Đề ôn thi tốt nghiệp Trung học Phổ thông môn Tiếng Anh - Năm học 2017-2018 - Mã đề 376

SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO ÔN THI TỐT NGHIỆP TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG 
 ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC NĂM HỌC 2017- 2018
 (Đề gồm có 04 trang) MÔN TIẾNG ANH ~ MÃ ĐỀ 376
 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 that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress in each of the following questions.
 Question 1:A. contents	B. continue	C. continent	D. constancy
 Question 2:A. mature	B. machine	C. majority	D. majesty
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 3: I think Mike must be soft on Betty - he keeps sending her flowers and cards. 
A. easy with	B. lovelorn with	C. abhorent to	D. hard on
Question 4: By this time all the wells had run dry. 
A. filled up	B. flooded	C. moistened	D. wetted
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: In his first game for Newcastle, Keegan.......a goal after 58 minutes.
A. gained	B. earned	C. scored	D. won
Question 6: She has a lot of spare time and wants to know how best to.......it.
A. spend	B. waste	C. save	D. make
Question 7: The manager will reply to all letters.......are sent to him.
A. when	B. who	C. that	D. if
Question 8: I couldn't decide between the two records, so I bought......of them. 
A. both	B. each	C. either	D. all
Question 9: It.......a lot of patience to be a nurse.
A. takes	B. costs	C. uses	D. spends
Question 10: He doesn't.......to take a holiday this summer.
A. suggest	B. suppose	C. determine	D. plan
Question 11: People still haven't.......how dangerous pollution can be.
A. minded	B. realised	C. remarked	D. noted
Question 12: After I......finished working, I switched off the machine.
A. to have	B. had	C. was	D. have
Question 13: Since he was a boy, one of his.......has been stamp-collecting.
A. sports	B. cares	C. hobbies	D. professions
Question 14: He hated his job; as a......of fact he has now given it up.
A. condition	B. type	C. matter	D. nature
Question 15: Shy people often find it difficult to.......group discussions.
A. take place in	B. take part in	C. get on with	D. get in touch with
Question 16: She's.......interrupting me while I'm talking.
A. just	B. sometimes	C. always	D. never
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: I am skeptical about his chances of winning.
A. extraordinary	B. credulous	C. curious	D. doubtful
Question 18: Sorry, Miss. Go easy with the roast beef - I haven't had any yet.
A. Help yourself	B. Eat it slowly	C. Do not use too much	D. Be careful not to be choked
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 19: ~ A: “.................” ~ B: “Tom promised to pick me up but I can’t reach him on the phone.”
A. Why looking so miserable, Anna?	B. Why not using my iPhone?
C. Are you having a running bowel?	D. What’s the matter with you, Alice?
Question 20: ~ A: “The company I've been working for will close down next month and I've got to find something else to do.” ~ B: “..................”
A. Well, so much the better.	B. Count me on. I’ll pay for it.
C. No wonder. It’s been flourishing.	D. Oh, dear. Poor you!
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 21: Whom do you think will be ready on time?
A. Whom	B. on time	C. will	D. you
Question 22: We insist on you leaving the meeting before any further outburts take place.
A. leaving	B. further outburts	C. you	D. before
Question 23: After much consideration, the committee decided to leave him find out the truth by himself.
A. by himself	B. much	C. the	D. him find
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 from 24 to 29.
 Princess Diana was bom Diana Spencer in 1961 in Norfolk, England. She was the daughter of an aristocratic family. Her parents ...(24)... divorced when she was very young. Then the Spencer children lived with their father. Diana went to a private girls’ school in Switzerland. She ...(25)... to England and worked as a kindergarten teacher. Soon after, she started to ...(26)... Prince Charles, who was a friend of the Spencer family.
 Prince Charles and Diana became engaged, and in 1981, they got married. Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched the wedding on television. They had two sons, William and Harry. Princess Diana became the most popular member of the royal family. Wherever she went, ...(27)... press photographed her. She was tall, beautiful, and stylish. Women wanted to look like Princess Diana. She became the most photographed woman in the world.
 By 1992, the marriage had difficulties. Princess Diana and Prince Charles ...(28).... In 1995, Diana gave a famous television interview. She talked about her personal life and why she was unhappy. The royal family never talked about personal problems. The interview was unusual, but people liked the princess’s honesty. In 1996, Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced.
 After the divorce, Diana continued her work to help people. She worked with the poor, with people who had AIDS, and with people who had drug ...(29).... Everyone loved her.
 In 1997, Diana had a romance with Dodi al-Fayed, an Egyptian millionaire. One evening they were in Paris. Photographers followed their car. The car was going very fast, and it crashed. Diana and Dodi died in the accident. It was August 31, 1997.
 Question 24:A. made	B. got	C. set	D. left
 Question 25:A. got	B. returned	C. came	D. went
 Question 26:A. marry	B. date	C. invite	D. know
 Question 27:A. one	B. the	C. Ø	D. a
 Question 28:A. departed	B. separated	C. left	D. missed
 Question 29:A. issues	B. matters	C. affaris	D. problems
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 from 30 to 36.
 NO TIME LIKE THE LAST MINUTE - FAMILY LIFE 
by Mary Killen
 As I boarded the train at Paddington Station one night, I was delighted by the unexpected sight of three friends also boarding. ‘Hurray!’ we cried as we bagged a table for four in the dining car and settled down to the prospect of a delicious meal and stimulating conversation. But with about three minutes to departure, I looked through the window to see one of our party wandering along the platform. 'Where’s Rupert going?’ I asked his wife. ‘Oh, probably going to get a newspaper or something,’ she shrugged. ‘He likes to give himself these little thrills. He never actually boards a train until the whistle has actually blown.’ Three agonising minutes after the train had started rolling down the tracks, Rupert came gasping back to the table, having just managed to get into the last carriage and walked all the way through the train.
 Our friend Lucy’s husband, John, derives a similar thrill from not arriving at airports at the stated latest check-in time. ‘Even when we are there,’ says Lucy, he carries on shopping after the flight is called and says,’Don’t worry.’
 Once you have checked in, it’s OK. They always call out your actual name ’Rupert and John’s penchant for ‘competing’ against time is unfortunately a vice I share. The thrill of ‘just making' a train is addictive, and what is more depressing than hanging around a railway station or sitting in a motionless train? With life racing by so quickly, one wants to maximise every moment’s potential. Yet this is not the whole story. As a child 1 always walked through the school gate at the exact moment before I would be punished for being late, and experienced the thrill of triumph at having ‘made it’.
 Now, in adult life, I find that each day holds the potential for a whole galaxy of bogus achievements of this nature. I never start packing for a holiday until an hour before we are due to set off. I never get my clothes ready for a party until twenty minutes before I have to leave home. I never send off my tax return until the last post on the day before it is due, even though it requires a thirty-minute drive to the nearest 7 p.m. collection box, when I could have posted it in my own village at 3.13 p.m.
 Looking back, I realise the habit probably set in during adolescence, when I noted that my mother was always ready at least half an hour before she went out. On Tuesday nights when she set off to see friends, she used to be collected by car at 7.30 p.m From 7 p.m., she would be pacing the garden. If she was giving a dinner party, she would have the table laid with cutlers the day before.
 Once she even said she could not see a long-lost cousin who wanted to drop in on December 9th because she would be too busy in the run-up to Christmas’. We like to prove we can do things better than our parents, and therefore I stupidly window-shop in Oxford Street so that I have to take a taxi rather than a bus to Paddington Station, and arrive with my heart thumping. I cut it so fine when going to catch a train that, when I leave from home, I regularly have to finish getting dressed in the car on the way to the station.
 Old habits die hard but I’m beginning to see the advantages that might accrue from being ready in time. Think how much money I could save on taxis if I took buses in plenty of time instead. Think how much less panicky I would be at every party if I weren't doing up my buttons as I walked through the door. Think how much less anxious I would be if only I could be ready on time. One might even live longer without the stress of constantly competing against time.
 With any luck my two little daughters will want to prove that they can do things better than I can and will take precisely the opposite line, deriving a thrill from being well-prepared, like both their grandmothers.
[From FAST TRACK TO CAE, Workbook, Pearson, 2002]
Question 30: When the writer saw her friends getting on the train, she......
A. hoped they would find a table for four.	B. was worried that someone was missing.
C. looked forward to a good trip.	D. wondered why they were late.
Question 31: Why did Rupert leave the train?
A. He had changed his mind about the trip.	B. He had forgotten something important.
C. His wife had asked him to get something.	D. It was what he usually did.
Question 32: When thinking about Rupert and John, the writer.......
A. is depressed by their behaviour.	B. is determined to make better use of her time.
C. appreciates why they act as they do.	D. realises the potential dangers of their behaviour.
Question 33: What does the writer hope for her own daughters?
A. They will have better lives than her.	B. They will not follow her example.
C. They will not be influenced by family members.	D. They will trust to luck.
Question 34: The idiom “cut it fine” is closest in meaning to.....
A. arrive in time	B. get on early enough	C. waste much time	D. allow very little time
Question 35: The writer considers that her mother.....
A. provided a model to react against.	B. was inhospitable to relatives.
C. controlled her own anxiety.	D. set a bad example.
Question 36: The writer considers her ‘achievements’ to be.....
A. childish.	B. a sign of boredom.	C. illusory.	D. worthwhile.
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 from 37 to 43.
 As a teenager, Dan Butler-Morgan used to nod off during lessons at school. He thought it was just what every rebellious schoolboy did. But when Dan left school, got a job as a mechanic and continued to fall asleep during the day, he realized this wasn't normal. None of his colleagues dozed off while servicing a car or spent their lunch break snoozing in a corner.
 When his host threatened him with the sack, he knew he had to find out what made him so different from everybody else. Dan's GP [General Practitioner = family doctor] was equally baffled and immediately sent him to a sleep centre, where he was diagnosed as suffering from narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder that is known to affect at least 2,500 people in the UK.
 Narcoleptics fall asleep at irregular and unexpected times. "Most people,' says Dan, 'however tired, can stay awake if need be. But with me, its like a blind is drawn. I can be having a conversation with the most interesting person, but inside, I am fighting a constant battle to stay awake, it's like someone switches the lights off."
 Dan once fell off his bike due to an attack, and has been thrown out of nightclubs by bouncers who thought he was drunk - sufferers are often mistakenly considered to be inebriated or lazy.This, coupled with the factthat nobody is quite sure what causes narcotepsy, makes it hard to diagnose. It is widely believed tobe the result of a genetic mutation, and research has shown that sufferers have at deficiency of hypocretin, a small hormone produced in the brain which regulates the body's state of arousal.
 Most narcoleptics also experience cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscular control that can cause them to fall to the door, their heads to slump or their jaws to drop, usually after a sudden surge of emotion such as happiness, anger or fear. During the night, narcoleptics can also suffer from sleep paralysis - an inability to move just before falling asleep or just after waking up - and hallucination.
 Dan suffers from all of these symptoms. When I arrive for our interview he holds onto the door for support as his legs buckle in an attack of cataplexy, because "I walked in and didn't recognize you, and I was a bit taken aback." He finds it hard to describe the sleep paralysis and hallucinations, but says he begins "to go cold from the toesup, and then get these horrible noises in my head - babies crying and a high-pitched squeal.Then I start to see things, either figures in the room or big bands coming at me from behind the curtains."
 The only person who can help Dan to snap out of the hallucinations is his 25-year-old wife, Claire, who is frequently tired as she is woken by the attacks. "I put a hand on his shoulder and he will come round,but it can happen again and again during the night," she says. At their worse, she estimates, the attacks can occur around 50 times a night.
 Dan is remarkably fresh-faced for someone who is supposed to feel overwhelming fatigue. He puts this down to the new tablets he takes to control his condition. He used to take an amphetamine-based form of medication, but found that his moods fluctuated too much. But since he started taking amphetamine-free Modafinil, his moods have levelled out and his attacks have decreased to just five or six times a night, three or four nights aweek.
 He thinks that keeping busy also helps his condition. The couple have recently bought a house and Dan works on it every night after work until midnight. "It's when I’m sitting still for any period of time that 1 knew I’m going to go." The couple recently went to see a horror movie, and Dan slept through most of it ‘Tiny little things that most people take for granted have been affected by my narcolepsy," he says "Socially, we can never really plan anything. We go out to dinner and I can just fall asleep in my food."
 He is amazed at people's lack of knowledge about the condition, and has often encountered prejudice. He desperately wanted to join the police force, but was sent a rejection letter, saying he would be a health-and-safety risk. Another potential employer turned him down, telling him the sales assistant in his local chemist had told him Dan would probably turn up late for work all the time.
 "It's not a disability," he says, forlornly. "But people's perceptions of it as one have led me to be a bit scared of trying to pursue any other career opportunities, in case I get turned down. And I sometimes feel like I am bringing other people down with it. It can make you feel like a nothing, a nobody."
 His attempts to control the cataplexy have changed his personality. "I used to be this happy-go-lucky person, who was always cracking jokes, but now I can't really laugh because it sets off the cataplexy." Despite all the obstacles that he has faced, though, Dan still manages to look on the bright side. "Fortunately, I don't think I'll ever go back to being the teenager who slept whole weekends without ever waking up. This morning, I got up at 5 am and I'll go to the house this evening and work on it until late. In fact,’ he says, grinning at his wife,‘I think Claire's more tired nowadays than I am."
[From READY FOR CAE, Student’s Book, Roy Norris, 2015]
Question 37: What do we learn about narcolepsy in the third paragraph?
A. It often makes sufferers lazy.	B. It can seriously affect the brain.
C. It can be brought on by thinking too much.	D. The symptoms are not always correctly identified.
Question 38: When he first met the writer, Dan......
A. fell over.	B. was very angry.	C. was a little surprised.	D. fell asleep.
Question 39: What do we leam about his feelings in the last paragraph?
A. He is able to remain positive.	B. He finds his situation amusing.
C. He wishes he could sleep like he used to.	D. He is concerned about his wife.
Question 40: What, according to Dan, has been the main obstacle to him finding work?
A. The clangers involved in employing him.	B. His fear of letting others down.
C. People's attitudes towards the disease.	D. His low self-esteem.
Question 41: The writer expresses her surprise at......
A. his wife's ability to cope with the situation.	B. the form of medication he is taking.
C. the frequency with which he suffers attacks.	D. his apparent lack of tiredness.
Question 42: Dan first knew he suffered from narcolepsy......
A. during a visit to his doctor.	B. when he became unemployed.
C. shortly after an incident at work.	D. when he was still at school.
Question 43: Dan says he is most likely to fall asleep......
A. at the cinema.	B. when he is inactive.
C. when he works late.	D. in social situations.
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 44:A. anchor	B. ancestor	C. anchovy	D. ancient
 Question 45:A. crouch	B. shroud	C. through	D. proud
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 46: I remembered his face when I ran into him, but his name escaped me.
A. When I saw him, he tried to escape.	B. His face seemed unfamiliar to me when I saw him.
C. As soon as I saw him, I remembered his name.	D. When I saw him, I couldn’t recall his name.
Question 47: Being an attentive listener during the lectures will enable you to understand them easily.
A. If you listened more carefully during the lectures, you wouldn’t find them too difficult to understand.
B. You won’t have any difficulty understanding the lectures if you listen to them carefully.
C. Since you do not attend the lectures regularly, you will always find them difficult to understand.
D. Only by listening to the lectures carefully will you be able to understand them.
Question 48: Unfortunately, I didn't remember to tell him to pick up the kid at the crèche on his way home.
A. I really don’t remember telling him to collect the kid at the crèche on his way home.
B. I was going to tell him to pick up the kid at the crèche on his way home., but unfortunately, I forgot.
C. Regrettably, I forgot to remind him to collect the kid at the crèche as be was coming home.
D. I tried not to forget to tell him that he should pick up the kid at the crèche as he was coming home.
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 49: This hat does fit my hair. I’ll take it back to the shop.
A. Because this hat does not fit my hair, I’ll take it back to the shop.
B. The hat is so unfit to my hair that I’ll change it at the shop.
C. This hat is not suitable for my hair, so I’ll shop it back.
D. Not finding the hat beautiful on my hair, I’ll exchange it with the shop.
Question 50: Her lecture was so elaborately worded. It was difficult to make it out.
A. We can’t make head nor tail about her elaboratedly-worded lecture. 
B. Her lecture was given in an elaborate way and it was difficult to make it out.
C. Her lecture was such an elaborate one, so we can’t make it out.
D. Her lecture was very elaborately worded to make out.
The End
SỞ GIÁO DỤC ĐÀO TẠO ÔN THI TỐT NGHIỆP TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG 
 ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC NĂM HỌC 2017- 2018
 (Đề gồm có 04 trang) MÔN TIẾNG ANH ~ MÃ ĐỀ 268
 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 that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress in each of the following questions.
 Question 1:A. majesty	B. mature	C. machine	D. majority
 Question 2:A. contents	B. continent	C. continue	D. constancy
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. ancestor	B. anchovy	C. anchor	D. ancient
 Question 4:A. through	B. shroud	C. crouch	D. proud
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 5: We insist on you leaving the meeting before any further outburts take place.
A. further outburts	B. leaving	C. before	D. you
Question 6: After much consideration, the committee decided to leave him find out the truth by himself.
A. the	B. by himself	C. much	D. him find
Question 7: Whom do you think will be ready on time?
A. will	B. on time	C. you	D. Whom
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 8: Sorry, Miss. Go easy with the roast beef - I haven't had any yet.
A. Eat it slowly	B. Be careful not to be choked	 C. Help yourself	D. Do not use too much
Question 9: I am skeptical about his chances of winning.
A. credulous	B. curious	C. doubtful	D. extraordinary
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 10: I think Mike must be soft on Betty - he keeps sending her flowers and cards. 
A. abhorent to	B. lovelorn with	C. easy with	D. hard on
Question 11: By this time all the wells had run dry. 
A. moistened	B. filled up	C. wetted	D. flooded
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 12: Unfortunately, I didn't remember to tell him to pick up the kid at the crèche on his way home.
A. I really don’t remember telling him to collect the kid at the crèche on his way home.
B. I was going to tell him to pick up the kid at the crèche on his way home., but unfortunately, I forgot.
C. I tried not to forget to tell him that he should pick up the kid at the crèche as he was coming home.
D. Regrettably, I forgot to remind him to collect the kid at the crèche as be was coming home.
Question 13: Being an attentive listener during the lectures will enable you to understand them easily.
A. Only by listening to the lectures carefully will you be able to understand them.
B. You won’t have any difficulty understanding the lectures if you listen to them carefully.
C. If you listened more carefully during the lectures, you wouldn’t find them too difficult to understand.
D. Since you do not attend the lectures regularly, you will always find them difficult to understand.
Question 14: I remembered his face when I ran into him, but his name escaped me.
A. His face seemed unfamiliar to me when I saw him.	B. As soon as I saw him, I remembered his name.
C. When I saw him, I couldn’t recall his name.	D. When I saw him, he tried to escape.
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Question 15: After I......finished working, I switched off the machine.
A. had	B. was	C. to have	D. have
Question 16: I couldn't decide between the two records, so I bought......of them. 
A. either	B. both	C. each	D. all
Question 17: She has a lot of spare time and wants to know how best to.......it.
A. spend	B. save	C. waste	D. make
Question 18: She's.......interrupting me while I’m talking.
A. never	B. just	C. sometimes	D. always
Question 19: He doesn't.......to take a holiday this summer.
A. suggest	B. determine	C. suppose	D. plan
Question 20: It.......a lot of patience to be a nurse.
A. uses	B. takes	C. costs	D. spends
Question 21: People still haven't.......how dangerous pollution can be.
A. noted	B. realised	C. remarked	D. minded
Question 22: In his first game for Newcastle, Keegan.......a goal after 58 minutes.
A. scored	B. won	C. gained	D. earned
Question 23: Since he was a boy, one of his.......has been stamp-collecting.
A. hobbies	B. cares	C. professions	D. sports
Question 24: Shy people often find it difficult to.......group discussions.
A. take place in	B. get in touch with	C. get on with	D. take part in
Question 25: The manager will reply to all letters.......are sent to him.
A. if	B. who	C. that	D. when
Question 26: He hated his job; as a......of fact he has now given it up.
A. type	B. condition	C. matter	D. nature
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 from 27 to 32.
 Princess Diana was bom Diana Spencer in 1961 in Norfolk, England. She was the daughter of an aristocratic family. Her parents ...(27)... divorced when she was very young. Then the Spencer children lived with their father. Diana went to a private girls’ school in Switzerland. She ...(28)... to England and worked as a kindergarten teacher. Soon after, she started to ...(29)... Prince Charles, who was a friend of the Spencer family.
 Prince Charles and Diana became engaged, and in 1981, they got married. Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched the wedding on television. They had two sons, William and Harry. Princess Diana became the most popular member of the royal family. Wherever she went, ...(30)... press photographed her. She was tall, beautiful, and stylish. Women wanted to look like Princess Diana. She became the most photographed woman in the world.
 By 1992, the marriage had difficulties. Princess Diana and Prince Charles ...(31).... In 1995, Diana gave a famous television interview. She talked about her personal life and why she was unhappy. The royal family never talked about personal problems. The interview was unusual, but people liked the princess’s honesty. In 1996, Princess Diana and Prince Charles divorced.
 After the divorce, Diana continued her work to help people. She worked with the poor, with people who had AIDS, and with people who had drug ...(32).... Everyone loved her.
 In 1997, Diana had a romance with Dodi al-Fayed, an Egyptian millionaire. One evening they were in Paris. Photographers followed their car. The car was going very fast, and it crashed. Diana and Dodi died in the accident. It was August 31, 1997.
 Question 27:A. made	B. got	C. left	D. set
 Question 28:A. got	B. went	C. returned	D. came
 Question 29:A. invite	B. date	C. marry	D. know
 Question 30:A. Ø	B. one	C. the	D. a
 Question 31:A. departed	B. separated	C. left	D. missed
 Question 32:A. affaris	B. matters	C. problems	D. issues
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 from 33 to 39.
 As a teenager, Dan Butler-Morgan used to nod off during lessons at school. He thought it was just what every rebellious schoolboy did. But when Dan left school, got a job as a mechanic and continued to fall asleep during the day, he realized this wasn't normal. None of his colleagues dozed off while servicing a car or spent their lunch break snoozing in a corner.
 When his host threatened him with the sack, he knew he had to find out what made him so different from everybody else. Dan's GP [General Practitioner = family doctor] was equally baffled and immediately sent him to a sleep centre, where he was diagnosed as suffering from narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder that is known to affect at least 2,500 people in the UK.
 Narcoleptics fall asleep at irregular and unexpected times. "Most people,' says Dan, 'however tired, can stay awake if need be. But with me, its like a blind is drawn. I can be having a conversation with the most interesting person, but inside, I am fighting a constant battle to stay awake, it's like someone switches the lights off."
 Dan once fell off his bike due to an attack, and has been thrown out of nightclubs by bouncers who thought he was drunk - sufferers are often mistakenly considered to be inebriated or lazy.This, coupled with the factthat nobody is quite sure what causes narcotepsy, makes it hard to diagnose. It is widely believed tobe the result of a genetic mutation, and research has shown that sufferers have at deficiency of hypocretin, a small hormone produced in the brain which regulates the body's state of arousal.
 Most narcoleptics also experience cataplexy, a sudden loss of mus