B. [B]
C. [C]
D. [D]
3. Đáp án
1. C
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. D
7. B
8. C
9. A
10. D