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SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO KỲ THI TUYỂN SINH LỚP 10 THPT
TỈNH TIỀN GIANG NĂM HỌC 2025-2026
BÀI THI MÔN: TIẾNG ANH (CHUYÊN)
Ngày thi: 06/6/2025
ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC
Thời gian làm bài: 150 phút, không kể thời gian phát đề
(Đề thi có 08 trang)
Section 1.
Good afternoon. In the last few lectures we’ve been covering the social and political pressures that
influenced the rise of the rebellion of 1679. Today I would like to focus on the Pleasanton Town
Market.
Now, why are we talking all about some market? It’s not like it was the first market ever, or even a
particular large market. The Pleasanton Town Market is important because it is often mentioned in
the literature found in the library. If you have ever been there, you have probably seen all of the hand-
crafted items sold there now. But what was originally bought and sold in the town market?
In the beginning, the market sold products such as meats, furs, and simple tools. Overtime, though, it
became known as the place to find quality livestock. People came from all over the world to find the
biggest and best cows, pigs, and chickens. In fact, the profits from the Town Market became the
savior of a plummeting economy during a time of much turmoil.
Not to be confused with the reconstruction era, a period of rapid development came about in the
1660’s as a result of the market’s vendors contributing their profits to building up much needed public
facilities and defense, which would later make a huge impact on the outcome of the war.
For many years, the market flourished and began to draw in large tourism crowds in addition to the
throngs of livestock customers. However, as revolutions in farming came about, more people moved
to farms far from the city centre. Customers grew more and more reluctant to travel all the way to the
town centre for their meats when they could easily choose to buy from local farmers near them for a
fraction of the price.
With such a fall in the profits of the town’s major profit generator, some quality town planning was
needed. In the mayoral election of 1668, a young man of little fame just barely claimed the popular
vote - none other than the now legendary John [Link].
Wiley’s first decision as mayor of Pleasanton was to deal with the quickly failing Town Market. The
building with the large clock was a landmark that had symbolised growth in Pleasanton for a
generation. Wiley decided to use the notoriety of the Town Market to set an example.
During the historical Rotterdam Rebellion, Wiley gave all those involved lifetime prison sentences
in the very same building. It stayed a prison for about 50 more years until they transported all
remaining prisoners to other facilities and turned it into the historical monument today.
Now that you know the basics of the history of the Pleasanton Town Market, I will introduce your
next group project. I want you to make a short film based on the real historical events that occurred
in Pleasanton before and during the uprising.
I will give you some class time to look through the library’s reference section, but you will be
responsible for conducting further research outside of class. I suggest starting by looking for
information on the market itself. You’ll find plenty of information - in fact, some students complain
that there is actually too much information on it.
On your own time, you could find family members of old war veterans to conduct interviews.
Sometimes they provide wonderful insight that you wouldn’t find in proper history books, but be
careful - an interview that is riddled with bias is useless.
I myself have some very old photographs here that you are welcome to take a look at for some
inspiration. I’m lucky enough to own this one of Jim Wiley himself! Very interesting to see, but does
not provide enough information to add much to film.
Feel free to take this film into whatever direction you choose. You could even do a crime thriller
based on real outlaws. All you would have to do is look through the newspaper archives in the crime
section during that time period. Try to get as much detail as you can, but you may end up having to
draw your own conclusions.
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Okay, that’s enough from me, so let’s go on to...
Section 2.
Good morning everyone. Today’s lecture is about a type of adorable animal— the penguin. When
you think of penguins, you may picture them surrounded by snow and ice.
But not all penguins live where it’s cold—African penguins live in the southern tip of Africa. They
are usually found within 40 kilometres of the shore and on a number of its surrounding islands.
African Penguins are also known as Jackass Penguins, because they make donkey- like braying
sounds to communicate. African penguins can keep their body temperature at a stable level.
But their land habitat can get quite warm, so there are a number of ways for them to stay cool. They
limit their daylight movements on breeding sites on land to early mornings and early evenings to
avoid too much sun.
The pink glands above their eyes can help them cope with the temperate climates. Like other
penguins, African penguins spend most of the day feeding in the ocean, which also helps keep them
cool.
Being a type of small to medium sized penguin species, African penguins average about 60
centimetres tall and weigh up to 3.6 kilograms. They have a black stripe and a pattern of unique black
spots on their chest. Males are larger than females and have larger beaks.
Even though they are categorised as birds, African penguins aren’t able to fly because of their heavy
bones. Their wings are more like flippers that make them particularly suited for life in the water.
When they’re on land, their flippers and their tails help them keep their balance and walk upright.
African Penguins begin to breed at the average age of four. When a male and female pair up, they
tend to breed together for the rest of their lives. Most other penguins nest and lay their eggs out in the
open, but African penguins have a different approach.
They dig holes under bushes out of their own excrement, called guano, so they are sheltered from the
sun and predators.
The African Penguin survives on a diet that is comprised mainly of marine organisms. They feed
primarily on fish like sardines, along with the occasional squid and shellfish.
But when normal food is in short supply, they eat tree roots as well. The streamlined body of the
African Penguin allows it to move through the water like a rocket, capable of reaching a speed of
around 20 kilometres per hour when hunting for food.
The African Penguin’s smaller size means that it has many predators both in the water and also on
dry land. Their natural predators at sea include seals and sharks.
The biggest threat to them on land is not just towards the adult penguins. The penguin chicks are
sometimes taken by seagulls into the air and dropped from above. The seagulls could thus feed on
them.
At risk from predators, young penguins are protected for about 40 days after hatching by both parents.
They will leave the colony when they are between 3 to 5 months old and will return a few years later.
The entire surface of their body is densely covered with feathers, which fall off during the winter.
This process is called molting and takes about three weeks to complete. During that time, they are
unable to forage.
Therefore prior to this, African penguins spend about five weeks laying down fat deposits. They
generally live between 10 to 15 years, however many do not reach their full life span.
Their population has drastically declined. Approximately 120,000 African penguins remain in the
wild, and their population has decreased by 90% in the past 60 years. They are considered to be
vulnerable and have been listed as being endangered. Two major factors have contributed to their
decline.
They are struggling for nesting space due to human disruption and competing for food due to
overfishing and pollution. With the limited number of breeding pairs, survivorship becomes difficult
for African penguins.
This makes them especially vulnerable as environmental conditions change or an outbreak of a
disease occurs. For instance, avian malaria has caused 27% of the captive-breeding penguins’ deaths
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annually. The more genetic diversity there is within a species, the high the likelihood that at least
some of the individuals will adapt and survive.
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