1. -Nguyễn Hoàng Thanh Vy soạn và sưu tầm- Page 1 of 4
The questions below are about ‘Ingredient 1’.
Advisedtiming:20 minutes
1. Where should this sentence be inserted “Muhammad never had a father—his father died six months
before his birth—and his mother died when he was six years old.” to best fit the passage?
A. B. C. D.
2. What does ‘This’ refer to?
A. Preaching B. Muhammad C. Mecca D. Gabriel
3. Do the following statements agree with the information given in or inferred from the text? (indicate
True, False or NA – Not in the text)
A. Muhammad’s religious belief differs from that of the Mecca people.
B. Muhammad was almost assassinated.
C. Muhammad led his people through various wars against his religion and his followers.
D. Muhammad treated his opponents with mercy.
E. The Arabian Peninsula was very populous.
4. What is the main content that the author wants to convey in the first 5 paragraphs?
A. The origin of Islam
B. Muhammad’s life
C. Religious conflict in Mecca
D. Muhammad’s challenges and achievements
5. Match these pieces of information to the corresponding ethnic group – Sunni, Shia or both:
A. WhenchoosingMuhammad’ssuccessor,theywere more democraticanddidnotbase theirdecision
on bloodline.
B. They assigned more power to God.
C. The Quran is very important to them.
D. They supported Ali ibn Abi Talib.
E. Their second leader was assassinated.
F. They were the majority among Muslims.
G. They doubtlessly followed the entire Quran word by word.
The questions below are about ‘Ingredient 2’.
Advisedtiming:10 minutes
6. The quote ‘I shouldlike todrawa line from the e in Acre to the last k in Kirkuk.’ is used to demonstrate
that Sykes was:
A. Conscientious B. Simple-minded C. Ignorant D. Apathetic
7. Fill in the blanks with no more than 3 words from the passage:
A. Natural borders are formed by ______________, ___________ or other natural structures; dividing
different __________________________ groups.
B. Borders drawn on the map without any real-life investigation are __________________________
but pose serious problems for people actually living in the area.
C. People inanationare supposedto have _______________________, yetin Iraq,thissituationcould
not be achieved.
8. By saying ‘Can’t see why there’d be any issue here.’, the author aims to:
A. Express his confusion about the reason behind Iraq’s problem
B. Express his sarcasm towards Sykes and George-Picot’s decision
C. Emphasize that there is absolutely no problem
D. Ask readers to suggest some reasons for Iraq’s problem

2. -Nguyễn Hoàng Thanh Vy soạn và sưu tầm- Page 2 of 4
The questions below are about ‘A Tight Lid’.
Advisedtiming:15 minutes
9. What does the ‘soup’ represent?
A. The country Iraq
B. Iraqi government
C. Iraqi people
D. Different religions in Iraq
10. Which part can be deleted from the passage without changing its meaning and logical sequence?
A. (1) B. (2) C. (3) D. (4)
11. Arrange the boxesintothe suitablecategoryaccordingto this part of the passage. No box is to be used
twice. Some boxes will not be used.
Iran-Iraq war
- ........................................................
- ………………………………………………………….
Iraq-Kuwait war
- ………………………………………………………
- ………………………………………………………
12. Does the author approve or disapprove of the US’s intervention in Iraq? Explain one quote from the
passage as evidence.
13. List the 4 ‘lids’ in Iraq according to chronological order.
The questions below are about ‘A Perfect Storm’.
Advisedtiming:15 minutes
14. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to ‘hard-line’?
A. Exclusive B. Unwise C. Discriminatory D. Uncompromising
15. What did the author suggest by using the word ‘just’?
A. Al-Maliki’s actions are not too serious.
B. Al-Maliki only made those decisions.
C. Al-Maliki recently made those decisions.
D. Al-Maliki haslittlelogical reasoningability.
16.Where do you find information about these factors, paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d)?
A. An unstable, divided new government
B. A group of western powers determined to stay out
C. An amateur, questionably loyal army
D. An angry minority population who sympathizes anyone who resist the government
E. A civil war next door in Syria
F. The interests of a giant neighbor, Saudi Arabia, aligned with a government overthrow
Saddam stops many attacks from the US in this war.
It has a political purpose.
Chemical weaponry is used against Iraq’s enemy in this war.
Only the Kurds rose up against Saddam during this war.
It has an economic purpose.
The US did not back the revolutionary forces during this war.

3. -Nguyễn Hoàng Thanh Vy soạn và sưu tầm- Page 3 of 4
17. According to information from the passage, label where Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria are on the
following map:
The questions below are about ‘ISIS’.
Advisedtiming:10 minutes
18. Fill in the blanks with no more than 3 words to complete the development process of ISIS:
19. Which characteristic is the author referring to when he mentions ‘Genghis Khan’?
A. Powerful B. Violent C. Scary D. Impressive
20. Why did the author mention ‘Belgium’?
21. Which of the following claims is NOT true about ISIS?
A. ISIS is tech-savvy.
B. ISIS robs other people and organizations.
C. ISIS is a large firm.
D. ISIS kills people regardless of age.
22. What is the mainideabehind “If they’re not just rounded up and executed on the spot, Christians and
other non-Muslims are forced to convert to Islam, pay a hefty non-Muslim tax, become a refugee, or
die. The doors of Christian houses are marked with a ‫ن‬, a symbol that signifies that they’re Christian.
Nazi-esque.”?
A. There are ways not to get killed by ISIS.
B. People suffer under ISIS’ rule.
C. ISIS discriminates against other religions.
D. ISIS kills all followers of other religions.
It became a part of Al-Qaeda, then ______________________________ for a while.
________________________ founded the group due to his discontent.
After a change of leadership, the group gained more experiences by learning from
_____________________ and fighting in the __________________________.
ISIS invaded ________, killing all ______________________ while the Iraqi military ______.

4. -Nguyễn Hoàng Thanh Vy soạn và sưu tầm- Page 4 of 4
The question below is about the entire blogpost.
Advisedtiming:10 minutes
23. Choose FIVEanswerchoicesthat bestsummarize the passage,accordingtothe introductory statement.
Incorrect choices express ideas that are overly detailed or unrepresented in the blogpost.
There are several factors leading to Iraq’s current instability.
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Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims are arch enemies.
Mohammad – the founding father of Islam – did not choose a successor.
A capable and professional terrorist group – ISIS – grabs its chance.
ISIS is violent, tech-savvy and wealthy enough to rule.
The US was not interested in resolving the problem because they did not want another war.
Saudi Arabia supported a government overthrow due to regional politics.
Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
Newly drawn borders grouped arch enemies together into one united nation.
Domesticandinternational circumstances became the perfect breeding ground of a terrorist group.
The Kurds are also oppressed.
There was no authoritarian power to suppress the conflicts or good leadership to resolve them.
World War I left significant impacts that lasted until present days.