четвер, 3 листопада 2016 р.

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  1. You are going to read an extract from a novel. For questions 1 – 8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D)
which you think fits best according to the text. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.

I shifted uncomfortably inside my best suit and eased a finger inside the tight white collar. It was hot in the little bus and I had taken a seat on the wrong side where the summer sun beat on the windows. It was a strange outfit for the weather, but a few miles ahead my future employer might be waiting for me and I had to make a good
impression.
There was a lot depending on this interview. Many friends who had qualified with me were unemployed or working in shops or as labourers in the shipyards. So many that I had almost given up hope of any future for myself as a veterinary surgeon. There were usually two or three jobs advertised in the Veterinary Record each week and an average of eighty applicants for each one. It hadn’t seemed possible when the letter came from Darrowby in Yorkshire. Mr S. Farnon would like to see me on the Friday afternoon; I was to come to tea and, if we were suited to each other, I could stay on as his assistant. Most young people emerging from the colleges after five years of
hard work were faced by a world unimpressed by their enthusiasm and bursting line 15 knowledge. So I had grabbed the lifeline unbelievingly.
The driver crashed his gears again as we went into another steep bend. We had been climbing steadily now for the last fifteen miles or so, moving closer to the distant blue of the Pennine Hills. I had never been in Yorkshire before, but the name had always raised a picture of a region as heavy and unromantic as the pudding of the same
name; I was prepared for solid respectability, dullness and a total lack of charm. But as the bus made its way higher, I began to wonder. There were high grassy hills and wide valleys. In the valley bottoms, rivers twisted among the trees and solid grey stone farmhouses lay among islands of cultivated land which pushed up the wild, dark
hillsides.
Suddenly, I realised the bus was clattering along a narrow street which opened onto a square where we stopped. Above the window of a small grocer’s shop I read ‘Darrowby Co-operative Society’. We had arrived. I got out and stood beside my battered suitcase, looking about me. There was something unusual and I didn’t know what it was at first. Then it came to me. The other passengers had dispersed, the driver had switched off the engine and there was not a sound or a movement anywhere. The only visible sign of life was a group of old men sitting round the clock tower in the centre of the square, but they might have been carved of stone.
Darrowby didn’t get much space in the guidebooks, but where it was mentioned it was described as a grey little town on the River Arrow with a market place and little of interest except its two ancient bridges. But when you looked at it, its setting was beautiful. Everywhere from the windows of houses in Darrowby you could see the
hills. There was a clearness in the air, a sense of space and airiness that made me feel I had left something behind. The pressure of the city, the noise, the smoke – already they seemed to be falling away from me.
Trengate Street was a quiet road leading off the square and from there I had my first sight of Skeldale House. I knew it was the right place before I was near enough to read S. Farnon, Veterinary Surgeon on the old-fashioned brass nameplate. I knew by the ivy which grew untidily over the red brick, climbing up to the topmost windows. It was what the letter had said – the only house with ivy; and this could be where I would work for the first time as a veterinary surgeon. I rang the doorbell.
1 As he travelled, the writer regretted his choice of
A seat.
B clothes.
C career.
D means of transport.
2 What had surprised the writer about the job?
A There had been no advertisement.
B He had been contacted by letter.
C There was an invitation to tea.
D He had been selected for interview.
3 The writer uses the phrase ‘I had grabbed the lifeline’ (line 15) to show that he felt
A confident of his ability.
B ready to consider any offer.
C cautious about accepting the invitation.
D forced to make a decision unwillingly.
4 What impression had the writer previously had of Yorkshire?
A It was a beautiful place.
B It was a boring place.
C It was a charming place.
D It was an unhappy place.
5 What did the writer find unusual about Darrowby?
A the location of the bus stop
B the small number of shops
C the design of the square
D the lack of activity
6 What did the writer feel the guidebooks had missed about Darrowby?
A the beauty of the houses
B the importance of the bridges
C the lovely views from the town
D the impressive public spaces
7 How did the writer recognise Skeldale House?
A The name was on the door.
B It had red bricks.
C There was a certain plant outside.
D It stood alone.
8 How did the writer’s attitude change during the passage?
A He began to feel he might like living in Darrowby.
B He became less enthusiastic about the job.
C He realised his journey was likely to have been a waste of time.
D He started to look forward to having the interview.
  1. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
Downhill racer
Anna Jones tells of her move from skiing to downhill mountain biking and her rapid rise up the ranks to her current position as one of the top five downhill racers in the country.
At the age of seven I had learnt to ski and by fourteen I was competing internationally. When I was eighteen a close friend was injured in a ski race, and as a result, I gave up competitive skiing. To fill the gap that skiing had left I decided to swap two planks of wood for two wheels with big tyres. My first race was a cross-country race in 1995.
It wasn’t an amazing success. 9 After entering a few more cross-country races, a local bike shop gave me a downhill bike to try. I entered a downhill race, fell off, but did reasonably well in the end, so I switched to downhill racing.
I think my skiing helped a lot as I was able to transfer several skills such as cornering and weight-balance to mountain biking. This year I’m riding for a famous British team and there are races almost every weekend from March through to September. 10 In fact, there’s quite a lot of putting up tents in muddy fields.
Last season I was selected to represent Great Britain at both the European and World Championships. Both events were completely different from the UK race scene. 11 I was totally in awe, racing with the riders I had been following in magazines. The atmosphere was electric and I finished about mid-pack. Mountain biking is a great sport to be in. People ask me if downhill racing is really scary. I say, ‘Yes it is, and I love it.’ Every time I race I scare myself silly and then say, ‘Yeah let’s do it again.’ When you’re riding well, you are right on the edge, as close as you can be to being out of control. 12 However, you quickly learn how to do it so as not to injure yourself. And it’s part of the learning process as you have to push yourself and try new skills to improve.
Initially, downhill racing wasn’t taken seriously as a mountain-biking discipline. 13 But things are changing and riders are now realising that they need to train just as hard for downhill racing as they would do for cross-country.
The races are run over ground which is generally closer to vertical than horizontal, with jumps, drop-offs, holes, corners and nasty rocks and trees to test your nerves as well as technical skill. At the end of a run, which is between two and three minutes in this country your legs hurt so much they burn. 14 But in a race, you’re so excited that you switch off to the pain until you’ve finished. A lot of people think that you need to spend thousands of pounds to give downhill mountain biking a go. 15 A reasonable beginner’s downhill bike will cost you around Ј400 and the
basic equipment, of a cycle helmet, cycle shorts and gloves, around Ј150. Later on you may want to upgrade your bike and get a full-face crash helmet, since riders are now achieving speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour.
A I’ve fallen off more times than I care to remember.
B I usually have to stop during practice sessions.
C The courses were twice as long and the crowds were twice as big.
D I’m not strong enough in my arms, so I’ve been doing a lot of upper-body training this year.
E The attitude was: how much skill do you need to sit on a saddle and point a bike in the same direction for a few minutes?
F I finished last, but it didn’t matter as I really enjoyed it.
G Nothing could be further from the truth.
H It’s not all stardom and glamour, though.

1. Read the text below and put the sentences (A–F) in the gaps (1–5). There is one extra sentence.
A It was then that the Beetle in Wolfsburg was replaced
B Many people today are of the opinion that Volkswagens are
C The production of the ‘T’ model continued for 20 years
D There were vans and various sizes and types of trucks
E Over the years, there were many models of Volkswagens,
F The War interrupted development of the Beetle
A legend on wheels
In the 1930s, the Wolfsburg car factory in Germany produced the first inexpensive car ‘for the people’ – the Beetle. Nobody really expected it to be such a great success. It was the idea of the well-known constructor, Ferdinand Porsche, and it immediately became even more popular than Ford’s ‘T’ model which was at that time the most modern and popular car.
1 _____ without interruption between 1908–1927. The Beetle had a production life of forty-eight years between 1935–1978. This model had not changed throughout the years, except for some modifications in the engine. It remained the same size, and was relatively cheap and simple in construction. Even today, the Volkswagen Beetle is still manufactured in Brazil under the original licence.
2 _____ and the factory was used for military production. However, as soon as the war ended, Beetle production restarted and by 1972 the total number of cars produced increased to over 15,000,000.
3 _____ by the new Golf model which actually had nothing in common with its older brother. The car designers decided to make a car completely different from their original model. In 1975, Volkswagen introduced this new Golf in the United States where it was called ‘Rabbit’.
4 _____ produced by using the Beetle and Golf as a starting point and including many other concepts and standards. The mass media advertised the entire family of Volkswagen cars: Passat, Jetta, Polo, Derby. They were manufactured in Emden, Osnabruck, Wolfsburg and other German cities.
5 _____ among the most comfortable and powerful cars in Europe. Although the Beetle is hardly ever seen in the streets any more, the owners of the few remaining Beetle models still make an effort to keep their small cars in the best possible condition. What is more, they are very proud of driving a car with a history behind it.



2. Read the text below and match the titles (A–F) with the appropriate paragraphs (15). There is one extra title.


A Cartland’s political powers D Cartland’s personality
B Cartland’s writing capacities E The general content of her books
C Cartland’s support for the poor F Cartland’s main beliefs about life




Barbara Cartland – Pretty in Pink
1 _____ Barbara Cartland, the world’s best-selling writer and Queen of Romance, died at the age of 98 in May 2000. Writing an average of twenty-three novels a year, she completed over 700 books, which have been translated into major languages, including Japanese, Chinese and Russian. Her literary career started in 1923 and she sold over 900 million copies of her books worldwide.
2 _____ Even in her late nineties, Barbara Cartland was full of the energy of a much younger woman. Although she could not see or hear very well, she listened carefully and talked with enthusiasm about English society and its values. She said, ‘What we have to do is bring back the wonderful manners English gentlemen used to have. All over the world, when I was a little girl, they all thought the English had beautiful manners and behaved extremely well.’
3 _____ Barbara Cartland respected the ideals of charity and kindness. ‘It’s very important to think about new ideas for helping people,’ she said. ‘Nobody bothers today. People are not helping each other the way they used to. We must get away from that.’ She supported a number of British charities.
4 _____ Cartland was also famous for playing an active role in politics. She managed to get government support for programmes to provide houses for elderly people. She was even responsible for a change in the law which forced local government to provide sites for gypsy communities and enable gypsy children to attend local schools.
5 _____ She met politicians, royalty and stars from all over the world, but meeting the rich and famous was not the most important thing in Barbara Cartland’s life. Instead, she said, ‘The great thing is really to feel that you’re helping other people.’ She wanted to be remembered for her books through which she tried to give morality, beauty and love to the world.
3. Read the text below and circle the correct answer, a, b or c.
1 It isn’t good for the young couple to
a get married in May.
b decide the date of the wedding.
c refrain from getting married in January.

2 Giving presents to the future bride
a takes place after the ceremony.
b happens on the weekdays.
c is the duty of family and friends.

3 The blackening of the groom takes place
a without the use of sticky substances.
b several days before the ceremony.
c after the open truck city ride.

4 On the wedding day, people throw on the married ones
a silver horseshoes.
b flower parts.
c coins.
5 At a wedding reception,
a you can hears violins and drums.
b no one sings any Scottish songs.
c there is traditional Welsh music played.



Weddings – the Scottish way
Dear Sirs,
Having read the ‘Scottish Issue’ of your magazine and having just come back from my daughter’s wedding in Scotland, I thought that your readers might be interested to learn of some of the customs and traditions in Scotland today in connection with marriage.



Some time after the engagement, the young couple have to decide the day and date of the wedding. It is considered unlucky for the couple to get married in the months of May and January and these are usually avoided.



Many Scottish girls think that it is a good idea that family and friends give the bride-to-be wedding presents before the ceremony. There are different customs related to the showing of presents in different parts of the country. In the west of Scotland, for example, they are shown on the weekend when home-baked cakes, sandwiches, tea, whisky and sherry are served.
Another custom is the blackening of the groom a few before the wedding. Male friends get together and, leaving the young man with only his underpants on, cover him with a mixture of oil, flour, coffee and other sticky substances and throw feathers over him. Then they might tie him to a lamp post or take him around the town in an open truck, hooting the horn.



On the wedding day, after the ceremony at church, rose petals or confetti are thrown on the bride and groom. They are also presented with silver horseshoes which are believed to bring good luck. As they leave by car for the reception, the groom throws coins out of the window, which are collected by small children.

At the reception, the bride and groom are the first to dance. Traditional music is played by a fiddler, an accordionist and a drummer. At the end of the evening, the young couple are pushed into the middle to the song For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. Then everybody joins hands and ends the celebration of the wedding by singing Auld Lang Syne. Finally, the couple leave for their honeymoon in their own car decorated with balloons, cans and old shoes.


I hope your readers find these events interesting.
Muriel Williams
Glasgow



4. Read the text below and circle the correct answer, a, b or c.



1 ITN is particularly interesting for Greg because
a it is a modern museum of technology.
b it is the centre of world journalism.
c everything is broadcast live there.

2 ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are
a radio channels.
b TV channels.
c British branches of ITN.

3 When he first worked at ITN, Greg covered
a political news.
b economic news.
c news about celebrities.

4 Chancery Lane is the name of
a the street where ITN is located.
b an underground line in London.
c a tube station in London.

5 If you are a very curious ITN visitor you can
a see live broadcasts of TV news programmes.
b report a debate in Parliament yourself.
c do your own survey among famous presenters and journalists.

Working for the news centre in London
A report by Greg Hudson



Visitors to London are always impressed by this exciting city, with its numerous attractions of all kinds. For me, London’s most interesting place is a huge building at 200 Gray’s Inn Road, the home of ITN – Independent Television News. This was my London for the past year. Once you get into the glass and steel giant, you cannot resist the feeling that you have come to the centre of the world. Hundreds of journalists and the most famous presenters are rushing around with reports of the latest world news – all just around you.



ITN is a huge news organisation providing bulletins, scripts and pictures to independent radio and television stations around the UK. Whether you are watching ITV, Channel 4 or Channel 5, you will see the news that is broadcast from Gray’s Inn Road in London. For those who are more curious, it is worth coming to see the building itself. If you are lucky you can even see
Channel 5 Newsbroadcast live.



When I first came to ITN, I was a student of radio and television journalism. Working as a young journalist in England, I had the chance to see the things ordinary people cannot see. I never thought that I would be sitting at a journalist’s desk in Parliament listening to the live reports of debates. I took part in many press conferences of top ministers and government secretaries. I was doing my own surveys in the streets of London.



One of the strangest things was the way most of the journalists did their editing work. They did not use computers, but rather they cut up the tapes and then put them together with some sticky tape. I felt I was in a museum of technology.



If you happen to be in London, remember, the centre of the world is at 200 Gray’s Inn Road. Just take the Central Line of the underground to Chancery Lane station. It is only a five-minute walk to ITN. Stand there and try to imagine what wonderful things are going on inside.

5. Read the text carefully and choose one option which completes each gap correctly.
(6 points)



I fell in love (0) ___with____ Francisca two years ago on my business trip to Rome. I was just trying to put my hand luggage into an overhead (1) _____________ when a beautiful flight attendant offered to help me. I (2) _______________ for her the moment I set my eyes on her. Luckily, Francisca agreed (3) _______________ that evening in Rome. That’s how it all started. Since she was Italian we could see (4) ________________ only four, five times a year but we kept in touch by phone and email. Last year she came to Poland for two weeks. At first we had a wonderful time together, but then the things went wrong and we decided to (5) _____________ up. (6) ________________ this unhappy ending we have been good friends till today.



0 a) with b) to c) in
1 a) container b) drawer c) locker
2 a) fell b) turned c) took
3 a) that she met me b) to meet me c) meeting me
4 a) us b) ourselves c) each other
5 a) give b) break c) turn
6 a) Despite b) Although c) Unless


















6. Read the text carefully and choose one option which completes each gap correctly.
(6 points)

I’m not particularly keen (0) ____on_____ sports but last year I decided to (1) ___________ up skiing. Since I (2) ___________ it before I needed to go on a short training course. I also (3) ___________ a pair of skis and all the necessary clothing. My ski instructor turned out to be a very skilful teacher. I was very proud when after two weeks he suggested (4) ___________ from the nursery slope to a steeper one. (5) ___________ I can’t really say I’m a great skier now, at least I’m not a total beginner any more. And my ski instructor claims that if I keep on learning, next year skiing will be a piece of (6) ___________ for me. I hope he is right!



0 a) on b) about c) of
1 a) start b) give c) take
2 a) didn’t do b) hadn’t done c) haven’t done
3 a) must buy b) had to buy c) must have bought
4 a) moving b) to move c) move
5 a) Unless b) Although c) Despite
6 a) cake b) beer c) bread

Writing

Write a letter (100–150 words) to a friend describing your holiday plans for the coming months.

  • Explain where and who with you are going to travel.
  • Write how you are going to travel and where you will stay.
  • Give reasons why you want to go there.

Writing

Your classmates decided to organise a disco and you want to invite students from England who are just staying in your town for an exchange programme. Write a letter (100–150 words) to entertainment agency Manhattan which deals with organising discos.

  • Explain why you are contacting them.
  • Ask about a possibility to organise a disco according to your class preferences (time, place, number of people).
  • Ask about the kind of music and refreshments.

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