Задания к зачету по предмету «Английский язык» для студентов 2 курса (стр. 1 )

Частное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального образования

«Санкт-Петербургский Институт Экономики, Культуры и Делового Администрирования»

Задания к зачету

по предмету «Английский язык»

для студентов 2 курса

уровень Pre-Intermediate

составитель

старший преподаватель кафедры ГиСД

Третий семестр

1.Переведите тексты:

1

UNUSUAL WAYS OF KEEPING FIT

KORFBALL

A mixture between handball and basketball, korfball is a fast, exciting game. The main difference is that men and women play on the same team. It’s also a great way to keep fit! The game began in the Netherlands about 100 years ago, and there are now korfball clubs in more than forty countries around the world. There are eight players on each team – four male and four female – and each player tries to throw the ball (similar to a soccer ball) into the ‘goal’ which is a bit like a basket but bigger. You can’t touch your opponent, kick or run with a ball, and men can attack against men and women can only defend against women. A game lasts for sixty minutes and the teams change ends after every two goals. ‘It’s a terrific sport and a great way to meet people’, says Paul Dick of the British Korfball Association.

TAI – CHI

Tai –Chi is a Chinese martial art which goes back thousands of years. It is different from most forms of exercise in that it is very gentle. It consists of a series of slow movements which you must do very carefully and exactly. The big advantage is that you can do it anywhere, anytime, and you don’t need to be a member of a club or use expensive equipment – all you need is a qualified teacher! Tai – Chi fans say it is an excellent way of getting rid of stress. Early in the morning, you can see people doing the gentle movements of Tai – Chi in the parks all over China, and it is now common in the West, too. So what’s the secret of Tai – Chi? ‘Mind and body working together,’ says one enthusiast.

GAMING FOR FITNESS

Most people don’t see playing video games as a way of keeping fit. You sit on the sofa, you look at the screen – and the only part of your body that moves is your thumb. But that’s all changing … Thanks to a brand - new game from Japan called Dance Dance Revolution, gamers are now getting onto exercise floor. In this case, the floor is a grid of nine squares. You put one foot in the centre and move your other foot in time to the dance music that gets faster and faster as you go through the levels. ‘Most gamers just want to go to a fantasy world when they play a video game, but why not have games which are physical as well?’ says one DDR fan. So, who knows? Perhaps the gamers in the future will be fit and healthy people – thanks to Dance Dance Revolution.

2

The tradition of birthday parties started a long time ago. People thought that there was a special danger from evil spirits, so friends and family came together to bring good thoughts and wishes and even presents. At one time, only kings had birthday parties but as time went by, children and then adults began to have their own birthday celebrations. There are some traditions – such as sending birthday cards, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake and singing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song, that you can find almost anywhere, any time. Others are more specific to certain ages … and certain countries.

BIRTHDAY TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD

1 In China everyone celebrates their birthday on New Year’s Day: they become one year older on that day. On a child’s second birthday, family members put a variety of objects on the floor around the child. According to Chinese tradition, the first object that the child pick up tells you what profession the child will choose later in life.

3, 5, 7 For Japanese children, the third, fifth and seventh birthdays are particular important. At this age, there is a special celebration called Shichi – Go – San (seven, five, three in Japanese) when children go to the temple wearing a brand-new kimono. The priest gives them special sweets, and the parents usually organize a party for their friends in their home.

15 In Argentina, Mexico and several other Latin American countries, girls have a special birthday celebration when they reach the age of fifteen. After a religious ceremony, the girls dance a waltz with their father and other boys.

18 Eighteen is the traditional ‘ coming age’- the age where you have the right to vote, join the armed forces and (in many countries), drink alcohol and (in the UK) buy a house or become a member of parliament!

21 In many English-speaking countries, a twenty-first birthday cake often has a key on top, or the cake itself is sometimes in the shape of a key. The key means that the young person is now old enough to leave and enter the family home at any time they want.

30 In the past in parts of Europe, men who reached the age of thirty and were still single, had to clean the stairs of the City Hall. This way every girl could see that the man didn’t have a girlfriend – and how good he was at cleaning the house!

40, 50 After the age of thirty, many people prefer to forget their birthdays rather than celebrate them … children often bring Mum (or Dad) breakfast in bed, and it’s also a day when your friends and family have to pay if you go out for drinks or a meal!

3

Charlotte Dutton

FROM MOUNTAINS TO MODELLING

Charlotte Dutton has two jobs. Half the year she’s a top model in Europe, and the other half she’s a professional snowboarder in Canada.

‘I love modelling and snowboarding,’ she says,’ but I have to be two different people! You need muscles to be a snowboarder, but you have to be slim to be a model. When I’m modeling I can’t eat anything fattening. But in the mountains it’s freezing, so you have to eat protein, cakes and chocolate. For jumps and turns, you have to be strong. Snowboarding is sometimes dangerous, and I often fall. But I have to be careful because I can’t break my leg and then go to Paris to model the best skirts. It’s funny – half the year I have to wear warm, baggy clothes and a crash helmet. Then I go to Europe for a season, and I have to wear beautiful designer clothes.’

Does she want to be a top international model or an Olympic snowboarder? The answer is she wants to be both – but when she’s much older, she dreams of living in a bakery and eating cakes all day!

4

TRAINING TO BE A GEISHA

The white face, the dark eyes and hair, the blood red lips – both the Japanese and foreigners are fascinated by these beautiful and mysterious women. Makiko is training to be a geisha. Not many girls want to become geishas in Japan today. Makiko’s grandfather paid for her training and bought the kimonos she needed. It’s very expensive to become a geisha. You have to have a different kimono for each month of the year, and today a kimono can cost three million yen, that’s about $ 25 000.

It’s a hard life for a trainee geisha. She has to leave her family and move into a special boarding house called a ‘maiko house’. Here, she has to learn traditional Japanese arts such as playing instruments, the tea ceremony, flower arranging, singing and dancing. She has to take a lot of difficult tests and exams. Only the best will pass all the tests and become geishas many years later.

We asked Makiko to describe exactly what a geisha does.

‘A geisha has to serve customers and also entertain them. She has to sing and dance, and make conversation.’

Does she enjoy her life as a trainee geisha?

I love it, but it’s hard work. Sometimes I get tired of wearing the kimonos and I want to put on a pair of jeans and go to high school like a normal teenager. But I can’t have a normal life now. I don’t mind I feel very lucky.’

And what about later – can she have a family?

‘Of course. A geisha can have relationships like anybody else and she can get married when she chooses.’

In Japan today there are fewer than a thousand geishas, but they play an important role in preserving Japanese culture and history.

5

The Ruins of Machu Picchu

For centuries, the Inca city of Machu Picchu was lost in the jungle. Then, in 1911, the American explorer, Hiram Bingham, discovered the ruins of the city. It is one of the most extraordinary places in the world. The city ruins, the Inca bridge, the mountain views and the beautiful river valley below are all absolutely breathtaking.

Today it is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Many people choose to follow the Inca Trail, a centuries-old path of 43 km that takes three or four days on foot. Others take the train and then a bus for the last part of the journey.

Now a hotel company is going to build a cable car to the top of Machu Picchu. “ The cable car is good news for Machu Picchu,” says a company spokesman. “There are going to be a lot more tourists and that means more jobs for local people. Looking after the ruins is expensive. With the extra money; we can spend more on looking after them.”

However, the plan is not popular in Peru. Ana Redondo, a tour guide, explains the problem. “There are already more than 300000 tourists that go to Machu Picchu every year. The Inca Trail is crowded and dirty with old tea bags and water bottles everywhere. The new cable car is going to bring 400 tourists every hour! The company is also going to build a large hotel and tourist centre with souvenir shops, fast food restaurants and so on. It is the end of Machu Picchu.”

Ana is an activist who belongs to an organization that wants to save Machu Picchu. She says that the organization is going to stop the company’s plans. “Tomorrow we are meeting government ministers. Next week some people from UNESCO are coming here to look at the plans. Next month we are organizing an international conference. We are not going to stop until the cable car idea is dead.

2. Монологические высказывания

Leisure and lifestyle

I have free time in the evening and at the weekend. I come home at 7 o’clock. After supper I read books or watch TV. I often surf the Internet. I usually go to bed 12 o’clock. At the weekend I spend time with my family. On Saturday I do the housework. In the evening we go to the cinema or to the theatre. I have many friends. I sometimes invite them to my house and we talk, listen to music and play different games. I am fond of playing tennis and go to the gym twice a week. I am interested in history. I have a good collection of historical books. I study the history of Russia. I love cats. I have a pet at home. I like playing with my cat.

Special occasions

My birthday is on the 6th of July. I always celebrate my birthday because I have many friends and relatives. I call my friends and relatives to invite them to my birthday party. I decorate my flat and cook tasty food. I usually have ten or twelve guests every year. They come at 7 o’clock in the evening. They congratulate me and give presents, cards and flowers to me. We cook roast meat and potatoes, different salads and a cake for dinner. We drink wine and juice. We usually listen to music, dance and talk. We sometimes watch TV or play different games. We have fun.

Job selections.

1. My name’s Morgan and I’m from Australia … from a place called Brisbane. I’m still at high school. I love all the usual things really … like music, going to the movies … but most of all I love people. I’m really interested in people and making friends. One day, my ambition is to do something that can really help people. I’d like to study for that.

2. I’m Luke. I’m from England … I’m twenty years old … money is quite important to me when it comes to work. Also I’d like to work for myself. I don’t want to work in an office. I’m not really into computers and I like to be more independent. I don’t want to be in one place all the time.

3. My name is Carmen and I come from Mexico. I’m at college right now studying English and French … I want to meet people from all over the world, that’s why I study languages. I like reading too … and meeting people … I want to go to every continent, maybe learn some more languages … maybe Chinese.

4. I’m Jong. I am twenty-three years old, from Seoul in South Korea, and I’m studying hard right now. I am studying real hard and trying to improve my English … When I finish my studies, I hope I will get a good job. I want to maybe become a millionaire one day … I like to work hard, I’m a very ambitious person.

Дополнительные тексты для составления монологических высказываний

1

How not to die before you get old

Chiako is active and healthy. She gets up at 7.00 a. m. every day and goes for a brisk walk. Three times a week she plays gate-ball – a popular national sport – with her friends. There is nothing unusual about this, except that Chiako is 102 years old. She is not alone – there are hundreds of centenarians who lead healthy lives like this in Okinawa.

Okinawa is a group of Japanese islands between Japan and Taiwan. Near a beach, there is a large stone with the following proverb engraved on it:”At 70 you are still a child; at 80 you are just a youth; and at 90, if the ancestors invite you into heaven, ask them to wait until you are 100, and then you might consider it.

Okinawans manage to stay slim in old age by eating a low-calorie diet which consists of three quarters plant food and one quarter animal food. They eat seven servings of fruit and vegetables every day and they stop eating when they are 80% full. They also keep physically active the natural way by dancing, doing martial arts, walking and gardening. In other words, they do the things they enjoy.

Okinawans have developed a stress-resistant personality. Nobody is in a hurry, timetables are non-existent, and there is always tomorrow. Hundreds of people, both young and old, go to the beach every day to watch the spectacular sunsets. In Okinawa there is always time to watch the sun set.

As well as large extended families, Okinawans have strong networks of friends. When someone is ill and doesn’t come to work, a neighbour will always knock on their door to find out how they are.

There’s no magic pill. If you keep fit, if you have good friends, a healthy diet and a stress-free lifestyle, you will live longer. It’s as simple as that!

2

What people really want for their birthday

It was my birthday recently and as usual I didn’t get what I really wanted. I usually get a bunch of flowers, a cookery book, a box of chocolate and electronic gadgets. My family always ask me what I want, and I always tell them the same thing – I want a surprise. So this year I got flowers, a cookery book, chocolates and gadgets.

Flowers are lovely but they hardly ever last for more than a week, and a real present is something you can keep. I always look for the diamond ring hidden in the flowers, but it’s never there.

Cookery books are boring, and I hate getting chocolates because I’m usually on a diet.

But gadgets are the worst. Most women are not interested in gadgets. Men buy gadgets for women because men love gadgets.

But women are sensitive and intuitive so they always know the right thing to buy. Right? Wrong.

The big mistake that women make is that they usually buy clothes. They buy clothes because they like them and they want other people to wear the clothes they like. “You always wear dark colours, and I want to change you, so I’m going to buy you a brightly coloured tie or a pair of Mickey Mouse socks.”

This is a big mistake. Men don’t usually want brightly coloured ties or silly socks. The word to remember when you’re buying a present for a male is gadgets. Men like anything digital, electronic and fun.

For his last birthday, I gave my husband a small torch and a Swiss army knife. He was overjoyed.

It’s very simple. You can’t go wrong if you always remember the j word for women ( that’s j

for jewellery and the G word for men.

3

NIGHTMARE JOBS.

Polly: a vet What’s the worst thing that has ever happened in your job?

Probably the dog that bit me. It wasn’t a big one – I don’t mind the big ones. The small ones are the worst. It gave me a very nasty bite.

Have you ever done any other jobs?

Yes, I did various jobs when I was a student. One summer I did fruit-picking in France, Spain and Greece.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever done?

I worked as an au pair for a rich family in New York. I never had a day off and I had to do everything – cooking, cleaning, shopping – and look after their children. I left after two weeks and managed to get a job as a waiter in an Italian restaurant.

Leo: an actor What ’s the worst thing that’s ever happened in your job?

So many bad things have happened – but I think my worst moment was when I read my first bad review in the newspaper. They wrote terrible things about me, and I was so upset. Now I don’t read my reviews any more.

Have you ever done any other jobs?

Oh yes, it’s hard to make a living as an actor. So I’ve done lots of part - time jobs over the years. For example, I’ve worked in a shop, sold ice cream on the beach and handed out publicity flyers in the street.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever done?

The worst job I’ve ever done was an egg - packing factory. Working conditions are terrible – you stand for hours at the end of a conveyor belt, putting eggs into boxes. You can’t have a break, and if you want to go to the toilet, you have to ask for a permission. And worst of all, the smell was disgusting – I’ve never eaten an egg since then.

3. Контрольная работа.

A. Укажите временную систему глаголов: Present Simple (Pr.S), Present Continuous (Pr.C), Present Perfect (Pr.P), Past Simple (P.S).

1. They are travelling now.

2. What did you do last weekend?

3. I haven’t spoken to her for two weeks.

4. Does she always get up at 7 o’clock?

5. Have you heard this news?

6. She isn’t sleeping now.

7. He translated the text yesterday.

8. She often visits her grandparents.

9. I didn’t check my e-mail yesterday.

10. We have already seen this film.

11. We don’t read newspapers every day.

12. What are you doing now?

B. Вставьте правильную форму глаголов.

1. – Ben ______ ( sing ) well.

- I agree. But he _____ ( not/dance ) very well.

2. – What ______ ( Helen/ usually/do ) on Sundays?

- She _______( meet ) her friends.

3. - Where _____ ( you/go ) last night, Paul?

- I _____ ( go) to the cinema with my friend, Susan.

4. - ______ (you/get) my message last night?

- No, I _____ (not/receive) any messages.

5. ____ (you/watch) TV now? No, I ____ (read) an interesting book.

6. She _____ (not cook) now, she _____ (have a shower).

7. - Would you like something to eat?

- No thanks, I ____ (just/have) a sandwich.

8. – Shall we eat at the new Indian restaurant tonight?

- It _____ (not/open) yet.

C. Употребите правильную форму глагола Past Simple или