DEGREE OR PROOF?

A Hiring Snapshot

Shifting signals: (1) __________ universities continue to sell prestige and broad training, many recruiters in cloud support, cybersecurity, and product design no longer treat a degree as the first filter. A transcript (2) __________ unread in an HR system may matter less than public evidence of what a candidate has actually shipped, fixed, or improved.

What employers notice: Across tech-facing roles, hiring teams increasingly (3) __________ in on applicants who can explain trade-offs, recover from failure, and show recent learning. They also look for (4) __________ backed by GitHub logs, lab records, and client-style briefs. In that climate, credentials alone may carry less (5) __________ than visible proof of practical work. For many final-year students, it may be wiser to be better (6) __________ building a body of work before graduation than waiting for a diploma to do the talking.

Question 1:
A.  Much as
B.  Because of        C. Regardless of        D. Subject to

Question 2:
A.  be leaving        B. left
C.  to leave        D. that is leave

Question 3:
A.  run
B.  brush        C. look        D. zero

Question 4:
A.  practical work portfolios        B. practical portfolio works

C.  portfolio practical works        D. practical portfolios works

Question 5:
A.  weighted
B.  weighting        C. weight        D. weighty

Question 6:
A.  with        B. off
C.  under        D. at

STUDENT SUPPORT NOTICE

Silent Strain

• Many teenagers feel pushed to match their friends’ grades, appearance, or lifestyle. Over time, such pressure can create emotional (7) __________ and make ordinary setbacks seem far worse than they are.

Common Patterns

• Some students keep their worries private; (8) __________ post every success online and quietly measure themselves by the reactions they receive.
• Constantly (9) __________ yourself against others can weaken self-respect instead of building confidence.

A Better Response

• A healthy (10) __________ of distance from praise and criticism is often necessary.
• Real maturity means knowing when to (11) __________ and question unhealthy expectations.
• In the end, public approval is a poor (12) __________ of personal worth.

Question 7: A. nutrition        B. immunity        C. tension        D. posture

Question 8: A. another        B. the other        C. others        D. the others

Question 9: A. compare        B. compared        C. comparing        D. to compare

Question 10: A. majority        B. number        C. degree        D. plenty

Question 11: A. push back        B. come across        C. break down        D. bring up

Question 12: A. shelter        B. engine        C. posture        D. measure

Question 13:

a. Leo: That hits hard, because I train useful skills every week, but I am not sure I practise that one until it costs me something.

b. Leo: Everyone says AI will master everything, but what human skill do you think it still cannot truly replace in the next twenty years?

c. Mia: Moral courage, maybe—the moment when a person risks comfort, status, or safety to do what feels right.

A. b – c – a
B.  c – b – a        C. b – a – c        D. a – b – c

Question 14:

a. Omar: If they cannot do that soon, students may stop seeing tuition as an investment and start seeing it as a delay.

b. Omar: Google and Apple keep hiring people without degrees, so what exactly is university still selling us?

c. Ivy: Maybe not the diploma itself; the real question is whether schools can prove they build judgment, not just test memory.

d. Omar: Then why do so many courses still feel frozen, while the market changes every six months?

e. Ivy: That is the point—they should answer with labs, industry projects, and faster retraining paths, not thicker brochures.

A. b – c – a – e – d        B. b – e – d – c – a        C. b – c – d – e – a
D.  d – c – b – e – a

Question 15:

Dear Aunt Claire,

How have you been? I hope the café is busy this month.

a. Still, that freedom is thinner than it looks when one illness, one bad rating, or one quiet week can erase your income overnight.

b. So I would call it progress only when laws, unions, or companies build protections strong enough to make that freedom real.

c. You asked why so many young people around me choose gig work even when it offers no insurance or pension.

d. Some platforms sell flexibility as if it were security, which is why the model can become a polished trap for workers with few savings.

e. I understand the appeal, because driving, designing, or tutoring through apps can feel like owning your time at last.

A. c – a – d – e – b        B. e – c – a – b – d        C. c – e – a – d – b
D.  c – e – b – a – d

Best,
Nora

Question 16:

a. This does not make knowledge useless; it means facts should be taught as case material through which students practise transfer, not as cargo to store untouched.

b. When a technical skill can fade in value within five years, a school that only delivers fixed content is quietly preparing students for expiration.

c. A graduate from such a system may forget formulas, tools, or software versions, yet still know how to enter a new field and become useful again.

d. In that model, classes would spend less time rewarding perfect recall and more time on revision, feedback, collaboration, and rebuilding after mistakes.

e. What should last longer is the ability to learn in public: framing questions, testing ideas, spotting weak evidence, and adapting without panic.

A. b – a – e – d – c        B. e – b – a – d – c        C. b – e – a – d – c
D.  b – e – d – a – c

Question 17:

a. It is too easy to call this disruption natural and tell workers to “reskill” in their spare time, as if the collapse of a profession were a private scheduling problem.

b. Media owners and governments also share that duty, because they benefit from automation while still needing a healthy information ecosystem.

c. Otherwise, society gets cheaper content in the short term and a thinner, more fragile public sphere in the long term.

d. As AI begins to draft headlines, clean transcripts, optimise SEO copy, and even produce serviceable articles in seconds, many reporters, editors, and copywriters are not losing talent but losing the market price of tasks that once paid their rent.

e. The companies building and profiting from these systems should fund retraining, especially when their tools were trained on the language patterns, archives, and labour of the very industries now being weakened.

A. d – e – a – b – c        B. a – d – e – b – c        C. d – a – e – b – c
D.  d – a – b – e – c

THE ILLUSION OF EXPLANATORY DEPTH

Most individuals harbor a misplaced confidence in their understanding of complex systems. This cognitive bias, known as the "illusion of explanatory depth," occurs when people mistake a superficial familiarity with a functional process for a deep technical mastery. In various psychological experiments, for instance, participants were asked to explain the mechanics of a common bicycle, (18) __________. This reveal often leads to a sudden, humbling realization of their own ignorance.

The danger of this illusion is particularly evident in the realm of public policy. When citizens believe they possess a comprehensive grasp of intricate economic issues, they are more likely to adopt radical positions. (19) __________. Furthermore, researchers argue that true expertise requires a rigorous acknowledgment of what remains unknown. (20) __________. Addressing this intellectual arrogance necessitates a shift toward "deliberate humility."

Addressing this intellectual arrogance necessitates a shift toward "deliberate humility." The difficulty, however, lies in the fact that social media environments often reward instant certainty over cautious reflection, (21) __________. Ultimately, fostering a more informed society requires that every individual (22) __________.

Question 18:

A. the intricate details of which most individuals failed to describe

B. whose intricate details most individuals failing to describe them accurately

C. of which the intricate details most individuals describe fail to happen

D. which the intricate details of most individuals failed to describe

Question 19: 

A. This perceived expertise effectively fuels polarization by silencing nuanced debate

B. Such radical positions instead encourage individuals to embrace nuanced debate

C. These economic issues subsequently allow individuals to avoid misplaced confidence

D. Resulting technical mastery eventually compels radical positions to become nuanced

Question 20:

A. Thus, real mastery is inseparable from an awareness of one’s own epistemic limits

B. Radical positions are what define an awareness of their own epistemic limits

C. However, these specific epistemic limits are what real mastery remains independent from

D. Awareness of epistemic limits is what radical positions always strive for nowadays

Question 21: 

A. a trend whereby shallow assertions overshadow the need for depth

B. which shallow assertions instead encourage the necessity of technical mastery

C. whereby technical mastery eventually succumb to these instant digital rewards

D. and shallow assertions that consistently ignore the reality of ignorance

Question 22:

A. prioritize intellectual honesty and recognize the limits of personal expertise

B. prioritizes intellectual honesty which acknowledges inherent limits of personal expertise

C. prioritize personal expertise and the inherent limits of intellectual honesty

D. and personal expertise recognize the inherent limits of active intellectual honesty

A field can look calm in daylight and become contested ground by dawn. A farmer returns to find banana trees torn open. In another region, families no longer let children walk alone near the forest edge after dark. The danger is not constant, yet it is close enough to alter daily habits. Human wildlife conflict begins there, not in slogans about nature, but in the ordinary fear of losing food, income, or safety when people and wild animals are pushed into the same space.

The problem is often described as if animals simply “enter” human life, but the truth is less tidy. As roads spread, forests shrink, and settlements reach further into old habitats, the distance between survival and collision grows thin. For conservation campaigns, wildlife may appear as beauty, rarity, even national pride. For many rural communities, however, it can also mean wrecked crops, dead livestock, and nights lived on alert. What sounds noble from far away may feel punishing up close.

The public story also tends to flatten the conflict. Some images are used to raise awareness, showing that habitat loss, poverty, and weak protection systems all intensify the pressure. Others do something cheaper. They turn fear into spectacle. A damaged farm becomes a dramatic thumbnail. A wild animal becomes either a villain or a saint. In both cases, reality is stripped of its weight. The conflict is no longer understood. It is packaged.

Yet coexistence is not an empty ideal. In some places, practical changes such as stronger livestock enclosures, local tracking systems, and community led protection have reduced losses and lowered revenge killings. That matters because the issue is not only about saving wildlife or defending people. It is about whether modern society can respond to collision without demanding that one side become invisible.

[Adapted from https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/wildlife_practice/human_wildlife_conflict/]

Question 23. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 1 as an immediate effect of human-wildlife conflict?

A. The destruction of agricultural products in the fields.

B. The restriction of movement for people near forest areas.

C. The loss of stable financial resources for local farmers.

D. The complete disappearance of rare species from the region.

Question 24. The word “collision” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. contact        B. pressure        C. conflict        D. danger

Question 25. The word “it” in paragraph 2 refers to __________.

A. the distance between survival and collision        B. national pride in conservation campaigns

C. the beauty associated with rare animals        D. wildlife as experienced by rural communities

Question 26. According to paragraph 2, why does the distance between survival and collision become smaller?

A. Because rural communities have lost interest in protecting national pride.

B. Because human infrastructure and living areas are expanding into natural habitats.

C. Because conservation campaigns have focused too much on the beauty of animals.

D. Because wild animals have become more aggressive due to climate change.

Question 27. The word “flatten” in paragraph 3 is OPPOSITE in meaning to __________.

A. simplify and reduce        B. deepen and enrich        C. shorten and narrow        D. weaken and soften

Question 28. Which of the following best paraphrases the statements in paragraph 3?

A. When reality becomes too heavy for the public to handle, the media must find a way to make it more attractive and easier to consume.

B. Whether animals are seen as villains or saints, the public is presented with a simplified version that ignores the serious nature of the conflict.

C. The conflict between humans and wildlife can only be understood once it has been carefully organized and presented by the media.

D. Modern audiences prefer to see wild animals as saints, which helps restore the balance and weight of the conservation story.

Question 29. In which paragraph does the author discuss how certain media representations can distort the true nature of the conflict?

A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2        C. Paragraph 3        D. Paragraph 4

Question 30. In which paragraph does the author suggest that resolving the conflict requires a balance between human needs and animal preservation?

A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2        C. Paragraph 3        D. Paragraph 4

What companies choose to count often determines what the public is encouraged to notice. In climate reporting, that boundary matters more than it first appears. A firm may highlight cleaner factories, leaner packaging, and more efficient direct operations as evidence of progress, and none of those claims is necessarily false. The difficulty begins in everything left outside the polished perimeter of the company itself: the extraction of raw materials, outsourced production, transport systems, years of product use, and the waste that follows disposal. Once responsibility is drawn too narrowly, sustainability can start to resemble not a full account of impact, but a carefully edited version of it.

This is what makes Scope 3 emissions so revealing. They include indirect emissions generated both upstream and downstream, from purchased goods and logistics to product use and end-of-life treatment. For many businesses, these emissions are not marginal. [I] They may constitute the largest share of the total climate burden, which is precisely why they complicate the story companies often prefer to tell about themselves. The moment reporting moves beyond owned facilities and direct operations, a less flattering picture can emerge: a business that appears comparatively clean at its center may depend on far more carbon-intensive systems at its edges. [II] What is being measured, then, is not simply pollution at a distance, but a wider architecture of dependence.

There are, of course, real reasons this accounting is difficult. Supply chains are dispersed, layered, and frequently opaque. Reliable data may be incomplete, estimates unavoidable, and attribution open to dispute. In some cases, the same emissions source can appear in more than one company’s inventory, making the figures easier to misread and the politics around them easier to manipulate. [III] It is one of the central conditions of serious disclosure. Once influence extends across suppliers, distributors, retailers, and consumers, accountability can no longer remain neatly confined within corporate walls. [IV]

That is why Scope 3 matters as more than a technical extension of carbon accounting. It changes the moral angle from which responsibility is viewed. A company may not directly control every emission tied to its products, but neither can it claim innocence in relation to the systems that make those products possible. Hidden accountability is still accountability. The deeper question is not whether every tonne can be assigned with perfect neatness, but whether firms are willing to describe the networks that make their footprint appear lighter than it is. A narrow inventory flatters performance. A fuller one unsettles it. That disturbance is not a flaw in the method. It is its point.

[Adapted from https://pdf.wri.org/ghgp_corporate_value_chain_scope_3_standard.pdf]

Question 31: Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

Even so, complexity is not a persuasive excuse for silence.

A. [I]
B. [II]
C. [III]
D. [IV]

Question 32. In paragraph 1, the word “those claims” refers to __________.

A. reports about climate limits        B. promises of future action

C. statements of environmental progress        D. expectations from the public

Question 33. According to the passage, why can a company appear environmentally better than it really is?

A. Because direct operations usually matter more than supply-chain impacts in most climate assessments.

B. Because reporting may emphasize cleaner visible activities while excluding carbon-heavy systems beyond the company’s immediate boundary.

C. Because public audiences rarely care whether transport, disposal, and outsourcing are included in climate reports.

D. Because sustainability claims become unreliable only when firms publish no emissions data at all.

Question 34. The word “marginal” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. unclear        B. optional        C. minor        D. distant

Question 35. Which of the following best summarises paragraph 2?

A. Scope 3 emissions mainly concern remote pollution sources that companies cannot reasonably be expected to include in normal climate reporting.

B. Scope 3 matters because it captures indirect emissions that may form a large share of total impact and reveal dependence on carbon-intensive systems beyond a firm’s core operations.

C. Scope 3 reporting is most useful when it confirms that companies with efficient facilities are also cleaner across every stage of production and use.

D. Businesses resist Scope 3 mostly because downstream emissions are less measurable than pollution from logistics and purchased goods.

Question 36. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is true?

A. Because Scope 3 data often overlap, serious disclosure should avoid including emissions that could appear in more than one inventory.

B. Companies may delay Scope 3 reporting until supply chains become simpler and more transparent.

C. Difficulty in tracing indirect emissions is real, but that difficulty strengthens rather than weakens the need for fuller disclosure.

D. Attribution problems matter mainly because they prevent companies from assigning emissions to consumers at the end of the chain.

Question 37. Which of the following is NOT stated in the passage?

A. Some emissions may be counted in more than one company’s reporting inventory.

B. Scope 3 includes emissions tied to product use and end-of-life treatment.

C. A fuller carbon inventory may make a company’s performance look less favorable.

D. Most firms refuse to report Scope 3 emissions because regulators do not legally require them to do so.

Question 38. Which of the following best paraphrases the sentence in paragraph 4?

A. Although firms cannot manage every source of indirect emissions, they still share responsibility for the wider systems that enable their products to exist.

B. Since companies lack direct authority over every stage of production and use, they should be judged mainly by the emissions they can control inside their own operations.

C. Even when firms influence suppliers and consumers indirectly, responsibility becomes unfair unless each tonne can be assigned with precise certainty.

D. A business may not oversee every related emission directly, yet it remains answerable for the broader networks that support what it sells.

Question 39. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Once Scope 3 estimates become more accurate, companies will no longer be able to dispute responsibility for indirect emissions.

B. The main purpose of Scope 3 reporting is to prevent consumers from misunderstanding how carbon inventories are calculated.

C. The debate over Scope 3 is not only about technical measurement but also about whether firms will acknowledge forms of responsibility that extend beyond direct control.

D. Because supply chains are opaque and data are incomplete, carbon accounting should focus on operational emissions that can be confirmed more neatly.

Question 40. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. Climate reporting becomes misleading when companies highlight cleaner operations while omitting wider indirect emissions, and Scope 3 matters because it exposes hidden dependence and expands responsibility beyond corporate walls.

B. Scope 3 emissions are difficult to calculate because supply chains are complex, so the main challenge for climate disclosure is improving data quality before broader moral claims are made.

C. What companies choose to count shapes what becomes visible, and Scope 3 matters because a fuller inventory reveals indirect climate burdens, unsettles flattering narratives, and widens the meaning of accountability.

D. Businesses often present efficient factories and lighter packaging as proof of progress, but these claims become misleading only when companies intentionally exclude transport, use, and disposal from their reporting.