2. Even though the war-torn country is in _______, it still refuses to bow down to the evil power.
(A) trample
(B) shambles
(C) ripples
(D) arable

48. Which sentence below is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence? (A) In politics, declinist arguments, despite often being false, are persuasive. (B) Because they are often false, declinist arguments have limited appeal in politics. (C) Declinist arguments by politicians are frequently unconvincing and exposed as false.

49. According to the article, how is a declinist perspective exploited? (A) Politicians use social media to spread false information about societal decline to create divisions within society. (B) Politicians use declinist arguments to appeal to people who yearn for "the good old days" to gain political advantage. (C) Politicians use rhetoric to create fear or anxiety about the future to promote their own agendas.

50. How does the writer suggest we deal with the effects of rosy retrospection? (A) We should use multiple sources of information to provide a more complete view of the past, present, and future. (B) We should be engaged in memory training so that we could recall from both short-term and long-term memories. (C) We should be aware of its effect on our judgment and decision-making, avoid a declinist perspective, and be careful not to prefer a rosy view of the past to the future.

1. Although the rising tide of joblessness is beginning to _______ in some major economies, overall, unemployment levels continue to be high, as GDP growth in most economies has not yet translated into significant job growth. (A) ebb (B) rise (C) surge (D) roam

3. Tomorrow's meeting between the two leaders is expected to break a diplomatic _______ that has lasted for ten years. (A) stakeout (B) starlet (C) stallholder (D) stalemate

4. These four countries are _______ on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe, with skyrocketing poverty and an economic implosion that threatens to throw these countries into even deeper turmoil. (A) teetering (B) truncating (C) taunting (D) tallying

5. The Olympics involve _______ and triumphs for spectators as well as the participants. (A) triplets (B) tramps (C) tyros (D) travails

6. Thanks to rapid vaccination and media promotion, the disease was quickly _______. (A) contributed (B) contained (C) conjectured (D) confounded

7. According to the manager, our protocol is poorly designed, and must be _______ from the bottom up, rethinking all assumptions that we have made. (A) overdrawn (B) overstretched (C) overhauled (D) overwhelmed

8. This YouTube channel has _______ to airing anime, comedy and talk shows because they attract more viewers. (A) boarded (B) expunged (C) pivoted (D) curtailed