Exam Reading

Reading 1

Task 1   Прочитайте текст и заполните пропуски A–F частями предложений, обозначенными цифрами 1–7. Одна из частей в списке 1–7 лишняя. Занесите цифры, обозначающие соответствующие части предложений, в таблицу.

Saturday jobs: memories of weekend working

Research has shown a sharp fall in the number of teenagers who do Saturday jobs. It seems such a shame – my Saturday job as a kitchen porter was something of a rite of passage. I'll never forget long hours A, scouring grease off huge saucepans and griddles. Working atmosphere there helped me grow a thicker skin, develop quicker banter and, most importantly, taught me the value of hard work. It also resulted in a steady supply of cash, B. I'm not the only one who has strong memories of weekend work. DJ Trevor Nelson said everyone should be able to have a Saturday job: "It taught me a lot, C."

The link between the type of Saturday job a celebrity performed and their later career is sometimes obvious. Dragon's Den star and businessman Peter Jones, for example, showed early promise by starting his own business. "I passed my Lawn Tennis Association coaching exam, D," he explains. "At the start I was coaching other kids, E, for which I could charge £25–30 an hour. While my friends on milk rounds were getting £35 a week, I was doing five hours on a Saturday and earning four times as much."

Skier Chemmy Alcott got a job working for the Good Ski Guide, on the advertising side. "It became clear to me what my personal value to companies could be. It led directly to me finding my head sponsor … and it offered me an eight-year contract. That gave me the financial backing F."

As part of its response to the Saturday job statistics, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills said a lack of early work opportunities makes it harder for young people to acquire experience for their CVs.

1) but soon I got adults wanting to book lessons

2) which I would happily spend as I liked

3) which let me know he approved of me

4) and things would be different if everyone was given the chance

5) which I needed to become a professional skier

6) that I spent in the kitchen of a busy country pub in East Sussex

7) and I persuaded my local club to let me use a court on Saturdays

Task 2 Установите соответствие между заголовками 1–8 и текстами A–G. Занесите свои ответы в таблицу. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

A)  Born in 1743, Thomas Jefferson helped shape the new American nation and also shaped some of the country's most famous buildings. The twentieth century architects who designed the circular Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. drew inspiration from Thomas Jefferson's architectural ideas. And from where did Jefferson get his ideas? The Pantheon in Rome! This building with its classical portico became a model that influenced Western architecture for 2,000 years.

B) Postmodern architecture evolved from the modernist movement, yet contradicts many of the modernist ideas. Combining new ideas with traditional forms, postmodernist buildings may startle, surprise, and even amuse. Familiar shapes and details are used in unexpected ways. Philip Johnson's AT&T Headquarters is often cited as an example of postmodernism. Like many buildings in the international style, this skyscraper has a classical facade.

C) The Industrial Revolution in Europe brought about a new trend: the use of metals instead of wood and stone in construction. Built in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is perhaps the most famous example of this new use for metal. For 40 years, the Eiffel Tower measured the tallest in the world. The metal lattice-work, formed with very pure structural iron, makes the tower both extremely light and able to withstand tremendous wind forces.

D) By the early 1800s, Belfast had become a major port at the beating heart of the region's industry. The launching of the Titanic from the shipways was attended by an estimated 100,000 people, showing how important this event was for Belfast. Many more impressive ships would leave the yard in the coming years before the decline of the shipbuilding industry began in the 1950s, but the Titanic marked the zenith of the great shipbuilding era in Belfast.

E) Thomas Andrews was the chief naval architect at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast during the early 1900s. He brought the idea of 'Olympic class' ocean liners to life. The most famous of these was Titanic, which he joined on its first voyage. His actions when the ship sank on 15 April 1912 are believed to have saved many lives, but at the cost of his own. In his home town of Comber, the life of Thomas Andrews is commemorated by the Memorial Hall, opened in 1915.

F) An e-book or “electronic book” is available digitally downloaded, and accessed through a device such as a computer, a smart phone or, popularly, a portable e-book reader. In 1971, Michael Hart began storing vast contents of libraries in electronic formats. Hart named his efforts Project Gutenberg, after the inventor of the printing press. Libraries were early adopters of the technology. But it took nearly thirty years for the idea of the e-book to take firm hold with the consumer.

G) The Frankfurt Book Fair is held in October of each year. It usually hosts more than 7,300 exhibitors from 100 countries ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe. For the American book publishing industry, the Frankfurt Book Fair is predominantly a trade fair, that is, a professional meeting place for publishers, editors, librarians, book subsidiary rights managers, booksellers, film producers, authors and many others who are involved in the creation and licensing of book content.

1) It had its finest hour

2) A long way to popularity

3) A stairway to heaven

4) Extraordinary combinations

5) Ideas on sale

6) Brilliant ideas and brave deeds

7) Borrowed ideas

8) Revolutionary materials

Task 3  Прочитайте рассказ и выполните задания 1–7. В каждом задании обведите букву A, B, C илиD, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

First Train Trip

I must have been about eight when I made my first train trip. I think I was in second grade at that time. It was midsummer, hot and wet in central Kansas, and time for my aunt Winnie’s annual vacation from the store, where she worked as a clerk six days a week. She invited me to join her on a trip to Pittsburgh, fifty miles away, to see her sister, my aunt Alice. "Sally, would you like to go there by train or by car?" aunt Winnie asked. "Oh, please, by train, aunt Winnie, dear! We’ve been there by car three times already!"
Alice was one of my favourite relatives and I was delighted to be invited to her house. As I was the youngest niece in Mother’s big family, the aunties all tended to spoil me and Alice was no exception. She kept a boarding house for college students, a two-storey, brown brick building with comfortable, nicely decorated rooms at the corner of 1200 Kearney Avenue. She was also a world-class cook, which kept her boarding house full of young people. It seemed to me that their life was so exciting and joyful.
Since I’d never ridden a train before, I became more and more excited as the magic day drew near. I kept questioning Mother about train travel, but she just said, "Wait. You’ll see." For an eight-year-old, waiting was really difficult, but finally the big day arrived. Mother had helped me pack the night before, and my little suitcase was full with summer sundresses, shorts and blouses, underwear and pyjamas. I was reading Billy Whiskers, a fantastic story about a goat that once made a train trip to New York, and I had put that in as well. It was almost midnight when I could go to bed at last.
We arrived at the station early, purchased our tickets and found our car. I was fascinated by the face-to-face seats so some passengers could ride backwards. Why would anyone, I thought, want to see where they’d been? I only wanted to see what lay ahead for me.
Finally, the conductor shouted, "All aboard!" to the people on the platform. They climbed into the cars, the engineer blew the whistle and clanged the bell, and we pulled out of the station.
This train stopped at every town between my home in Solomon and Pittsburgh. It was known as the "milk train" because at one time it had delivered goods as well as passengers to these villages. I looked eagerly at the signs at each station. I’d been through all these towns by car, but this was different. The shaky ride of the coaches, the soft brown plush seats, the smells of the engine drifting back down the track and in through the open windows made this trip far more exotic.
The conductor, with his black uniform and shiny hat, the twinkling signals that told the engineer when to stop and go, thrilled me. To an adult, the trip must have seemed painfully slow, but I enjoyed every minute.
Aunt Winnie had packed a lunch for us to eat along the way as there was no dining car in the train. I was dying to know just what was in that big shopping bag she carried, but she, too, said, "Wait. You’ll see." Midway, Aunt Winnie pulled down her shopping bag from the luggage rack above our seats. My eyes widened as she opened it and began to take out its contents. I had expected lunchmeat sandwiches, but instead there was a container of fried chicken, two hardboiled eggs, bread and butter wrapped in waxed paper, crisp radishes and slim green onions from Winnie’s garden, as well as rosy sliced tomatoes. She had brought paper plates, paper cups and some of the "everyday" silverware. A large bottle of cold tea was well wrapped in a dishtowel; the ice had melted, but it was still chilly. I cautiously balanced my plate on my knees and ate, wiping my lips and fingers with a large paper napkin. This was living!
When we had cleaned our plates, Aunt Winnie looked into the bag one more time. The best treat of all appeared – homemade chocolate cakes! Another cup of cold tea washed these down and then we carefully returned the remains of the food and silverware to the bag, which Aunt Winnie put into the corner by her feet.
"Almost there," said my aunt, looking out of the window at the scenery passing by. And sure enough, as we pulled into the Pittsburgh station we immediately caught sight of aunt Alice, waiting for us, a smile like the sun lighting up her face, arms wide open. We got off the train and she led us past the taxi rank and the bus stop to her car that was parked near the station. And all the way to her home she was asking about my impressions of my first train trip and I could hardly find the words to express all the thrill and excitement that filled me.
 

1. The first time Sally travelled by train was when she

А) had to move to her aunt Alice.

B) had a summer vacation at school.

C) went to Pittsburgh for the first time in her life.

D) visited her aunt Alice together with aunt Winnie.

2. Aunt Alice made her living by

А) working as a cook.

B) keeping a boarding house.

C) decorating houses.

D) working as a teacher at college.

3. Sally was waiting for her first train trip so impatiently that she

А) packed her things long before the trip.

B) lost her appetite a week before the trip.

C) asked her Mother many questions about train trips.

D) couldn't sleep the night before the trip

4. Sally didn’t like the idea of riding backwards because

А) it could make her sick.

B) she could miss her station.

C) she could miss the conductor.

D) she wanted to see where she was going.

5. The trip to Pittsburgh by train seemed so exotic to Sally because

А) she had never travelled so far from her native town.

B) travelling by train was very different from a car ride.

C) she had never travelled in comfort.

D) she had never travelled without her parents.

6. Sally thought that at lunchtime they would have

А) meat sandwiches.

B) bread and butter with coffee.

C) fried chicken, eggs and vegetables.

D) tea with chocolate cakes.

7. Aunt Alice was waiting for Sally and aunt Winnie

А) at home.

B) in her car.

C) on the platform.

D) at the bus stop.

Reading 2

Task 1  Прочитайте текст и заполните пропуски 1–6 частями предложений, обозначенными буквамиA–G. Одна из частей в списке А–G лишняя. Занесите букву, обозначающую соответствующую часть предложения, в таблицу.

Speed of eating is 'key to obesity'

If you eat very quickly, it may be enough to increase your risk of being overweight, research suggests.
Osaka University scientists looked at the eating habits of 3,000 people. Just about half of them told researchers that they 1 . Compared with those who did not eat quickly, fast-eating men were 84% more likely to be overweight, and women were 100% more likely to 2 .
Japanese scientists said that there were a number of reasons why eating fast 3 . They said it could prevent the work of a signalling system which tells your brain to stop eating because your stomach is full. They said: "If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before the system has a chance to react, so you 4 ."
The researchers also explained that a mechanism that helps make us fat today, developed with evolution and helped people get more food in the periods when they were short of it. The scientists added that the habit of eating fast could be received from one's parents genes or 5 .
They said that, if possible, children should be taught to 6 , and allowed to stop when they felt full up at mealtimes. "The advice of our grandmothers about chewing everything 20 times might be true - if you take a bit more time eating, it could have a positive influence on your weight."

A. just overfill your stomach

B. could be bad for your weight

C. have a habit of eating quickly

D. linked to obesity

E. eat as slowly as possible

F. put on weight

G. learned at a very early age

Task 2 Установите соответствие между заголовками A–Н и текстами 1–7. Занесите свои ответы в таблицу. Используйте каждую букву только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

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A.	Shades make difference	E.	Deceiving likeness
B.	Recipes for all tastes	F.	Secrets of storing for better taste
C.	Secrets of popularity	G.	From fields to tables
D.	Element of culture	H.	From local use to international trade

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1.	The first mentioning of coffee goes as far back as the ninth century. At first, coffeeremained largely confined to Ethiopia, where its native beans were first cultivated. But theArab world began expanding its trade horizons, and the beans moved into northern Africaand were mass-produced. From there, the beans entered the Indian and European markets, and the popularity of the beverage spread.
2.	While processing, a coffee bean absorbs heat, and the color shifts from green to yellow and then to varying shades of brown. Depending on the color, the beans are labeled from light to very dark. Darker beans are generally smoother, because they have less fiber content and the flavor is more sugary. Lighter beans have more caffeine, which result in a slight bitterness, and a stronger flavor.
3.	Coffee is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages. People often have it in the morning, when they feel tired or want to stay awake in the evening. Many office workers take a coffee break when they have low energy. It happens because coffee contains caffeine, a bitter, white crystalline chemical that has a vitalizing effect in humans.
4.	For the best quality of brewed coffee it is necessary to buy whole beans and grind them before brewing. If you keep an open package of beans in the freezer it remains fresh for a month. Ground coffee should be used up within two weeks and also kept in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator. But an absolutely fresh coffee can be made from green beans that just need to be roasted first.
5.	For occasions when one wants to enjoy the flavor of coffee with almost no stimulation,decaffeinated coffee is available. It is processed from beans while they are still green by either soaking beans in hot water or steaming them. Decaffeinated coffee usually loses some flavor over regular coffee, but it looks the same and can easily mislead inexperienced users by its smell and even taste.
6.	The Adoption of coffee created a unique social atmosphere that depends heavily uponcoffee, espresso in particular. Coffeehouses, the places where people can get together, have traditionally been used not only for drinking coffee, but also as artistic and intellectual centers. For examples cafes of Paris which are popular tourist attractions because they are also associated with artists, intellectuals and writers.
7.	A coffee bean is the seed of the coffee plant, which ripens around eight months after the emergence of the flower, by changing color from green to red, and they should be harvested. In most countries, the coffee crop is picked by hand. After this coffee beans are wet processed and then dried. Finally the last layers of dry skin are removed; the beans are sorted by size and density, roasted and sold to consumers throughout the world.

Task 3 Прочитайте отрывок из романа и выполните задания 1 – 7, выбирая букву A, B, C или D. Установите соответствие номера задания выбранному вами варианту ответа.

Pesca

I had first become acquainted with my Italian friend by meeting him at certain great houses where he taught his own language and I taught drawing. All I then knew of the history of his life was that he had left Italy for political reasons; and that he had been for many years respectably established in London as a teacher.

Without being actually a dwarf – for he was perfectly well-proportioned from head to foot – Pesca was, I think, the smallest human being I ever saw. Remarkable anywhere, by his personal appearance, he was still further distinguished among the mankind by the eccentricity of his character. The ruling idea of Peska's life now was to show his gratitude to the country that had given him a shelter by doing his utmost to turn himself into an Englishman. The Professor aspired to become an Englishman in his habits and amusements, as well as in his personal appearance. Finding us distinguished, as a nation, by our love of athletic exercises, the little man, devoted himself to all our English sports and pastimes, firmly persuaded that he could adopt our national amusements by an effort of will the same way as he had adopted our national gaiters and our national white hat.

I had seen him risk his limbs blindly unlike others at a fox-hunt and in a cricket field; and soon afterwards I saw him risk his life, just as blindly, in the sea at Brighton.

We had met there accidentally, and were bathing together. If we had been engaged in any exercise peculiar to my own nation I should, of course, have looked after Pesca carefully; but as foreigners are generally quite as well able to take care of themselves in the water as Englishmen, it never occurred to me that the art of swimming might merely add one more to the list of manly exercises which the Professor believed that he could learn on the spot. Soon after we had both struck out from shore, I stopped, finding my friend did not 
follow me, and turned round to look for him. To my horror and amazement,
I saw nothing between me and the beach but two little white arms which struggled for an instant above the surface of the water, and then disappeared from view. When I dived for him, the poor little man was lying quietly at the bottom, looking smaller than I had ever seen him look before.

When he had thoroughly recovered himself, his warm Southern nature broke through all artificial English restraints in a moment. He overwhelmed me with the wildest expressions of affection and in his exaggerated Italian way declared that he should never be happy again until he rendered me some service which I might remember to the end of my days.

Little did I think then – little did I think afterwards – that the opportunity of serving me was soon to come; that he was eagerly to seize it on the instant; and that by so doing he was to turn the whole current of my existence into a new channel. Yet so it was. If I had not dived for Professor Pesca when he lay under water, I should never, perhaps, have heard even the name of the woman, who now directs the purpose of my life.

1. Peska taught

A) drawing.

B) Italian.

C) English.

D) politics.

2. Peska impressed people by being

A) well-built.

B) well-mannered.

C) strange.

D) ill-mannered.

3. Peska tried to become a true Englishman because he

A) was thankful to the country that had adopted him.

B) enjoyed Englishman's pastimes and amusements.

C) loved the way the English did athletic exercises.

D) was fond of the eccentric fashions of the English.

4. ‘… risk his limbs blindly’ means Peska

A) didn’t look where he went.

B) was unaware of danger from others.

C) caused a problem for others.

D) acted rather thoughtlessly.

5. The author didn't look after Peska carefully because

A) they both had been engaged in the peculiar English exercise.

B) foreigners were generally bathing not far from the shore.

C) the author was sure that Peska would learn swimming on the spot.

D) the author was sure that Peska was a very good swimmer.

6. Peska wanted to do the author some favour as

A) it was in his warm nature.

B) the author had saved his life.

C) the author was his best friend.

D) he wanted to look English.

7. Peska managed to

A) change the author’s life completely.

B) become English to the core.

C) meet a woman who later directed his life.

D) turn his existence into a new channel.