Direction: In the following questions you have a brief passage with five questions. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives
PASSAGE
The Baxter house is located at the end of the street. This house sits farther back from the curb than the other houses. It is almost difficult to see from the road without peering behind the deformed oak tree that has obscured it for years. Even so, the Baxter house stands out from the other houses on the street. It is tall and white. However, this white is no longer pristinely white, but a dingy greyish cream colour. Long vines hang from the tattered roof. The Baxter house is two storeys tall and has a large yard in the back that has never been mowed. The other houses on the street are a mere one storey and have been painted a variety of colours. The newer, single storey properties all appear to have been built around the same time; the yards mostly being of the same size, and the houses appearing to be clones of one another. Aside from the Baxter house at the end, this street is a perfect slice of middle America. The inhabitants of the other houses wonder who lives in the ancient, dilapidated house at the end of the street.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) curb (N.) : the edge of the raised path at the side of a road, usually made of long pieces of stone
(2) peering (V.) : looking closely/carefully at something, especially when you cannot see it clearly
(3) obscured (V.) : to make it difficult to see, hear/ understand something
(4) stand out (Phr. V.) : to be easily seen ; to be noticeable
(5) pristinely (Adv.) : fresh and clean, as if new
(6) dingy (Adj.) : dark and dirty
(7) mowed (V.) : to cut grass, etc. using a machine/tool with a special blade/blades
(8) clones (N.) : a person/thing that seems to be an exact copy of another
(9) aside from (Prep.) : apart from
(10) dilapidated (Adj.) : old and in very bad condition

Direction: In the following questions, you have a passage with 5 questions. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
PASSAGE
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright JM Barrie. A mischievous boy who can fly and who never ages, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with mermaids, Native Americans, fairies, pirates, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside of Neverland. In addition to two distinct works by Barrie, the character has been featured in a variety of media and merchandise, both adapting and expanding on Barrie’s works. Peter Pan first appeared in a section of The Little White Bird, a 1902 novel written by Barrie for adults. The character’s best-known adventure debuted on 27 December 1904, in the stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. The play was adapted and expanded somewhat as a novel, published in 1911 as Peter and Wendy.
SOME IMPORTANT WORDS
(1) mermaids (N.) : a creature with a woman’s head and body, and a fish’s tail instead of legs