Областная олимпиада 2007/2008 11 класс

ЗМРБ 1-08

ТРЕТИЙ ЭТАП
РЕСПУБЛИКАНСКОЙ ОЛИМПИАДЫ
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК

XI КЛАСС
GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY TEST

I. Open the brackets using the correct forms of the verbs.

A. Kate (1)_______(sit) in the dining-car of the express train that (2)______ (take) her back home to Bristol. She (3)________(hardly/touch) the meal in front of her. She (4)_________(be) deep in thought. She (5) ______(worry) and in a bad mood. She (6) _________ (recently/come) back to England from Mexico, where she (7)_______(be) very happy teaching English to businessmen and engineers. It (8)_____(seem) unlikely that she (9)_______ (ever/find) such a good job again. Two jobs 10)_____(offer) to her, both of which she (11) ______ (turn) down because of the poor salaries. Nobody (12)_____ (seem)interested in her excellent qualifications, which (13)_____(include) almost perfect Spanish, fluent German and French and an excellent knowledge of commercial and technical English.

B. If I (14)_____ (see) a tiger walking across Hyde Park, I would climb a tree. If he had told me he was a vegetarian, I (15)______(not cook) meat.

II. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence using the word given. Don’t change the words given.

Example: MEAN        What is the meaning of the word?

What does the word mean?

1. SET
Two brothers started the business in the US in the 1950s.
The business___________in the US in the 1950s.
2. SHOULDN’T
It’s wrong that you were listening to their private conversation.
You________________to their private conversation.
3. USE
Don’t ask me because I don’t know anything about the subject.
________me because I don’t know anything about the subject.
4.  FANCY
Alan, would you like to go to the game with me?
Alan,________________to the game with me?
5.  LIKED
Her family wanted her to become a lawyer.
Her family __________become a lawyer.
6. RATHER
I wish I’d stayed at home.
I________________at home.
7. BUT
He spent the whole morning studying.
He__________________the whole morning.
8. TAKEN
The police were removing all the illegally parked cars.
All the illegally parked cars____________________the police.
9. BOUND
It is certain that organic foods will appear in local supermarkets.
Organic foods___________________in local supermarkets.
10.  EVER
He rarely travels by plane.
Hardly________________by plane.

III. Insert 10 articles that are missing in the text.

Far from Earth

Do you want holiday that is really out of world? Well how about booking tickets for two weeks in outer space. This has been dream of science-fiction writers for decades but some scientists are predicting that soon this dream will become real possibility. It seems that big business has also realized that there is plenty of money to be made from taking tourists into orbit. Race is on to build cheap and reusable spacecraft to carry passengers and freight. Once they are in space, these tourists will need somewhere to stay. Japanese company has already made plans to build first space hotel. They say that they will be ready to accept the first guests in as little as five years. Guests will pay more than ?40,000 and many will suffer from space sickness, but this isn’t expected to put off people who are looking for ultimate adventure holiday.

IV. Insert prepositions/postpositions where necessary.

I took (1) _____ amateur dramatics by chance really. After my divorce I no longer kept (2) ____my old friends and my mother, worried perhaps that I might take (3) ____ drinking or gambling for solace suggested that I join the local drama group as a way of taking my mind (4) ____ my problems. I’ve never really enjoyed organised group activities — as a child the only reason I took part in team sports was that we were obliged to do so by the school — so her idea didn’t really appeal _____ me, but I played (6) ____ for a while, promising to go to their weekly meetings, but not actually doing so. Then she discovered that a professional theatre company was going to team (7) ____ the local group to put (8)____an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s Richard III in the summer. She played (9)_____ my interest in the history of that time and played (10) ____ the fact that I’d studying Shakespeare at school and suggested that I audition (11)_____a part. When I objected: no acting experience, she reminded me how I used to make her laugh by sending (12)____ the advertisements on TV and insisted that all 1 had to do was go along to the audition and play it _____ ear. Finally, I was persuaded and, in fact, I sailed (14) _______ the audition and landed a small speaking role. I thoroughly enjoyed everything to do with that performance and since then my career as an amateur actor has really taken (15) ____ — next week I’m playing the male lead in a romantic comedy we’re doing at the local theatre.

V. Read the text and insert the letter corresponding to the best choice (А, В, С or D).

The American Eagle

America’s national symbol is that great bird which is known as the bald eagle. However, the number of this species has dropped from 50,000 in the 1940’s to about 300 today. Fortunately, America has taken (1) ____by starting to breed these eagles. This takes place at a research centre in Oklahoma, where 300 have been bred and then released into the wild. The eggs are (2) ____ from wild eagles’ nests, found (3) ____the country, and are flown straight to the centre by aeroplane. During the (4) ____, they are kept (5) ____in a special container which (6)____them from sunlight, which could easily kill them. Once they are at the centre, they are continually (7) ____until they hatch. Eight hours after the birds emerge, they are given their first meal, (8) ____of little pieces of a special meat. At 6 weeks old, they are taken outside to get used (9) _____the cooler temperature. The (10)___stages of the bird’s introduction to the wild take place at the top of a(n) (11)____tower, where they are kept in a big cage and fed on fish. As the time goes by, the cages are removed and they eventually (12) ____to fly. All would agree that the (13) ____ of these beautiful birds flying high in the southern skies (14) _____ all the (15) ____ worthwhile.

This post involves (1)____for staff training  at our  fast-food                 RESPONSIBLE
takeaway restaurants. We stress the (2)__of training so that                     IMPORTANT
all our staff are able to dominate (3) ___with  the state-of-the-art                    EXPERT
(4) _____we use and are also fully  aware of what is required                               EQUIP
in their (5) _______with customers. You will be involved  in the                             DEAL

(6) ___of a series of training courses for both managers and                             PREPARE
(7) ___________and you will also be expected to provide advice                    EMPLOY
and (8) _____________ on a variety of staff issues. For this post,                     GUIDE
we have a (9) ______for candidates with experience of the fast-                       PREFER
food business but our (10)__________procedure will take other                      SELECT
relevant  experience into account.

VII. Rewrite the following sentences correcting the mistakes.

1. Their new house can even boast of an indoors swimming pool.
2. A bad car crash happened at these crossroads.
3. Could you describe in detail how the driver looks like
4. We cannot take for granted that a computer system will never fail.
5. In the last ten years more than two million of people have come to Milan to find work.

ANSWER KEY
Form11
I.

A 1. was sitting 2. was taking 3. had hardly touched 4. was 5. was worried 6. had recently come 7. had been very happy 8. seemed 9. would ever find 10. had been offered 11. turned/had turned 12. seemed 13. included

B 14. saw 15. wouldn’t have cooked

II.

1.  The business was set up by two brothers in the US in the 1950s.
2.  You shouldn’t have been listening to their private conversation.
3.  It is no use asking me because I don’t know anything about the subject.
4.  Alan, do you fancy going to the game with me?
5.  Her family would have liked her to become a lawyer.
6.  I would rather have stayed at home.
7.  He did nothing but study the whole morning.
8.  All the illegally parked cars were being taken away by the police.
9.  Organic foods are bound to appear in local supermarkets. 10. Hardly ever does he travel by plane.

III.
Far from Earth

Do you want a holiday that is really out of the world? Well how about booking tickets for two weeks in outer space. This has been a dream of science-fiction writers for decades but some scientists are predicting that soon this dream will become a real possibility. It seems that big business has also realized that there is plenty of money to be made from taking tourists into orbit. The race is on to build a cheap and reusable spacecraft to carry passengers and freight. Once they are in space, these tourists will need somewhere to stay. A Japanese company has already made plans to build the first space hotel. They say that they will be ready to accept the first guests in as little as five years. The guests will pay more than ?40,000 and many will suffer from space sickness, but this isn’t expected to put off people who are looking for the ultimate adventure holiday.

IV.

I took (1) up amateur dramatics by chance really. After my divorce I no longer kept (2) up with my old friends and my mother, worried perhaps that 1 might take (3) to drinking or gambling for solace, suggested that I join the local drama group as a way of taking my mind (4) off my problems. I’ve never really enjoyed organised group activities — as a child the only reason 1 took part in team sports was that we were obliged to do so by the school — so her idea didn’t really appeal (5) to me, but I played (6) along for a while, promising to go to their weekly meetings, but not actually doing so. Then she discovered that a professional theatre company was going to team (7) up with the local group to put (8) on an outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s Richard III in the summer. She played (9) on my interest in the history of that time and played (10) up the fact that I’d enjoyed studying Shakespeare at school and suggested that I audition (11) for a part. When I objected that I had no acting experience, she reminded me how I used to make her laugh by sending (12) up the advertisements on TV and insisted that all I had to do was go along to the audition and play it (13) by ear. Finally, I was persuaded and, in fact, I sailed (14) through the audition and landed a small speaking role. I thoroughly enjoyed everything to do with that performance and since then my career as an amateur actor has really taken (15) off — next week I’m playing the male lead in a romantic comedy we’re doing at the local theatre.

V.

VI.
1.    responsibility                            6. preparation
2.    importance                              7. employees
3.    expertise                                 8.  guidance
4.    equipment                               9. preference
5.    dealings                                 10. selection

VII.      Rewrite the following sentences correcting the mistakes.
1.  …boast of an indoor swimming pool
2.  …at this crossroads
3.  …what the driver looks like?
4.  We cannot take it for granted that…
5.  …two million people…

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST
Part A

1 Here at C-Books, we believe that Braille literacy is every bit as important to the blind person as ink-print literacy is to the sighted person. If the blind are to compete on equal terms with their sighted peers, no blind person should be limited in choosing what they would like to read just because it is unavailable or very expensive. So it is our primary goal to help ensure that every blind person has access to whatever Braille publication they need.
2 Woman: Can I help you?
Man: Yeah, I’m here about the phones.
Woman: The phones?
Man: Yeah, I’m from Vector.
Woman: Oh! Oh! I’m sorry, yes, yes, it’s… Well we’ve had this problem, whenever we try to access an outside line, we press the button and…
Man: Is it doing it now?
Woman: Yes, yes, well I think so, actually if you could come over here, I’ll show you… Pressing any of these — say line 9… here we go, line 9. Listen.
Man: Ah yes, ah yes, I see. Yes, okay. Yeah, I can see to that, no problem.
3 Welcome to the Anderson Communications 24 hour helpline. You are not being charged for this call. If you need help with setting up your Anderson On Line Internet connection, please press 1. If you wish to renew your Anderson On Line Internet connection, or to purchase a new subscription to Anderson On Line, please press 2. If you have forgotten your account details, your username or your password, press 3. For help with other issues, please hold.
4 Hi honey, it’s me. Just calling to say that I’ve taken the Fiat to the garage and it should be okay to pick it up tomorrow, so could you? It’s having new brake pads fitted, but apart from that it’s in top shape. Off to Paris now, taking off at 3.30 this afternoon. I’m hoping that the job I’ve got to see to is quite straightforward, so I should be flying back tomorrow evening. Could be quite late, so I’ll just grab a cab. See you then.
5 Interviewer: So what you’re actually saying is that you will not be refunding people who have bought faulty consoles?
Man: We can… Well, look, we can replace, and indeed, er, we will replace most, er, every faulty console that was sold due to this … er … due to this mistake, but if a customer wishes to be refunded, then obviously this is a different, er, this is a different issue. Because, I mean, I don’t see how someone could want a switchboard console for their business and then suddenly not want a switchboard console.
Interviewer: Well, it’s simple, they don’t want it because it doesn’t work.
Man: Yes, but as I said, er, as I said, we will replace all faulty consoles, but giving a refund is quite a different, er, a different issue, isn’t it, we would give refunds if consoles were unsuitable, but that’s not the case, the new consoles, the ones that will replace the faulty ones… urn…
Interviewer: Will it be suitable?
Man: Will be… um, exactly, yes.
Interviewer: Hmmm…
6 In technology news today, telecommunications giant Wesley Corporation have presented the new ‘touch and talk’ mobile phone at the Frankfurt Technology Fair. The new Wesley model does everything a normal mobile phone does, but also has the amazing feature of functioning like a long-distance walkie-talkie. That means that, at the touch of just one button, you are instantly connected to another mobile of your choice and you can leave a short voice message. Wesley believe that the new feature is going to be appreciated by consumers who…
7 Woman: Have you got automatic text completion on that?
Man: What’s that?
Woman: Automatic text completion. Where words are actually written for you by the mini computer inside your mobile.
Man: No. I didn’t know mobile phones did that. Does yours do it?
Woman: Yeah. Look. You’re writing a message, right? So if you write H… E… L… it automatically completes the word: Hello.
Man: Oh. What if it gets it wrong?
Woman: You delete the last letter, then it lets you write your own word.
Man: Fabulous. Can I have that on my phone, too?
Woman: Not really. You’d have to upgrade to the new model.
Man: And how much would that be?
Woman: Probably about a hundred quid.
Man: Pff! Forget it. I’ll just type it, thanks.
8 Okay, listen everybody, please… Can I have your attention for a moment, please? Right…My name is Stephen Greenwalsh and I am the legal representative of SupraPhone… I’d like to… I’d like to give you a few facts about the installation of the new aerial, and hopefully dispel a few myths. The aerial about to be installed has been inspected and approved by scientists appointed by the Stewart Commission. Copies of the certificate of safety are available, in fact here’s one them, and could I possibly have this projected on the screen please. Bob, thank you… As you see, the aerial has been manufactured in compliance with the guidelines issued by the government and…

Part В

P: Good evening and welcome to the programme. This evening’s guest is headmaster of East Crompton Comprehensive Dr.  Charles Greenway, and we’re going to be talking about truancy. Dr. Greenway, thanks for joining me this evening.
GG: Good evening, I’m pleased to be here.
P: Let’s begin by defining the word truancy. What do we actually mean — a couple of missed lessons a week’s holiday during term time, or repeated absences from school with no explanation?
GG: It’s a good question to begin with, Paul. Any absence that has not been authorised by the school is truancy. It doesn’t matter if a child is being taken to Disneyland in Florida because it’s cheaper in term time, going Christmas shopping with a parent, or just roaming around the neighbourhood with other children causing problems for the local residents. It’s all truancy.
P: How widespread is the problem in the United Kingdom?
GG: Very, I’m afraid. As many as four million school days are lost every year through truancy, and about 1.7 million of those are lost because of children being taken on family holidays and excursions Travel agents have special offers during term time, so it’s a lot cheaper for a family to go away. ТЫ government wants to raise educational standards, but we can’t do that if children miss school. Full attendance is a precondition for effective learning.
P: Did I hear correctly just then — almost half the days lost because of truancy are because of parents taking their children on holiday?
GG: Yes, exactly. It is quite shocking, isn’t it? Imagine how incredibly difficult it is for us to convince children that missing school for no good reason is a bad thing when their own parents behave in such ал irresponsible manner.
P: It must be. What are the government doing in view of this situation?
GG: Well, after years of campaigning by teachers all over the country, the government are finally beginning to understand that something has to be done. They are currently holding talks with the travel industry to encourage travel agents to give discounts to families who book their trips in the school holidays, and the police are now involved in picking up children on the streets. Social workers are also being recruited to work with the families of children who play truant. And, for our part, we’re setting up behaviour improvement projects in the school to teach children discipline and respect for learning. But let me stress again that most of the responsibility for ensuring that a child is at school lies with the parents. Neglecting this responsibility is a criminal offence.
P: Do you mean parents could be prosecuted in a court of law if their children do not attend lessons?
GG: That’s exactly what I mean, although this law is poorly enforced. It should, in my opinion, be better enforced. The future of our children matters. We owe it to them to give them the best, education possible, and we can only do this if they are in school.
P: I agree with what you’re saying, but don’t you think it’s a little harsh to prosecute  parents of truant children?
GG: It may seem so to the average person, yes, but I would like to stress again that the future of this country is the schoolchildren of today. It is impossible for the schools to prepare them for lift if the children are not at school, and parents simply must be or our side when it comes to stopping children playing truant.
P: I see your point. I think it’s about the right time to take a few calls from our listeners. We’ve got William Peterson on the line Good morning, Mr. Peterson?

Part A

I. You will hear people talking in eight different situations. Choose and write down the most appropriate answer to each of the situations.

1.    You will hear a person talking about the organization she works for. What service is she talking about?
a)  Medicine for the blind.
b)  School for the blind.
c)  Books for the blind.

2.    You hear a conversation in an office. Why has the man gone there?
a)  To repair something.
b)  To phone somebody.
c)  To check the line.

3.    You want to get connected to the Internet, and you call a helpline. What do you have to do?
a)  Press 1.
b)  Press 2.
c)  Press 3.

4.  At the airport you hear a man leaving a message on someone’s answerphone. What does he want the person to do tomorrow?
a)  Collect the car from a garage.
b)  Meet him at the airport.
c)  Fix the car’s brakes.

5.  You are listening to a radio interview. How does the man being interviewed feel?
a) Angry.
b)  Embarrassed.
c)  Uninterested.

6.    You are listening to a news programme. What is the report about?
a)  A new mobile company.
b)  A new way to send text messages.
c)  A new way to communicate quickly.

7.    You hear a couple talking in a cafe. How does the man feel about what the woman is showing him?
a)  He is convinced he needs it.
b)  He doesn’t understand it.
c)  He thinks it’s too expensive.

8.    You are listening to someone talking to a group of people. What is the man’s purpose?
a)  To persuade people to buy a product.
b)  To reassure people that a product is safe.
c)  To stop people from buying a product.

Part В

II.    Listen to the interview and choose the correct answer to the questions.
1.    Why do some parents take their children on holiday during term time?
a)  Because it’s peak season.
b)  To spend time together as a family.
c)  To save money.
2.    What is the government’s contribution to combating truancy?
a)  They have been trying for years.
b)  They are only just beginning to help.
c)  Their help has arrived too late.
3.    What are the aims of «behaviour improvement projects»?
a)  To teach parents to be more responsible.
b)  To teach students the lessons they have missed.
c)  To teach students to take school more seriously.
4.    What does Dr. Greenway say about the law against truancy? —
a) The law is not strict enough.
b)  Parents are not often prosecuted.
c)  Many parents face criminal charges.
5.    Dr. Greenway implies that some children who play truant
a)  do so in order to earn money.
b)  behave badly in public, c) are never punished.
6.    Why is it difficult for schools to convince students to attend regularly?
a)  Parents set a bad example.
b)  There is no good reason to attend.
c)  Some teachers behave irresponsibly.
7.    Why are the government having talks with travel agents?
a)  To convince them to offer parents cheap holidays.
b)  To make sure that children don’t play truant.
c)  To get help from them in combating truancy.

III.  Complete the sentences to express the idea given in the text. You don’t have to use the e words from the text.

1.    According to Dr. Greenway, truancy is________________________
2._________________________is a precondition for effective learning.
3.    Most of the responsibility for ensuring that a child is at school___________
4.    As many as_________________are lost every year through truancy.
5.    Don’t you think it’s a little harsh to______________________?

ANSWER KEY
Part A
I.

l. С                5. В
2. A               6. С
3. A               7. С
4. A               8. B

Part В
II.
1. C  2. B  3. C 4. B 5. B 6. A 7. C

III.

1. …any absence that has not been authorized by the school.
2.  Full attendance…
3.  …lies with the parents.
4.  …4 million school days…
5.  …prosecute parents of truant children?