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Экзамен на время со случайной генерацией вопросов из всех имеющихся в базе и без подсказок до завершения теста.
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В этой части ты можешь выбрать одну из двух опций прохождения тестирования:
Экзамен на время со случайной генерацией вопросов из всех имеющихся в базе и без подсказок до завершения теста.
Тренировочный тест из готовых вариантов. При этом пройденные варианты можно просмотреть и проанализировать в любой момент, прогресс выполнения сохраняется, и ты всегда сможешь продолжить решать тест с места, где остановился.
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What did the writer realise about the route he was given?
§ 1. I started as a paperboy when I was 11. The route covered the richest neighbourhood in town filled with grand mansions. This sounded like a desirable post, when it was presented to me by the route manager, Mr McTivity, but of course mansions have the longest driveways and widest lawns, so it took many minutes to deliver each paper. And papers weighed a ton back then.
§ 2. During my route, I would devote a good length of time to asking myself «what if» — what I would do if I could make myself invisible or if I could hypnotise everyone in the world. Then I might move on to consider unanswerable questions. How do migrating birds know which bird to follow? And how could we be sure that we all saw the same colours?
§ 3. In those days, I was hardly worried by the problems of the real world, so the combination of long walks, fresh air and being alone on my route let me slip easily into my own private thoughts and fantasies. But there was a price to pay for my absent-mindedness. I would suddenly realise that I couldn’t remember any of the last 47 houses I had visited. I didn’t know if I had left a paper, or instead just walked up to the door, stood for a moment like a mechanical robot and turned round and walked away again. It is not easy to describe the sense of self-disappointment that comes with reaching the end of your route and finding that there are sixteen undelivered papers in your bag and you don’t have the least idea to whom they should have gone. Mr McTivity would not be amused if he found out. There was only one way to find the solution to this. So I spent much of my early years first walking an enormous newspaper route and then revisiting large parts of it — sometimes twice!
§ 4. As if delivering papers seven days a week weren’t enough, you also had to collect the subscription (подписка) money. There wasn’t a more unpleasant task than this. But in particular, the moment that filled me with dread was collecting from Mrs Vandermeister. Mrs Vandermeister was 70 years old, possibly 80. She was very small, forgetful and practically deaf.
§ 5. Getting money from her was a nightmare, if I rang the doorbell at 15-second intervals for an hour and 10 minutes, eventually she would realise someone was at the door. «Now who the heck is that?» she would shout to herself, and begin the long process of getting from her chair to the front door, which was just twenty-five feet away. When eventually she came to the door, it would take an extra half-hour to convince her that I was not a murderer. When she finally opened the door, she was always alarmed to find me standing there. «Oh, Billy, you gave me a start!» she’d say. «It’s nice of you to pop by.» After I reminded her why I was there, there would be another long pause while she went off to find her purse. She would return half an hour later to ask how much again. There would be another detour to kitchen, and finally the announcement that she didn’t have that much cash and I’d have to call again another time.
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What made the writer’s job more difficult than it should have been?
§ 1. I started as a paperboy when I was 11. The route covered the richest neighbourhood in town filled with grand mansions. This sounded like a desirable post, when it was presented to me by the route manager, Mr McTivity, but of course mansions have the longest driveways and widest lawns, so it took many minutes to deliver each paper. And papers weighed a ton back then.
§ 2. During my route, I would devote a good length of time to asking myself «what if» — what I would do if I could make myself invisible or if I could hypnotise everyone in the world. Then I might move on to consider unanswerable questions. How do migrating birds know which bird to follow? And how could we be sure that we all saw the same colours?
§ 3. In those days, I was hardly worried by the problems of the real world, so the combination of long walks, fresh air and being alone on my route let me slip easily into my own private thoughts and fantasies. But there was a price to pay for my absent-mindedness. I would suddenly realise that I couldn’t remember any of the last 47 houses I had visited. I didn’t know if I had left a paper, or instead just walked up to the door, stood for a moment like a mechanical robot and turned round and walked away again. It is not easy to describe the sense of self-disappointment that comes with reaching the end of your route and finding that there are sixteen undelivered papers in your bag and you don’t have the least idea to whom they should have gone. Mr McTivity would not be amused if he found out. There was only one way to find the solution to this. So I spent much of my early years first walking an enormous newspaper route and then revisiting large parts of it — sometimes twice!
§ 4. As if delivering papers seven days a week weren’t enough, you also had to collect the subscription (подписка) money. There wasn’t a more unpleasant task than this. But in particular, the moment that filled me with dread was collecting from Mrs Vandermeister. Mrs Vandermeister was 70 years old, possibly 80. She was very small, forgetful and practically deaf.
§ 5. Getting money from her was a nightmare, if I rang the doorbell at 15-second intervals for an hour and 10 minutes, eventually she would realise someone was at the door. «Now who the heck is that?» she would shout to herself, and begin the long process of getting from her chair to the front door, which was just twenty-five feet away. When eventually she came to the door, it would take an extra half-hour to convince her that I was not a murderer. When she finally opened the door, she was always alarmed to find me standing there. «Oh, Billy, you gave me a start!» she’d say. «It’s nice of you to pop by.» After I reminded her why I was there, there would be another long pause while she went off to find her purse. She would return half an hour later to ask how much again. There would be another detour to kitchen, and finally the announcement that she didn’t have that much cash and I’d have to call again another time.
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The writer was often disappointed when he got to the end of his route because he
§ 1. I started as a paperboy when I was 11. The route covered the richest neighbourhood in town filled with grand mansions. This sounded like a desirable post, when it was presented to me by the route manager, Mr McTivity, but of course mansions have the longest driveways and widest lawns, so it took many minutes to deliver each paper. And papers weighed a ton back then.
§ 2. During my route, I would devote a good length of time to asking myself «what if» — what I would do if I could make myself invisible or if I could hypnotise everyone in the world. Then I might move on to consider unanswerable questions. How do migrating birds know which bird to follow? And how could we be sure that we all saw the same colours?
§ 3. In those days, I was hardly worried by the problems of the real world, so the combination of long walks, fresh air and being alone on my route let me slip easily into my own private thoughts and fantasies. But there was a price to pay for my absent-mindedness. I would suddenly realise that I couldn’t remember any of the last 47 houses I had visited. I didn’t know if I had left a paper, or instead just walked up to the door, stood for a moment like a mechanical robot and turned round and walked away again. It is not easy to describe the sense of self-disappointment that comes with reaching the end of your route and finding that there are sixteen undelivered papers in your bag and you don’t have the least idea to whom they should have gone. Mr McTivity would not be amused if he found out. There was only one way to find the solution to this. So I spent much of my early years first walking an enormous newspaper route and then revisiting large parts of it — sometimes twice!
§ 4. As if delivering papers seven days a week weren’t enough, you also had to collect the subscription (подписка) money. There wasn’t a more unpleasant task than this. But in particular, the moment that filled me with dread was collecting from Mrs Vandermeister. Mrs Vandermeister was 70 years old, possibly 80. She was very small, forgetful and practically deaf.
§ 5. Getting money from her was a nightmare, if I rang the doorbell at 15-second intervals for an hour and 10 minutes, eventually she would realise someone was at the door. «Now who the heck is that?» she would shout to herself, and begin the long process of getting from her chair to the front door, which was just twenty-five feet away. When eventually she came to the door, it would take an extra half-hour to convince her that I was not a murderer. When she finally opened the door, she was always alarmed to find me standing there. «Oh, Billy, you gave me a start!» she’d say. «It’s nice of you to pop by.» After I reminded her why I was there, there would be another long pause while she went off to find her purse. She would return half an hour later to ask how much again. There would be another detour to kitchen, and finally the announcement that she didn’t have that much cash and I’d have to call again another time.
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What two things are required of a World Cup player?
§ 1. My parents always said I was born to be a sportsman. They said that even when I was in nappies, I wasn’t happy unless I was kicking or throwing a ball. My first memory is of Dad and me playing football in our back garden. I recall my mum sitting down on the grass cheering me on as I clumsily kicked a football into the goal net my dad was ‘defending’. The sense of achievement when I scored my first goal stuck with me, and my life has revolved around football ever since. As I grew up, I dreamed of becoming a football player. During class, I tried to stay focused on my studies; I knew that few people became professional sportsmen and it was crucial to get a good education. But I devoted every spare second to my passion. I knew that if I wanted to become a success, I would have to put all my energy into the game.
§ 2. My big break came when I was 18. Leicester City FC offered me a place in the team. It was there that I learned the true value of teamwork. I played with a fantastic group of guys there and we worked toward one common goal — to win! I learned that every person has their own individual talents, and a great team brings these talents together. We enjoyed great success at Leicester, and I was lucky enough to become one of the UK’s top scorers I was transferred to Everton and, while I was sad to leave my fellow team-mates, I was excited about working with new people and making new friends. My time at Everton was an outstanding experience. While I was there, I scored 38 goals in 52 games. It wasn’t long until I was on a new journey, this time across the sea to Spain to play for FC Barcelona. I was nervous at first, but it turned out that there was no reason to panic. I felt great pride when I stepped into the stadium and onto the pitch in Barcelona.
§ 3. As you can imagine, the proudest I felt was when I played for my country, England, in the World Cup. The tournament raises the level of competitiveness for every player. Not only do you have to be mentally prepared, but you have to be at the peak of physical fitness — so, as you can imagine, it didn’t help that I had to play the tournament with my left arm heavily strapped up! But I was determined not to let one injury stop me and played anyway! Because we were astrong team, we got to the quarter finals, and I scored six goals during the entire competition and won the ‘Golden Boot’ award
§ 4. Football has taken me around the world, from England to Spain to Japan! I have become fluent in two other languages and have experienced other cultures. My career provided me with many happy memories that I wouldn’t change for the world.
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What was the writer surprised about at Marco’s grandmother’s?
§ 1. My trip around Italy gave me the chance to try some of its regional cuisine. It was such a whirlwind that it is sometimes hard to separate one place from another in my mind. My time in Bologna, however, is perfectly imprinted in my memory. There, I had a lunch date to eat the most famous of Italian exports — spaghetti Bolognese!
§ 2. My friend Marco had invited me to Bologna. He always said one day I should visit his home city and eat the well-known Bolognese dish, but, he added, «as you’ve never tasted it before.» I had no idea what he meant, but about one thing I was sure; I had read in my guidebook that the Bolognese sauce, which includes beef, onions, carrot, celery, tomato paste, meat, milk, salt and pepper, dates back to the 5th century!
§ 3. After my train pulled into Bologna station, I wandered towards the famous Piazza Maggiore, the very heart of the city. Passing by a shoe shop window display, a pair of elegant shoes caught my eye immediately. «I must try those on,» I thought. Upon entering the shop, an assistant stepped forward to greet me. I began my request in faltering Italian, but the assistant smiled and quickly replied, «I speak English, how can I help you?» «Thank you,» I said, «I’d like to try on a pair of shoes in the window.» The shop assistant said, «Well, of course, you can try them on in the window, but everyone in the street will be able to see you!» I realised she had taken my words very literally! I Smiled, «Sorry, I meant the shoes I’d like to try on are in the window display, but I’ll try them on here,» I said, sitting myself down on a chair, «in size 6, please.» «Size 6? We have sizes 34 to 42.» Suddenly, I remembered that sizing on the continent is different to that in the UK. «I’m sorry, that would be size 39, please.» I was happy to find that the shoes fitted perfectly.
§ 4. After shopping it was time to head for food I found myself back at the piazza to find Marco had already arrived. We made our way to his grandmother’s home for lunch. She was waiting to greet us at the door. I could smell the aroma of home cooking. «I can’t wait for the spaghetti Bolognese,» I exclaimed.
§ 5. Grandma looked confused. «Spaghetti? In Bologna, we never serve spaghetti with Bolognese sauce. We use thick pasta like fettuccine or tagliatelle.» Smiling, Marco said, «I told you you’d be surprised. Bolognese sauce might be eaten with spaghetti all over the world, but never in Bologna!» I must say, Grandma’s Bolognese was perfect. It had been a lovely day with smart new shoes, great company and delicious food. I could hardly complain!
Определите значение указанного слова в тексте.
§ 1. If you walk into any bookstore there is an entire shelf dedicated to books about people who decide to change their lives by relocating to another country. I used to laugh at those kinds of books and wonder why anyone would put themselves through the discomfort of going to live in a foreign country — all in search of a simple lifel
§ 2. One day, instead of walking straight past this section, I selected a book to read on the train. It was about an accountant who realised one day how boring her life was, so she bought a ticket to Italy. After reading the book, the idea of moving abroad had lodged (засела) itself in my mind and was turning into a magnificent possibility.
§ 3. I resigned from the hospital where I worked, sold my apartment and moved to the region of Umbria in Italy. Once there, I rented an apartment and hired a little motorbike. I loved sampling the local cuisine and I signed up for a short cooking course. A very charming local man called Francesco ran the course. Each lesson not only did we learn how to prepare an authentic Umbrian dish, we were also rolling around the floor in fits of laughter, since Francesco was a natural storyteller and we enjoyed his talent for imitating people.
§ 4. I also took a three-month Italian language course. It is fair to say that my attempts at cooking were more successful than my attempts to acquire a new language. I tried hard, however, and after a few weeks of lessons I actually had a short conversation with a local — OK, I only asked for directions to the train station. In my mind, though, this was a triumph of communication and I was satisfied with my modest progress.
§ 5. It was at one of these language classes that I heard a fellow student, John, mention that his neighbour, Sandro, was moving to Rome and selling his farmhouse very cheap. John said he wished he had the money to purchase it himself, as the property was sure to be snapped up soon. I couldn’t believe that it cost less than half the amount that I had sold my tiny apartment for. Would I dare to copy the writers of all those books? I had to go and have a look, of course. The farmhouse was located on the top of a hill, and although it was very run-down, it possessed charm. I bought it straight away.
§ 6. The project wasn’t without its difficulties, though. The farmhouse was collapsing in several places. My first priority, therefore, was to hire some local workers to add supports to the building. I also strengthened the foundations, installed a new kitchen and renovated the rest of the property. In the end, all the cost and effort were worthwhile, because I felt I belonged here as much as I did anywhere in the world, and I was determined to make it my home. I must say I sometimes look at my collection of books on Italy and think I’d like to have a goal writing one myself I’d like to share my experience and let other dreamers out there know that the difficulty is worth it. I didn’t quite find the simple life, but I did find what the Italians call the sweet life — la dolce vita.
Определите значение указанного слова в тексте.
Forget long-distance flights and take the boat if you want to arrive in Australia full of energy. You might even enjoy the holiday of a lifetime on the way, says Jan Etherington.
§ 1. My son, Tom, made the announcement on New Year’s Eve. ‘Fran and I are getting married. ’ Hurrah! ‘. in Australia.’ Now, I’ve always wanted to go to Australia but like most people, I’m put off by the flight and the thought of arriving pale, exhausted and needing a week to recover. Even with a stopover, you face two long-distance flights. But it doesn’t have to be like that. I found a way to arrive suntanned, refreshed, and ready for action. I went by boat, on the Saga Rose world cruise.
§ 2. If I’d had the time and money, I could have gone all the way round the world, but the great thing about this cruise is that you can embark (садиться на корабль) and disembark wherever you wish. If you want to get to Australia or New Zealand, take a shorter flight somewhere, join the world cruise and arrive in civilised style. I picked it up in Valparaiso (the port for Santiago, Chile) and sailed on from there to Sydney.
§ 3. The Saga Rose is a good-looking ship. Launched in 1965, she is highly regarded by maritime (морской) experts for her elegant lines. Passenger capacity is 587 but we were fewer than 400, with 350, largely Filipino, crew who were smart, efficient and full of good humour. It was the cleanest ship I’d ever seen and the variety and freshness of the meals was impressive, with a welcome freedom to dine in the evening at any time between 7.15 and 9pm.
§ 4. I met lots of accomplished, funny, clever, attractive people on the ship. Good company and a well-run ship are important, because, on this stretch of the journey, we were together for a month — long enough to learn a skill. I took up salsa, inspired by dance teacher, Thabo, who made us believe we were good enough to perform in front of passengers and crew.
§ 5. Julia’s jewellery-making classes were surprisingly popular. Even cynics (like me) were impressed as, using seeds and beads from local sources, students produced desirable costume jewellery. And the watercolour classes gave amateurs the tools to capture the passing scenes more maginatively than with a digital camera.
§ 6. As we cruised into Sydney at sunrise, it was like sailing into a familiar postcard. We passed the Opera House, slid under the Harbour Bridge and, on the quayside (пристань), Тоm and Fran waved banners of welcome. I leapt off, relaxed, fit and full of energy. ‘Let’s go shopping for a hat!’
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Which school would suit someone who doesn’t mind having lessons in the evenings?
1. Spellometric Language Schools
The Spellometric Organisation has been running courses in Britain for the last 25 years and now has five schools in the south and south-west of England. The schools use a well-practised and proven teaching technique which recognises that spelling and numerical skills are the basis of all languages and so should form a central part of all lessons. The schools cater mainly for students aged twelve to eighteen years. Lessons take place in the mornings, starting at 8:00am and finishing at 1:00 pm. The school arranges accommodation for students with local families.
2. Gattegno School of English
Situated in Central London, the internationally renowned Gattegno school opened in 1967 and uses Gattegno’s «silent way» methodology to teach students. Teaching throughout the year, the school also organises summer courses with students attending from all over the world. Students must be over the age of eighteen and the maximum class size in this school is six.
3. Lancing English Association
The Lancing English Association runs two summer schools, one in Bath, and one in Bristol, mostly attended by young students from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Teachers use the audio-lingual method. The maximum class size is ten. The school day starts at 9:00am and finishes at 1:00 pm. In the afternoons and evenings students take part in a varied activity programme which includes cricket, football and horse-riding. Students can also enjoy the schools’ indoor swimming pools. School trips to London and other tourist destinations take place at weekends. Courses last from two to eight weeks and are residential, with students staying in accommodation on the school site.
4. Pangloss School of English
The Pangloss School specialises in intensive English courses for students who wish to improve their English rapidly in the space of a few weeks. The school day lasts from 10:00am to 8:00pm, with intensive instruction in all aspects of the English language, from grammar structures to vocabulary. The course is particularly appropriate for students about to study at English Universities or business people looking for more specialised language skills. The maximum class size is five students. The school is situated in the Cambridgeshire countryside, just outside Cambridge itself.
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Which of the people suggests the following?
Preparations were made for the disaster.
1. David Crossland, 50, was on holiday with his wife, Louise, in the Bahamas when the giant Hurricane Floyd hit New Providence Island.
«We were on holiday on Providence Island last year when Hurricane George was due to hit, but it changed direction. So this year, when Hurricane Floyd was heading towards us, Louise and I were convinced it would change course. But a week into our holiday the island was in the direct path of the hurricane and the hotel staff feared the worst. All of the ground-floor windows and balcony doors in the hotel were boarded up. At one point I tried to open the balcony door in our bedroom to catch a glimpse of the hurricane but the winds were so strong I couldn’t move it. All we could do was lie in our bed in the candlelight and wait. It was shocking.»
2. Doug Glenwright, 33, was sitting in his front room in Birmingham, England, when he had the shock of his life.
«Last week we were watching on the television how tornadoes wrecked Oklahoma, where you’d expect to see them. Then suddenly last night one of them came down our street. The first I became aware of it was when I saw a dustbin bag come up from the street and fly past the window like a kite. Then branches of trees and all sorts of other debris were pulled up into the air. Telephone lines were knocked down by the hurricane-force winds and the heavy rain caused four feet of flood water in some people’s kitchens.»
3. Teacher Caroline Casterton, 25, was visiting friends in Istanbul when an earthquake struck.
«I was fast asleep in my friends’ apartment when the tremor shook. It lasted only 45 seconds but it felt like an eternity. It was absolutely terrifying. For the next four days and nights I slept on the streets with thousands of others and the scale of the devastation gradually began to sink in. Yet out of the chaos there was the most incredible sense of camaraderie. Everyone seemed so united and I witnessed so much courage and kindness. Since that day I have taken far less for granted and I really do feel life is for living in the present.»
4. When Pat Beddows reached 40, she set herself a mountainous challenge in the Himalayas. During the trek disaster struck.
«I set off in a group of 20 from Gangotri, a village at 4,000 metres in the foothills of the Himalayas. As we sat having lunch, we watched huge chunks of ice break away from a glacier, then fall into the water. Unaware of the risk we were taking we climbed down into the glacier to take a closer look. Suddenly, our guide started screaming: «Run Run! Climb up!» A tidal wave of water and ice was heading straight for us and we scrambled up the rocky slopes to safety. Chunks of ice the size of cars were being thrown into the air barely five metres away. If the guide hadn’t shouted at us to get out of the way, the consequences would have been tragic. When we got back to camp we were told that, three years earlier, 16 people had died there in a similar incident. I realized how lucky we all were and I burst into tears.»
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Which person believes that she learned from her language mistakes?
I had lessons in Hindi at a local language school. Unfortunately the only class available at my level was late in the evening. So after a long day at school, and then all the written homework we have to do, I didn’t have a lot of energy left for language learning. Also, some of my classmates were much older than me and I didn’t really get to know them. But that didn’t matter because whenever we did group activities, which I’d never done before, but took to straight away, I made sure I was with the younger ones. I was having lessons every evening and that was costing my parents quite a lot, but we’d booked to go to India later that year so there was no time to lose.
I really want to learn Polish so I bought a course of language lessons as an MP3 to play on my iPod. That meant I could work on it anywhere I went, particularly at those times when you’ve got nothing to do, like standing at the bus stop. Once I was concentrating so hard on getting a grammar point right that I completely forgot I was on the bus and I started repeating restaurant phrases aloud. I felt a bit uncomfortable when I noticed everyone looking at me, so I didn’t do that again. Actually, one problem with learning on my own was not knowing when I was saying words properly and when I wasn’t. Overall, though, it was a useful course and I think it was good value for money.
I used the Internet to improve my Spanish. It cost nothing, of course, and although at first I didn’t know quite where to look, in the end I came across some great websites where I could practise reading and listening and do grammar exercises. At the same time, I was joining social networking sites and getting in touch with Spanish-speaking teenagers from various parts of the world. I also tried online chat in Spanish, but I couldn’t keep up with people. All the time I was thinking about my grammar and it was taking me so long to reply to each sentence after I’d read it that I didn’t think it was fair on them, so I gave up. I’ll try again sometime, though.
I was living with an English-speaking family and the idea was that I’d pick up a lot of language by being there with them, but it just wasn’t happening. Everyone watched television all the time and rarely spoke to me. After a week I left and moved in with a couple who had young children, and that was better. They were all very friendly and I could chat with them anytime, really. When I got things wrong they would often correct me and I think that helped me improve my speaking a lot. I would also have liked to be nearer the city centre, because the house was so far out of town that I couldn’t get to the kinds of places where other teenagers went in the evenings.
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In which paragraph are the following mentioned?
a tester admitting that he did not trust any type of alarm clock
The reporter Stuart Harris, the inventor Tom Granger and the broadcaster Paul Bridges tested four clock radios currently available to pick a good one.
2. Tom Granger described this model with its extra built-in lamp as «incredibly tasteless’ in the way it’s made. He complained that he had to read the instruction booklet twice before he could get it to work; the clock kept jumping from 12.00 to 0200 so he had to go round again. The light was certainly hard to position; you would never be able to read by it — it only shines on the clock, which is illuminated anyway. Paul Bridges said he was ‘very amused by the lamp idea but agreed that the radio was hard to tune (настроить). Interestingly, however, this model is the third most popular on the market.
3. Clearly aimed at young people, with its brightly coloured casing (корпус), this one appealed to the child in Tom Granger. «I would choose this one because it doesn’t disappear into the background like the others,» he said. In fact, the traditional design of the controls made it the only one the men managed to set up without reading the instruction booklet. Too bad the alarm is allowed a 20-minute margin for error; the manual (инструкция) notes, «the alarm may sound about 10 minutes earlier or later than the pre-set time». Paul Bridges made fun of such a notion, adding that this model was «terribly difficult» and, indeed, «completely useless».
4. The simplest and cheapest of all the models tested, this scored points with Tom Granger because it ‘seemed very standard and took up little space’, but also because it has old-fashioned dial tuning. «It’s more intuitive to set up. With modern push-button tuning you’re never really sure if you’ve pressed all the buttons in the right order so you can’t have confidence that the thing will actually work. He accepted, however, that manufacturers had been obliged to improve the quality of radios because of the advent (введение) of button-tuning. Stuart Harris thought the tuning rather approximate, as did Paul Bridges, but they agreed that the radio quality was fine. The buzzer on this model certainly works; it succeeded in getting them out of bed in just two beeps!