Bài thi thử kỳ thi tốt nghiệp Trung học Phổ thông môn Tiếng Anh - Năm học 2017-2018 - Đề số 06

SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO BÀI THI THỬ KỲ THI TỐT NGHIỆP TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG 
 ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC NĂM HỌC 2017- 2018
 (Đề gồm có 04 trang) MÔN TIẾNG ANH ~ MÃ ĐỀ 001
 6 Thời gian: 60 phút - không tính thời gian giao đề
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.
Question 1: My parents tried to persuade me not to go alone, but I sat tight. 
A. stayed put	B. approved	C. stood against	D. acquiesced
Question 2: There has been a great hue and cry about the council's plans to close the school. 
A. praise	B. extolment	C. compliment	D. applause
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.
 Question 3:A. sign	B. signal	C. sigh	D. sight
 Question 4:A. umbrella	B. usher	C. umpire	D. umami
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Question 5: During Queen Elizabeth's........Britain's role in the world has changed dramatically. 
A. ruling	B. monarchy	C. reign	D. coronation
Question 6: I do admire Tam Vy's figure. She's so lovely and......
A. slim	B. skinny	C. thin	D. shapeless
Question 7: Although at that time my knowledge of German was very poor, I......most of what they said.
A. didn't understand	B. have understood	C. managed understand	D. did understand
Question 8: A boycott of other countries' sporting events appears a politically more expedient form of protest than trade.......against them.
A. treaties	B. sanctions	C. blocks	D. actions
Question 9: They......married for two years or so when John employed a very attractive Asian secretary in his Bangkok office.
A. have only been	B. were only	C. only have been	D. had only been
Question 10: According to a recent survey, most people are on good......with their neighbours.
A. acquaintance	B. relationships	C. terms	D. relations
Question 11: I couldn’t come to the party because I......go to work,
A. had to	B. will have to	C. have got	D. have to
Question 12: If you'd like to take a seat in the waiting room till the doctor can see you, you’ll find plenty of magazines to........
A. browse through	B. stare at	C. refer to	D. look over
Question 13: .......Paul tonight, tell him I want to see him.
A. If you bad seen	B. Should you see	C. If you saw	D. Had you seen
Question 14: We can win only if we remain united, and so we must support them the moment they......on strike.
A. go	B. will go	C. went	D. will have gone
Question 15: There is a......resemblance between the two of them.
A. biting	B. striking	C. shining	D. piercing
Question 16: It wouldn’t be wise to wait till all our weaknesses......exposed. Something ought to be done about it straight away.
A. were	B. have been	C. will have been	D. will be
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.
Question 17: Three paintings of Van Gogh went on the block next Sunday.
A. were displayed	B. were kept safe	C. were stolen	D. were sold at an auction
Question 18: This book is an indispensable resource for researchers.
A. important	B. essential	C. accessible	D. useless
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.
Question 19: The judges decided to pardon the criminal. The criminal had not been proven guilty.
A. The judges decided to pardon the criminal, so the criminal had not been proven guilty.
B. The judges decided to pardon the criminal; therefore, the criminal had not been proven guilty.
C. Not until the judges decided to pardon the criminal, the criminal had been proven guilty. 
D. The judges decided to pardon the criminal because the criminal had not been proven guilty.
Question 20: Carl spent too many nights going to parties his first semester in college. He missed more classes than he should have.
A. Carl spent too many nights going to parties his first semester in college; therefore, he
missed more classes than he should have.
B. Carl spent too many nights going to parties his first semester in college because he missed more classes than he should have.
C. Carl spent too many nights going to parties his first semester in college so that he he missed more classes than he should have.
D. Although Carl spent too many nights going to parties his first semester in college, he missed more classes than he should have.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
 UFO simply means Unidentified Flying Object: it refers to any object in the sky that you cannot explain. There have been increasing numbers of UFO reports from the late 1940s onwards, when a craze swept across the USA. People really started to believe that UFOs were ...(21)... craft from alien planets. Much of this interest was ...(22)... by the growth of science fiction. Movies from the 1950s such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) were full of aliens. However, this was not a new ...(23).... In 1938 a radio broadcast by Orson Welles included news reports of alien attacks: many people believed that what they were hearing was true! 
 The public's fears were fuelled by events such as the Roswell Incident in 1947. According to most reports of the accident, some kind of vehicle crashed in the desert. At first the US military ...(24)... to journalists by saying it was a UFO. Then later the official story changed and it was explained ...(25)... a weather balloon. Since then there have been countless rumours of what really happened. In 1995 a film was even produced which claimed to show the scientific examination of the spaceship's alien crew! Although many in the scientific community may doubt the existence of extraterrestrial life, there are still experts who ...(26)... reports of UFO sightings. Indeed, many professional pilots have seen strange fastmoving objects in the sky. So perhaps there really is something out there after all.
 Question 21:A. actually	B. presently	C. increasingly	D. completely
 Question 22:A. run off	B. flown off	C. moved off	D. sparked off
 Question 23:A. exhibition	B. phenomenon	C. demonstration	D. manifestation
 Question 24:A. answered	B. defended	C. spoke	D. responded
 Question 25:A. to	B. like	C. as	D. by
 Question 26:A. harvest	B. gather	C. enter	D. decide
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.
Question 27: Your computer might crash, so save all your work.
A. Your computer might crash so that you should save all your work.
B. Your computer might crash so as to save all your work.
C. Save all your work in case your computer crashes.
D. Save all your work for your computer not to crash.
Question 28: Finally, we managed to solve the problem!
A. Finally we were able to solve the management problem.
B. Solving the problem was our success at last.
C. At last we can find the solution to the problem.
D. We finally succeeded in solving the problem.
Question 29: I shouldn't have deleted those computer files.
A. Those computer files needn't have been deleted.
B. I regret having deleted those computer files.
C. Those computer files shouldn't be deleted.
D. It's a pity that I have deleted those computer files.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
THE SCIENCE Of AVIATION
 Captain John Paul Stapp, already a medical doctor, began his scientific career in the 1940s studying the negative effects of high-altitude flight, issues absolutely critical to the future of aviation. How could men survive these conditions? The problem of the bends, the deadly formation of bubbles in the bloodstream, proved the toughest, but after 65 hours in the air, Stapp found an answer. If a pilot breathed pure oxygen for 30 minutes prior to take-off, symptoms could be avoided entirely. This was an enormous breakthrough. The sky now truly was the limit. The discovery pushed Stapp to the forefront of the Aero Med Lab and he abandoned his plans to become a pediatrician, instead deciding to dedicate his life to research. The Lab's mandate, to study medical and safety issues in aviation, was a perfect match for his talents. It was the premiere facility in the world for the new science of biomechanics.
 Stapp was assigned the Lab's most important research project: human deceleration. This was the study of the human body's ability to withstand G forces, the force of gravity, when bailing out of an aircraft. In April 1947, Stapp travelled to Los Angeles to view the 'human decelerator', a rocket sled designed to run along a special track and then come to a halt with the aid of 45 sets of normal hydraulic brakes, which slowed it from 150 miles per hour to half of that speed in one fifth of a second. When it did, G forces would be produced equivalent to those experienced in an airplane crash. The sled was called the 'Gee Whiz'. Built out of welded tubes, it was designed to withstand 100 Gs of force, way beyond the 18 Gs that accepted theory of the time thought survivable. Early tests were conducted using a dummy, but Stapp soon insisted that conditions were right to use himself as a human guinea pig.
 Exercising a modicum of caution on the first ride in December 1947, Stapp used only one rocket. The Gee Whiz barely reached 90 miles an hour, and the deceleration was only about 10 Gs. So Stapp began to increase the number of rockets, and by August 1948, he had completed 16 runs, surviving not just 18 Gs but a bone-jarring 35 Gs.
 Battered though he was by the tests, Stapp was reluctant to allow anyone else to ride the Gee Whiz. He feared that if certain people, especially test pilots, were used, their hotheadedness might produce a disaster. Volunteers made some runs, but whenever a new approach was developed, Stapp was his own one and only choice as test subject. There was one obvious benefit: Stapp could write extremely accurate physiological and psychological reports concerning the effects of his experiments.
 Yet while the Gee Whiz allowed Stapp to answer the existing deceleration questions, new ones emerged. What could be done to help pilots ejecting from supersonic aircraft to survive? Stapp set out to find the answer on a new sled called Sonic Wind No. 1, which could travel at 750 miles per hour, and withstand an astonishing 150 Gs. In January 1954, Stapp embarked on a series of runs leading to his 29th and final ride, which took him to above the speed of sound, protected only by a helmet and visor. And when the sled stopped, in a mere 1.4 seconds, Stapp was subjected to more Gs than anyone had ever willingly endured. He wasn't just proving that people could survive a high-speed ejection, he was establishing the parameters of human survivability to G force: new biological boundaries were being set.
 That successful run on 10 December 1954 provided Colonel Stapp with an opportunity he had longed for - to promote the cause of automobile safety. Stapp had long realised that his research was just as applicable to cars as it was to airplanes. At every opportunity, Stapp urged the car industry to examine his crash data, and to design their cars with safety in mind. He lobbied hard for the installation of seat belts and improvements such as collapsing steering wheels.
 'I'm leading a crusade for the prevention of needless deaths,' he told Time magazine in 1955. Stapp's work in aeronautics and automobiles continued right up until his death in 1999 at age 89. He had received numerous awards and honours. But the best was the knowledge that his work had helped to save many lives, not just in aviation, but on highways around the world.
Question 30: What does the writer mean when he says 'The sky now truly was the limit' (line 6)?
A. All previous restrictions on flight had been removed.
B. Stapp had set an unbeatable scientific record.
C. A new design was needed for high-altitude planes.
D. Pilots could now be trained to fly at greater altitude.
Question 31: Which of the following is synonymous with ‘barely’?
A. nearly	B. almost	C. merely	D. only just
Question 32: What assessment of Stapp's skills does the writer make in the first paragraph?
A. He was a better scientist than his contemporaries.
B. He was ideally suited to employment at Aero Med Lab.
C. He was able to solve scientific problems at great speed.
D. He was able to prove a theory set out by others.
Question 33: Why did Stapp usually insist on doing test runs on Gee Whiz himself?
A. He thought it was unethical to recruit people for a dangerous task.
B. He felt his powers of observation were superior to those of other people.
C. He had little faith in the overall safety of the equipment.
D. He was aware that some people were psychologically unsuited to the tests.
Question 34: What was the significance of the experiments on Sonic Wind No. 1?
A. They proved that most people would survive high speeds.
B. They gradually improved deceleration times.
C. They broke all previous speed records.
D. They set new limits to human potential.
Question 35: What was surprising about the construction of Gee Whiz?
A. It was not built of conventional materials.
B. It was initially designed to function without a passenger.
C. It could tolerate exceptionally high G forces.
D. It incorporated a revolutionary new kind of brakes.
Question 36: In this text, the writer implies that Stapp's main motivation was......
A. a desire to minimise loss of life.	B. a spirit of adventure.
C. a wish to be remembered after his death.	D. a quest for expertise.
Question 37: The word ‘hotheadedness’ is closest inmeaning to.....
A. inconsiderateness	B. carelessness	C. haste	D. impetuousness
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
# HASHRAG! ELKA SCHMIDT
 My poor father was pacing around the living room with a well thumbed dictionary in his hands. He had spent all morning on the daily crossword and there was just one clue that he couldn't solve. It was 13 down of course, and it said 'the four line square that everyone is talking about'. Even before I could open my mouth to give the obvious answer, my twelve year-old son said, 'Hashtag, Grandpa. Like on Twitter.'
 My father is decidedly old world and he must have been one of the few people left on earth who didn't know what a hashtag was. For everyone else, it is probably the key that they wear out fastest on their laptops. Especially for us girls, because 60 per cent of Twitter users are female.
 The whole world is tweeting like there's no tomorrow. There are now over a billion tweets sent every week. It's not the case that everyone just talks about what socks they are wearing or what cereal they are having for breakfast. In fact, most Twitter activity is fired by current events, especially sports and politics. The most retweeted tweet ever was by President Barack Obama when he announced his victory in the US presidential elections. Over 800,000 people retweeted it. Now that is 'hashtag amazing' as my son might say.
 That is the strangest thing. Teenagers and young people are starting to say the word 'hashtag' in the middle of a normal conversation. This completely mystifies my father, even when he isn't fretting over the crossword. As far as he was concerned, the hashtag was a pointless little button at the bottom of his phone. Now thanks to Twitter, it's a part of everyday speech. There was even a case last year of a pair of British parents who named their baby 'Hashtag Jameson'.
 Even though it was there in the headlines, the news left many people incredulous (including me). It just smacked of a hoax. Rather like the '@ ' that we now use for emails, the hashtag used to be a symbol looking for a meaning. @ was originally an abbreviation for 'about', for example 'the price will be about $12' It was internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson who gave the symbol its new meaning. Tomlinson was looking for a simple way of separating a user's name from an internet domain like 'hotmail' in an email. @ was perfect because it was on every keyboard, but no one really used it. There isn't even a word for it in English, unlike 'hashtag'.
 In the beginning, our friend # wasn't actually a part of Twitter's plans. It didn't appear in the very first tweet, which was sent on 21 March 2006 when Jack Dorsey, one of the company's founders told the few early followers that he was 'just setting up my twttr'. That simple message failed to attract any particular notice on business pages at the time.
 Nevertheless, the company grew, and so did the need to link conversations. It was a year later when Twitter user Chris Messina suggested using the hashtag to connect tweets on the same topic. The company never looked back.
 Now it's the essential tool for gossip and showbiz. The average user has posted 307 messages, and while that's about right for me, my son has almost three times that amount. It's not just a phenomenon in the English speaking world either. Twitter supports over 25 different languages including many scripts that are written right to left. That may well be one of the reasons why the country with the fastest growing number of users on Twitter is Saudi Arabia, with over three million tweeters hard at work. Now tell me that isn't hashtag news.
Question 38: IT experts used the @ symbol in emails because it......
A. wasn't used very much in the past.	B. was understood internationally.
C. was easy to pronounce.	D. was already an important part of mobile phones.
Question 39: According to Elka, the name 'Hashtag Jameson'......
A. was absolutely shocking.	B. may not have been true.
C. was almost certainly illegal.	D. was an amusing name for a child.
Question 40: The first message on Twitter.....
A. was all about the use of hashtags.	B. was the first example of a hashtag for a group.
C. was ignored by journalists.	D. was exactly like most tweets today.
Question 41: From the first paragraph, we understand that Elka......
A. wasn't interested in the crossword question.	B. was surprised by her son's crossword answer.
C. couldn't answer the crossword question.	D. thought the crossword question was easy.
Question 42: What does the author say about Twitter in Saudi Arabia?
A. It is popular there because it is user-friendly.
B. It is mostly used there to discuss current events.
C. It is not surprising that Twitter has been a success there.
D. It is the country that sends the most tweets every day.
Question 43: Elka believes that Twitter......
A. isn't a useful place to get information.	B. is a great place to talk about fashion.
C. is mostly used to discuss serious events.	D. is only used to gossip.
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.
Question 44: Whenever students asked for help or guidance, the counselor would advise them or refer them to someone who will. 
A. will.	B. would advise them	C. for help	D. or refer them
Question 45: Standing among so many strangers, the frightened child began to sob uncontrollable.
A. uncontrollable	B. the frightened	C. Standing among	D. to sob
Question 46: The teacher tried to make the classes enjoyable experiences for the students so they would take a greater interest in the subject.
A. tried to make	B. so	C. would take a greater	D. in the
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best completes each of the following exchanges.
Question 47: ~ A: “.................” ~ B: “It’s round the corner.”
A. Where did you lose your handbag?	B. Where can I park my car?
C. Could you tell me where’s the nearest bus station?	D. When’s our annual get-together?
Question 48: ~ A: “Pass the salt, please.” ~ B: “.................”
A. Here you are.	B. No, less sugar is better.
C. Yes, it’s from the sea.	D. No, thank you. I’m full.
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress in each of the following questions.
 Question 49:A. sensuous B. facetious	C. continuous	D. strenuous
 Question 50:A. calculator B. prosecutor	C. equator	D. escalator
The End
SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO BÀI THI THỬ KỲ THI TỐT NGHIỆP TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG 
 ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC NĂM HỌC 2017- 2018
 (Đề gồm có 04 trang) MÔN TIẾNG ANH ~ MÃ ĐỀ 002
 Thời gian: 60 phút - không tính thời gian giao đề
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
 UFO simply means Unidentified Flying Object: it refers to any object in the sky that you cannot explain. There have been increasing numbers of UFO reports from the late 1940s onwards, when a craze swept across the USA. People really started to believe that UFOs were ...(1)... craft from alien planets. Much of this interest was ...(2)... by the growth of science fiction. Movies from the 1950s such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) were full of aliens. However, this was not a new ...(3).... In 1938 a radio broadcast by Orson Welles included news reports of alien attacks: many people believed that what they were hearing was true! 
 The public's fears were fuelled by events such as the Roswell Incident in 1947. According to most reports of the accident, some kind of vehicle crashed in the desert. At first the US military ...(4)... to journalists by saying it was a UFO. Then later the official story changed and it was explained ...(5)... a weather balloon. Since then there have been countless rumours of what really happened. In 1995 a film was even produced which claimed to show the scientific examination of the spaceship's alien crew! Although many in the scientific community may doubt the existence of extraterrestrial life, there are still experts who ...(6)... reports of UFO sightings. Indeed, many professional pilots have seen strange fastmoving objects in the sky. So perhaps there really is something out there after all.
 Question 1:A. actually	B. increasingly	C. presently	D. completely
 Question 2:A. run off	B. moved off	C. sparked off	D. flown off
 Question 3:A. phenomenon	B. demonstration	C. exhibition	D. manifestation
 Question 4:A. spoke	B. answered	C. defended	D. responded
 Question 5:A. as	B. by	C. to	D. like
 Question 6:A. decide	B. gather	C. enter	D. harvest
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.
 Question 7:A. umbrella	B. umami	C. umpire	D. usher
 Question 8:A. sigh	B. sight	C. signal	D. sign
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Question 9: They......married for two years or so when John employed a very attractive Asian secretary in his Bangkok office.
A. had only been	B. were only	C. have only been	D. only have been
Question 10: If you'd like to take a seat in the waiting room till the doctor can see you, you’ll find plenty of magazines to........
A. browse through	B. refer to	C. stare at	D. look over
Question 11: A boycott of other countries' sporting events appears a politically more expedient form of protest than trade.......against them.
A. sanctions	B. treaties	C. blocks	D. actions
Question 12: We can win only if we remain united, and so we must support them the moment they......on strike.
A. will go	B. go	C. went	D. will have gone
Question 13: .......Paul tonight, tell him I want to see him.
A. Had you seen	B. Should you see	C. If you bad seen	D. If you saw
Question 14: It wouldn’t be wise to wait till all our weaknesses......exposed. Something ought to be done about it straight away.
A. will be	B. were	C. have been	D. will have been
Question 15: There is a......resemblance between the two of them.
A. striking	B. piercing	C. biting	D. shining
Question 16: During Queen Elizabeth's........Britain's role in the world has changed dramatically. 
A. ruling	B. monarchy	C. coronation	D. reign
Question 17: According to a recent survey, most people are on good......with their neighbours.
A. relationships	B. terms	C. relations	D. acquaintance
Question 18: Although at that time my knowledge of German was very poor, I......most of what they said.
A. did understand	B. have understood	C. didn't understand	D. managed understand
Question 19: I couldn’t come to the party because I......go to work,
A. have to	B. had to	C. will have to	D. have got
Question 20: I do admire Tam Vy's figure. She's so lovely and......
A. thin	B. shapeless	C. skinny	D. slim
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.
Question 21: Three paintings of Van Gogh went on the block next Sunday.
A. were sold at an auction	B. were kept safe	C. were displayed	D. were stolen
Question 22: This book is an indispensable resource for researchers.
A. useless	B. important	C. accessible	D. essential
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.
Question 23: My parents tried to persuade me not to go alone, but I sat tight. 
A. stood against	B. approved	C. acquiesced	D. stayed put
Question 24: There has been a great hue and cry about the council's plans to close the school. 
A. compliment	B. praise	C. extolment	D. applause
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best completes each of the following exchanges.
Question 25: ~ A: “.................” ~ B: “It’s round the corner.”
A. When’s our annual get-together?	B. Where did you lose your handbag?
C. Could you tell me where’s the nearest bus station?	D. Where can I park my car?
Question 26: ~ A: “Pass the salt, please.” ~ B: “.................”
A. No, thank you. I’m full.	B. Here you are.
C. No, less sugar is better.	D. Yes, it’s from the sea.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
# HASHRAG! ELKA SCHMIDT
 My poor father was pacing around the living room with a well thumbed dictionary in his hands. He had spent all morning on the daily crossword and there was just one clue that he couldn't solve. It was 13 down of course, and it said 'the four line square that everyone is talking about'. Even before I could open my mouth to give the obvious answer, my twelve year-old son said, 'Hashtag, Grandpa. Like on Twitter.'
 My father is decidedly old world and he must have been one of the few people left on earth who didn't know what a hashtag was. For everyone else, it is probably the key that they wear out fastest on their laptops. Especially for us girls, because 60 per cent of Twitter users are female.
 The whole world is tweeting like there's no tomorrow. There are now over a billion tweets sent every week. It's not the case that everyone just talks about what socks they are wearing or what cereal they are having for breakfast. In fact, most Twitter activity is fired by current events, especially sports and politics. The most retweeted tweet ever was by President Barack Obama when he announced his victory in the US presidential elections. Over 800,000 people retweeted it. Now that is 'hashtag amazing' as my son might say.
 That is the strangest thing. Teenagers and young people are starting to say the word 'hashtag' in the middle of a normal conversation. This completely mystifies my father, even when he isn't fretting over the crossword. As far as he was concerned, the hashtag was a pointless little button at the bottom of his phone. Now thanks to Twitter, it's a part of everyday speech. There was even a case last year of a pair of British parents who named their baby 'Hashtag Jameson'.
 Even though it was there in the headlines, the news left many people incredulous (including me). It just smacked of a hoax. Rather like the '@ ' that we now use for emails, the hashtag used to be a symbol looking for a meaning. @ was originally an abbreviation for 'about', for example 'the price will be about $12' It was internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson who gave the symbol its new meaning. Tomlinson was looking for a simple way of separating a user's name from an internet domain like 'hotmail' in an email. @ was perfect because it was on every keyboard, but no one really used it. There isn't even a word for it in English, unlike 'hashtag'.
 In the beginning, our friend # wasn't actually a part of Twitter's plans. It didn't appear in the very first tweet, which was sent on 21 March 2006 when Jack Dorsey, one of the company's founders told the few early followers that he was 'just setting up my twttr'. That simple message failed to attract any particular notice on business pages at the time.
 Nevertheless, the company grew, and so did the need to link conversations. It was a year later when Twitter user Chris Messina suggested using the hashtag to connect tweets on the same topic. The company never looked back.
 Now it's the essential tool for gossip and showbiz. The average user has posted 307 messages, and while that's about right for me, my son has almost three times that amount. It's not just a phenomenon in the English speaking world either. Twitter supports over 25 different languages including many scripts that are written right