Creative Writing (письмо)

Creative Writing (письмо)

1. In some countries people are no longer allowed to smoke in many public places and office buildings. Do you think this is a good or a bad rule?

-  In what two main groups can people be divided?

-  Should people be allowed to smoke in public places or not?

-  Why do “passive smokers” poison their health?

2.We live in a big city with highly developed industry.

- What are advantages and disadvantages of  living in a big city?

- Is it better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big city?

- How can it change your future life? 

3. People should read only those books that are about real events, real people, 

established facts. Do you agree or disagree?

- What kinds of books do you like to read?

- Is it interesting to read books only about real people and facts?

- What books are interesting for little children?

Reading Comprehension (читання)

Text 1 History Jokes

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby boy. He dropped his tools and ran to the boy. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s place. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy farmer Fleming had saved.

“I want to repay you”, said the nobleman. “You saved my son’s life”. “No, I can’t accept payment for what I did”, the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer’s son came to the door of the family hovel. “Is that your son?” the nobleman asked. “Yes”, the farmer replied proudly. “I’ll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the fellow is anything like his father, he’ll grow to a man you can be proud of”.

And that he did. In time, farmer Fleming’s son graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.

Years afterward, the nobleman’s son was close to death from pneumonia. What saved him?

Are the statements true or false?

1.  At the beginning of the story, the farmer was bathing in a river. 

2.  There must have been an accident with a little boy.

3.  The farmer’s children were all girls. 

4.  The little boy’s father wanted to give the farmer a sum of money. 

5.  The nobleman’s prediction did not come true. 

6.  The boy glorified his family name. 

Text 2 Anorexia

Anorexia is a dangerous eating disorder which often starts in the teenage years. In Britain 5% of the girls are anorexic and four out of ten teenage girls skip meals so that they can be slim like fashion models and pop stars. It’s a medical condition and its full name is anorexia nervosa. People with anorexia try not to eat and lose a lot of weight. They often feel fat even when they are very thin. They use either ways of staying thin too, like taking laxative tablets (which make you go to the toilet more often) or by doing too much exercise. Anorexia is serious. Anorexics can become very weak and die. About 20% of anorexics don’t live more than twenty years after anorexia starts and only 60% of anorexics get better completely.

Celebrities are particularly vulnerable because people are always judging their appearance.

Christina Aguilera’s video for the song Beautiful shows the effect of the pressure on young people to be thin. Scientists say that overweight teenagers should exercise, not diet, to become thinner.  This is because even teenagers who diet sensibly are more likely to become anorexic than teenagers who don’t diet at all. 

Choose the correct variant:

7.  Anorexia is a (an)…

a) obesity.

b) eating disorder characterized by overeating followed by vomiting.

c) bout of excessive eating or drinking.

d)  psychological disorder characterized  by fear of becoming fat and non-eating.

8.  According to the text, everything is true about anorexics, except  they ….

a) try not to eat.

b) want to lose weight.

c) take sedative pills.

d) don’t  live more than twenty years after anorexia starts.

9. “To skips meals” means…

a) to spoil.

b) to miss.

c) to hide.

d) to throw away.

10. In fact, people who suffer from anorexia are…

a)  lank.

b)  chubby.

c)  obese.

d)  stout.

11. Who are most likely to be exposed to anorexia?

a)  fat people

b) adults

c)  famous people

d)  slim people

12. Celebrities become anorexic because….

a) they are rich

b)  they want to look beautiful

c) they are famous

d) they often travel

Text 3 The Story of Rubber  

Read the text. Match choices (A – G) to (13-18). There is one choice you do not need to use.

Rubber was brought from South America by travellers. At first people knew just one way to use it. They would use balls of rubber to (13)______ on paper. And that's how rubber got its name!

In those days rubber was shipped in(14)_____. Workers would make cuts in the rubber trees. Then they would catch the rubber juice in glass bottles. Soon the juice would get hard. Then workers would break the glass. The hard rubber would stay in the bottle shape. 

A man came up with good ideas about how to use rubber. His name was Macintosh. He found a way to melt hard rubber back into (15)______. He would pour the rubber juice onto some cloth. He would spread it very thin and let it dry. This cloth did not get wet. Macintosh named this cloth after himself. Soon everyone was using mackintosh cloth. People used it(16)________. 

People poured rubber juice (17)_______. Then it got hard again. In this way people made things like water hoses and bicycle tires. They even made parts of machines. Rubber became very important. In just (18)_______it changed everyone's life.

 A  pieces shaped like bottles  

 B  rubber juice.  

 C  rub out pencil marks 

 D  to make raincoats and boots  

 E  into new shapes  

 F  twenty years  

 G  some centuries

Text 4 Esperanto

The language ‘Esperanto’ is about 120 years old. It doesn’t come from any country. People call it a ‘planned’ language, because someone created it – a Pole, Dr. L. L. Zamenhof.

The word ‘Esperanto’ means ‘someone who hopes’. The idea is for Esperanto to be a language for international communication. Everyone learns it as a foreign language, rather than learning a language from one particular country, like French or English.

Esperanto isn’t a difficult language. The rules are simple, and every word is easy to pronounce and to spell. There are Esperanto textbooks and dictionaries, as well as other books, and translations into Esperanto from other languages. There are 30,000 books in the British Esperanto library.

Sadly, the fact that Esperanto doesn’t have its own country or culture also causes some problems. For example, no country uses Esperanto in schools, and no people learn it as their own language. Its speakers come from all over the world, but they also have their own language. 

Choose the correct variant:

19.  Esperanto has been used…

a) since the beginning of humanity

b) for more than a century

c) for more than a thousand years

d. for less than a hundred years 

20.  Esperanto is…

a) the most difficult language.

b)  the language without rules.

c)  the foreign language.

d) the dead language.

21. People who speak Esperanto are…

a) from the same country.

b) from all over the world.

c) from England only.

d) scientists.

22. People study Esperanto because…

a) there are 13,000 books in the British Esperanto Library.

b) there are no rules in Esperanto.

c) the rules are simple and all words are easy.

d) the language is highly used.

23. The problems with Esperanto are not connected with:

a)  lack of the language books

b)  absence of the own country of Esperanto

c) lack of usage Esperanto at schools

d) there are no native speakers

24. Esperanto does not have:

a)  grammar rules

b) letters

c) easy pronunciation

d) native speakers

Text 5 Ambient Divers

Ambient divers, unlike divers who go underwater in submersible vehicles or pressure resistant suits, are exposed to the pressure and temperature of the surrounding (ambient) water. Or all types of diving, the oldest and simplest is free diving. Free divers may use no equipment at all, but most use a face mask, foot fins, and snorkel. Under the surface, free divers must hold their breath. Most free divers can only descend 30 to 40 feet, but some skilled divers can go as deep as 100 feet.

Scuba diving provides greater range than free diving. The word SCUBA stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. SCUBA divers wear metal tanks with compressed air or other breathing gases. When using open-circuit equipment, and Scuba diver simply breathes air from the tank through a hose and releases the exhaled air into the water. A closed-circuit breathing device, also called a rebreather, filters out carbon dioxide and other harmful gases and automatically adds oxygen. This enables the diver to breathe the same air over and over.

In the surface-supplied diving, divers wear helmets and waterproof canvas suits. Today, sophisticated plastic helmets have replaced the heavy copper helmets used in the past. These divers get their air from hose connected to compressors on a rface-supplied divers can go deeper than any other type of ambient diver.

Choose the correct variant: 

25. It may be inferred from the passage that all divers:

a) use no equipment at all

b) use sophisticated equipment

c) know how to use SCUBA diving equipment

d) know how to swim  

26. according to the text most free divers use:

a) a snorkel, a face mask and hand fins

b) a face mask, foot fins, and a snorkel

c) a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

d) a snorkel, back fins, and helmet

27.  the word “ambient” in line one may most probably mean the following:

a) underwater

b) encompassing

c) resistant

d) impossible

28. One can make a conclusion that most free divers can reach the depth of:

a) 10 yards

b) 20 yards

c) 30 yards

d) 40 yards

29.  While going underwater a SCUBA diver wears:

a)  a canvas hose

b) a plastic helm

c) rebreathers

d) metal tanks 

30.  What kind of diving is most likely to reach 30 meters?

a) free diving

b) scuba diving

c) diving with the help of a snorkel

d) surface supplied diving

 Speaking Comprehension (говоріння)

1. Who do you think is the most attractive man/ woman in the world?

-How do the clothes, hair-style, make-up change the appearance?

- Are there any attractive men/ women among your relatives?

2. Many people have special talents or gifts. Some people think they were born with them.

- Do you think that people are born with talents?

- What talents do you have?

- How do your talents help you?

3. Are you usually free at the weekends? Do you have a lot of to do?

-How many weeks holiday from school do you have every year? Is it enough?

-Do you think people in your country have enough free time?

 4. Speak about the invention of the 21-th century which you think has affected everyday life?

- What would your life be like without this invention?

- Will this invention be as useful in future as it is now?

- What does this invention allow you to do?

5. Why do you think some people are attracted to dangerous sports?

- What dangerous sports do you know? Why do people call them “extreme”?

- What kind of sport are you good at? What would you like to try?

- Why do people like dangers?

6. Fashion is something that is around us every day.

- What does influence our choice of clothes?

- Where do we get fashion ideas from?

- Are you a fashion fan?

7. A friend from another country is visiting you. Show him/ her interesting places of your country.

- Which places would you show?

- What would you tell your friend about your country? “ Draw ” a map of your trip.

8.  Name the reasons for learning foreign languages.

- Do you think foreign languages will be important in your professional career?

- What new horizons do they show?

9. Books have positive influence on our life.

- What kind of books do you like?

- What is better: to read books or watch TV? Why?

10. You have  just returned from a trip to an  English - speaking country.

- Share your impressions.

- Speak about places of interest you have visited.

11. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Only people who earn a lot of money are successful”?

- Is money a main indicator of success?

- Why do people change their job?

12. Television can have both a positive and negative influence.

- Do you think television has had a negative influence in our life?

- Do you think there should be a limit to how much television a person can watch?

 13. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: with the help of technology students nowadays can learn more information and learn it more quickly?

- How did technological inventions improve our life?

- Why do inventions help young people to concentrate more on studying?

14. Parents are the best teachers.

- Why can parents be called “teachers”?

- Why do teenagers reject their parents’ advices and warnings?

- What is the role of parents in children’s’ lives?

 15. Some people prefer to plan activities for their free time very carefully.

- Compare the benefits of planning with the benefits of not making plans.

- Which do you prefer: planning or not planning for your leisure time?

16. When students move to a new school they sometimes face problems.

- What problems do they face?

- How can schools help these students with their problems?

17. Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past?

- Why didn’t people depend on information in old times?

- Why is it essential for a person to be literate in Informational age?

18.  People remember special gifts and presents they have received. Why?

- Why do people remember them?

 - What special gift do you remember?

19. You have an opportunity to go anywhere in the world for one month.

- Where would you go?

- Would you go for pleasure, to spend time with someone you know or to learn something?

20. Personalities of Ukraine we must be proud of.

- Who are worth talking about?

-  Are you proud to be the Ukrainian?