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1. Not until the final research paper was published ______ the full implications of the discovery.

2. The CEO's ______ remarks about the merger created more confusion than clarity, leaving investors uncertain of the company's direction.

3. The committee's recommendation is that the new environmental policy ______ implemented with immediate effect to curb rising pollution levels.

4. The diplomatic negotiations were intended to ______ the heightened tensions between the two rival nations.

5. ______ for the timely intervention of the moderator, the scholarly debate would likely have descended into acrimonious disputes.

6. The persistent notion that correlation implies causation is a common ______ that continues to plague amateur statistical analysis.

7. ______ by the board's unilateral decision to cut research funding, the lead scientist tendered her resignation in protest.

8. The sanctions imposed were designed to be ______ with the severity of the international law violations.

9. The professor argued that a purely utilitarian approach to ethics, ______ appealing it may seem in its simplicity, fails to account for inalienable human rights.

10. Her ______ for detail made her an invaluable asset to the forensic accounting team, as she could identify inconsistencies others overlooked.

11. Any student ______ to submit their dissertation after the official deadline must apply for a formal extension from the academic board.

12. In literary criticism, the concept of the 'unreliable narrator' fundamentally challenges the reader's ______ assumptions about the truth of the narrative.

13. Given the lack of definitive evidence and the conflicting accounts, one ______ that the historical manuscript was a clever, albeit convincing, forgery.

14. The new policy, ostensibly aimed at streamlining bureaucracy, has instead created a ______ of convoluted paperwork and procedural delays.

15. It was the sheer ______ of her argument, supported by copious empirical data, that ultimately persuaded the skeptical panel.

16. The authoritarian regime's attempts to ______ dissent were met with widespread international condemnation and grassroots resistance.

17. There is a marked ______ between the company's public pronouncements on environmental responsibility and its actual, verifiable practices.

18. The more a society digitizes its critical infrastructure, ______ it becomes to systemic disruption from cyber-attacks.

19. His ______ refusal to compromise on even the most minor procedural points stalled the crucial negotiations indefinitely.

20. I would much rather you ______ me before making such a significant financial commitment on the company's behalf.

21. So ______ was the artist's technique that critics at the time mistook her hyperrealistic paintings for high-resolution photographs.

22. Seldom ______ such a profound and immediate impact on the field of molecular biology as the discovery of CRISPR.

23. The philosopher's latest work is a ______ critique of determinism, arguing for a compatibilist view of free will.

24. The economic data, ______ from a variety of independent sources, paints a bleak picture of the country's short-term prospects.

25. His argument, though eloquently delivered, rested on several ______ assumptions that could not withstand empirical scrutiny.

Bài đọc hiểu

The Ineffable Nature of Qualia

In the philosophy of mind, the 'hard problem of consciousness'—a term coined by David Chalmers—refers to the challenge of explaining why and how we have qualia, or subjective, phenomenal experiences. While the 'easy problems' of consciousness involve explaining functional abilities like discriminating, integrating information, and reporting mental states, the hard problem addresses the very nature of subjective awareness itself: the feeling of pain, the taste of a lemon, the redness of red. Physicalism, the dominant ontological view in contemporary philosophy and science, posits that everything that exists is physical, or supervenes on the physical. However, qualia present a profound challenge to this worldview. The ineffable, private nature of these experiences seems to resist reduction to purely physical or computational properties. Thought experiments like Frank Jackson's 'Mary's Room' are designed to highlight this explanatory gap. Mary, a brilliant neuroscientist who has learned everything there is to know about the physics and biology of color vision but has lived her entire life in a black-and-white room, supposedly learns a new fact upon seeing the color red for the first time. If Mary learns something new, it suggests that her prior, purely physical knowledge was incomplete. This implies that the subjective experience of seeing red—the quale itself—is a form of non-physical information, a conclusion that fundamentally troubles the physicalist paradigm. Critics argue the experiment is flawed, but its persistence underscores the deep conceptual chasm between objective, third-person scientific descriptions and subjective, first-person reality.

1. What is the primary purpose of this passage?

2. In the context of the passage, the word 'ineffable' most nearly means:

3. According to the passage, the 'Mary's Room' thought experiment is designed to question which central idea?

4. What can be inferred about the author's stance?

5. The passage distinguishes between the 'easy problems' and the 'hard problem' of consciousness by stating that the hard problem concerns:

6. Based on the passage, the statement 'The author explicitly endorses a dualist perspective on consciousness' is:

The Shifting Tides of Global Interdependence

For decades following the end of the Cold War, the prevailing economic orthodoxy was one of hyper-globalization, characterized by the relentless pursuit of efficiency through intricate, globe-spanning supply chains. Multinational corporations, abetted by liberalized trade policies, offshored production to lower-cost regions, creating a web of economic interdependence that was widely believed to foster not only prosperity but also peace. However, the foundational assumptions of this model are now being severely tested. A confluence of recent events—from the COVID-19 pandemic exposing the fragility of just-in-time logistics to geopolitical rivalries intensifying economic competition—has catalyzed a discernible shift toward deglobalization. This trend is not merely a retreat from global trade but a strategic realignment. Nations are increasingly prioritizing resilience and national security over pure economic efficiency. The discourse has shifted from 'offshoring' to 'reshoring' (bringing production home) and 'friend-shoring' (moving supply chains to allied nations). While this strategic decoupling may enhance supply chain security and insulate economies from geopolitical shocks, it is not without significant costs. The fragmentation of the global economy could lead to decreased efficiency, higher consumer prices, and a potential slowdown in technological innovation, which has historically thrived on cross-border collaboration. The challenge for policymakers, therefore, is to navigate this precarious transition, balancing the legitimate need for economic security with the long-held benefits of an interconnected world.

1. What is the central argument of the passage?

2. The word 'precarious' in the final paragraph is closest in meaning to:

3. According to the passage, what was a key assumption of the hyper-globalization era?

4. The author suggests that a likely consequence of 'reshoring' and 'friend-shoring' is:

5. What does the author imply about the transition away from hyper-globalization?

6. Which of the following best describes the function of the first paragraph?

7. Based on the passage, the statement 'The author believes deglobalization is an entirely negative development' is:

The Double-Edged Sword of CRISPR-Cas9

The advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology represents a watershed moment in biotechnology, offering an unprecedentedly precise and accessible tool for gene editing. Its potential applications in medicine are staggering, particularly in treating genetic disorders through somatic cell therapy—editing the genes of a patient's non-reproductive cells to correct a defect. This approach raises few novel ethical quandaries beyond those already associated with gene therapy. However, the line is crossed, for many ethicists, when discussion turns to germline modification: altering the DNA of human embryos, sperm, or eggs. Such changes are heritable, meaning they would be passed down to all subsequent generations, thereby permanently altering the human gene pool. The primary ethical vortex surrounds this permanence. Proponents argue for its potential to eradicate hereditary diseases like Huntington's or cystic fibrosis forever. Yet, critics raise the specter of unforeseen, long-term consequences for human evolution, which are impossible to model accurately. Furthermore, germline editing ignites the 'slippery slope' argument: if we permit therapeutic modifications, what prevents a slide into non-therapeutic, elective 'enhancements' for traits like intelligence or physical appearance? This prospect threatens to create a genetically stratified society, a new form of eugenics. The unfathomable power to direct our own evolution demands a global, deliberative, and cautious consensus that, at present, seems perilously out of reach.

1. What is the author's primary concern regarding CRISPR-Cas9 technology?

2. The 'slippery slope' argument, as discussed in the passage, suggests that:

3. According to the passage, why is the distinction between somatic and germline editing so ethically significant?

4. The word 'unfathomable' in the final paragraph most nearly means:

5. What does the author imply about the current state of international consensus on germline editing?

6. Based on the passage, the statement 'The author argues that all forms of CRISPR-based gene editing should be banned' is: