Малтипл чойс английский егэ

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Стратегия выполнения задания

• Начните с чтения заданий, предположите, какой перед вами тест — из художественной литературы или научно-познавательный.

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Прочитайте текст и выполните задания. В каждом задании об­ведите цифру 1, 2, 3 Или 4, Соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

Задание 1

At the office that day, Martha was left to ‘keep her eyes open’ until after the lunch hour. Then Max Cohen brought her a document to copy. She was so tense, she had to start afresh three times and when he came to fetch it, all that had been achieved were the words ‘Memorandum of Agreement of Sale’ typed raggedly across the top of the sheet. She shrank under his impatient assurance that it did not matter in the least, and she had to take her time. Her fingers were heavy, trembling and her head was thick. To type two pages of his small neat writing into something clear and pleasant to look at seemed to her, just then, an impossibly difficult task. He went home with coming to her desk again; and she flung a dozen sheets of paper into the wastepaper basket, and decided she would come early next morning and do it before anyone else arrived.

Mrs Buss, on her way out, asked, ‘Have you got any certificates?’ Martha said no, she had learned to type at home. Mrs Buss said nothing consoling, but merely nodded absentmindedly, for her eye were on the elegant Mrs Jasper Cohen. Martha could barely see where she was going as she left the office. She was filled with a violent revulsion against the law and everything connected with it. What she said to herself was ‘I won’t spend the rest of my life typing this stupid jargon’.

She stood at the corner of the street and watched a crowd of carefree young people going into McGrath’s Hotel, and felt sick with envy. Then she crossed the street and went into the offices of the Zambesi News. She was going to see if Mr Spur, an old journalist, whom she had known ’as a child — that is to say, — she had spent a month’s holiday with him and his wife about four years before, — could offer her any kind of position. She was in the building about half an hour, and when she came out her face was hot with embarrassment. It had been so painful she could not bear to remember what had happened. What she must remember was that she had no qualifications whatsoever.

She understood, finally, the extent of the favour Mr Cohen was doing her; and next morning she was at her desk in a very chastened frame of mind. Her eyes were certainly opened, but she had no time to use them, for long before that first document was finished, several more arrived on her desk and it was lunchtime before she knew it. She tried to persuade herself that the papers she sent neatly clipped and tied with green tape in the form of the exquisite, faultless documents Mrs Bi turned out with such ease, were satisfactory. Mr Max Cohen received them with a noncommitt glance and a nod; and later Martha saw Mrs Buss doing them again. She was given no more. For whole day she sat idle at her desk, feeling sick and useless, wishing that she could run away, Wonderingwhat would happen.

The fair, plump girl, Maisie Gale, who sat next to her said consolingly, «Don’t lose any sleep. Just do what you can get away with, that’s my motto.» Martha was offended and replied with a stiff smile.

]__ Why did Martha find her first day at the office difficult?

1) She was not used to work under pressure.

2) The task given to her was very difficult.

3) She was too nervous to think.

4) Mr Cohen was not easy to please.

2 By the end of the day, which of the following was true of Martha?

1) She knew that Mr Cohen was disappointed in her.

2) She still hadn’t handed in any work.

3) She had handed in her work unfinished.

4) She had decided she would work better when the office was empty.

3 As Mrs Buss left the office, what impression do we get of her attitude towards Martha?

1) She seemed disinterested in her.

2) She seemed concerned about her lack of qualifications.

3) She seemed to have taken a dislike to her.

4) She seemed eager to help her.

4 The writer tells us that Martha left the office feeling.

1) determined to find another occupation

2) angry with Mrs Buss

3) frustrated at her failure that day

4) worried that she would lose her job

5 Why did Martha go to see Mr Spur?

1) to help him out 2) to ask him for advice

3) to pay him a social call 4) to ask him for a job

6 How had Martha’s attitude towards her job changed by the following day?

1) She was starting to feel more enthusiastic∙about it.

2) She now realised she was lucky to have a job at all.

3) She had made her mind up to try harder.

4) She was now feeling more confident of her abilities.

7 Martha was given no more documents to type because.

1) she seemed to have been forgotten about

2) she was taking too long to type them

3) the standard of her work was poor

4) Mrs Buss preferred to do them herself

Задание 2

H. G. Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley. He claimed to have a very ordinary brain, but in fact he predicted air attacks and atomic bombs long before they existed. He took no pleasure in being right though. Instead it just added to his growing feeling of pessimism. His last book was Mind at the End of its Tether, a work full of despair. In his final year he spent his time painting a mural in his home which showed the process of evolution, ending with the figure of Man. Beneath this figure he wrote ‘Time to Go’.

Wells’ parents were, at various times, shopkeepers and servants. Wells was destined to become a shop assistant, but after suffering an accident as a child he was forced to spend a long time in bed. This period of inactivity gave him a love of reading which developed his imagination. Afterleavingschool he first worked in a curtain shop, then trained as a teacher and biologist, but after this decided to write books for a living. At the age of 27, working by candlelight in a room in Kent (his landlady complained he used too many candles), he wrote the book that made his name, The Time Machine. It is the story of an unnamed time traveller who meets strange people in the future and witnesses the end of the world. It was a great success with Victorian readers.

Wells went on to produce ‘scientific romances’ and short stories which were serialised in publications like the Strand Magazine. Many science fiction themes — aliens coming to earth, planetary disasters and so on — were dealt with in these early stories. Wells’ ability to create such original work was amazing. He turned everyday events into incredible fantasies: a conversation about colonialism became The War of the Worlds and a walk round London was turned into The Invisible Man. Some of the predictions made in his books included the use of aeroplanes and tanks in war, the rise of the middle class, the liberation of women and the need for a world state.

His own background gave him the basic materials for his best novels, which were realistic comedies of lower-middle-class life. In these he was at his peak as an artist. Though he continued to write novels, his talent as a fiction writer was gradually over-whelmed by his enthusiasm for scientific knowledge and social change. His idea was that civilisation was ‘a race between education and catastrophe’, and though the catastrophe of the First World Wardamaged his optimism, he continued to fight for social change.

Wells’ most important act is probably his least known. At the start of World War II, Wells produced a statement of human rights and formed a committee to work on this. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was published in many different languages and stimulated discussion worldwide. After the War, this document greatly influenced the wording of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

1	What made Wells become displeased in later life? 1) having an ordinary brain 2) making wrong predictions 3) being right about the future 4) being a pessimist
2	What type of work was Wells originally destined to do? 1) administration 2) writing 3) cleaning 4) sales
3	What helped his imagination to grow? 1) reading 2) Iisteningto his parents 3) making predictions 4) writing books
4	Wells’ first book_______ . 1) was based on his own experience 2) was written in London 3) was not interesting for readers 4) gained him popularity
5	What sort of stories did Wells write at first? 1) romantic 2) futuristic 3) war 4) mystery
6	Wells’ ‘incredible fantasies’ were developed from__________ 1) alien invasions of earth 2) exploring planets

3) ordinary incidents

4) scientific predictions

7 How did the First World War affect Wells?

1) It changed his writing style.

2) He became more hopeful.

3) He stopped writing novels.

4) He became less positive.

Задание 3

(By R. L. Stevenson)

Out I went into the night. The wind was still moaning in the distance, though never a breath of it came near the house of Shaws. It had fallen blacker than ever; and I was glad to feel along the wall, till I came the length of the stair-tower door at the far end of the unfinished wing. I had put the key into the keyhole and had just turned it, when all upon a sudden, without sound of wind or thunder, the whole sky lighted up with wild fire and went black again. I had to put my hand over my eyes to get back to the colour of the darkness; and indeed I was already half blinded when I stepped into the tower.

It was so dark inside but I pushed out with foot and hand, and presently struck the wall with the one, and the lowest step with the other. The wall, by the touch, was of fine hewn stone; the steps were steep and narrow. Minding my uncle’s word about the handrails, I kept close to the tower side and felt my way in the darkness with a beating heart.

The house of Shaws stood some five full storeys high, not counting lofts. Well, as I advanced, it seemed to me the air was getting fresher and the darkness began dispersing. I was Wonderingwhat might be the cause of this change, when a second blink of the summer lightning came and went. If I did not cry out, it was because fear had me by the throat; and if I did not fall, it was more by Heaven’s mercy than my own strength. A rapid flash was enough to notice that there were deep gaps between the tower wall and the stairs from both sides at that, and that one of my feet rested that moment within two inches of the gap.

This was the grand stair! A gust of a kind of angry courage came into my heart. My uncle had sent me here, certainly to run great risks, perhaps to die. I swore to find out if he had done that intentionally. The oath got me down upon my hands and knees; and as slowly as a snail, feeling before me every inch, and testing the solidity of every stone, I continued to ascend the stair.

The darkness, by contrast with the flash, appeared to have redoubled. A great stir of bats in the top part of the tower flying downwards sometimes beat about my face and body.

The tower, I should have said, was square; and in every comer the step was made of a great stone of a different shape to join the flights. Well, I had come close to one of these turns, when, feeling forward as usual, my hand slipped upon an edge and found nothing but emptiness beyond it. The stair had been carried no higher; to make a stranger climb it in the darkness was to send him straight to his death; and (although, thanks to the lightning and my own precautions, I was safe enough) the mere thought of the dreadful height I might have fallen from, brought out the sweat upon my body and relaxed my joints.

But I knew what I wanted now, and turned and groped my way down again, with a wonderful anger in my heart. About half-way down, the wind sprang up in a clap and shook the tower, the rain followed; and before I had reached the ground level it fell in buckets. I put out my head into the storm, and looked along towards the house. A blinding flash showed me my uncle plainly. He couldn’t see me but was seized on by a kind of panic fear. He ran into the house and left the door open behind him. I followed as softly as I could, and, coming unheard into the kitchen, stood and watched him.

1 The author was able to move along the wall in the darkness.

1) with the help of the wind

2) touching the wall with his hands

3) using a lantern

4) with the help of the handrails

2 The author put his hands over his eyes because.

1) the lightning was too bright and hurt his eyes

2) the lightning frightened him

3) something got into his eye

4) the wind was too strong

3 The author didn’t fall down in the dark tower.

1) due to his strength 2) due to the handrails

3) due to the lantern 4) just by a lucky chance

4 The author was going to find out

1) if his uncle wanted him to die

2) if his uncle wanted to help him

3) if his uncle was somewhere near him

4) if his uncle was crazy

5 The author had to turn back and descent the stair because.

1) bats frightened him

2) the darkness seemed to have redoubled

3) the steps were of different shape

4) the steps ended

6 Descending the stairs the author was full of.

1) curiosity 2) joy

3) rage 4) courage

7 The author went to the house.

1) hoping to hide there 2) wishing to get warm there

3) trying not to be noticed 4) trying to avoid a chase

Задание 4

(By E. L. Doctorow)

I was born on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side. I was the next to youngest of six children, two boys, four girls. The two boys, Harry and Willy, were the oldest. My father was a musician, a violinist. He always made a good living. He and my mother had met in Russia and they married there, and then emigrated. My mother came from a family of musicians as well; that is how, in the course of things, she and my father had met. Some of her cousins were very well known in Russia; one, a cellist, had even played for the Tsar. My mother was a very beautiful woman, petite, with long golden hair and the palest, blue eyes. My father used to say to us, ‘You think, you girls, you’re beautiful? You should have seen your mother when she and her sisters walked down the street in our village. Every head turned, they were so slim, their bearing so elegant.’ I suppose he did not want us to get conceited.

I was four when we moved up to the Bronx, a big apartment near Claremont Park. I was a good student, I went to primary school on Washington Avenue; when I was graduated from there I went to Morris High School. I completed all my courses and graduated, and reenrolled to take the program of commercial courses there and got enough credits to graduate all over again if I chose. I knew now how to type, how to keep books, I knew shorthand. I was very ambitious. I had paid for my own piano lessons by playing for silent movies. I watched the screen and improvised. My brother Harry or my father used to sit right behind me to see that nobody bothered me; movie houses were still primitive and they attracted a bad element. After my courses, I found a job as private secretary to a well-known businessman and philanthropist named Sigmund Unterberg. He had made his money in the shirt business and now spent a good deal of his time doing work for Jewish organizations, social welfare, that kind of thing.

I was a good secretary, Mr Unterberg would dictate a letter to me and I could take it right on the typewriter, without an error, and so when he was finished I was finished and the letter was ready for him to sign. He thought I was wonderful. His wife was a lovely woman and used to invite me to tea with them, to socialize with them. I suppose I was by now nineteen or twenty. They introduced me to one or two young men, but I never liked them.

I by now was interested in my future husband. We had known each other since high school. He was extremely handsome, dashing, he was a good athlete; in fact, that’s how I met him, on the tennis courts, there were clay courts on Morris Avenue and 170th Street and we were each playing there. You played tennis in long skirts in those days. I was a good tennis player, I loved sports, and that’s how we met. He walked me home.

My mother did not like Dave. She thought he was too wild. If I went out with another boy he would ruin the date. He would hang around outside our house even if we hadn’t arranged to do anything together and when he saw another boy coming to pick me up he’d do terrible things, he’d pick a fight, or stop us and talk when I was with this other boy. He would warn the other boys totreat me with respect or he would come after them.

1 The author had in her family.

1) four brothers and two sisters

2) four brothers and a sister

3) two brothers and three sisters

4) one brother and four sisters

2 Herfatherwas a musician and the children.

1) lived in poverty

2) had all that was necessary for living

3) seldom saw their father at home

4) dreamt of musical career

3 When the authorts father told the daughters about the beauty of their mother, he wanted them.

1) not to be very boastful of their prettiness

2) to be proud of their mother

3) to pay more attention to their appearance

4) to be confused

4 After school the author earned money.

1) typing 2) keeping books

3) doing shorthand 4) playingfor silent movies

Her brother and father used to be near her in the movie house in order

1) to protect her from bad guys

2) to assist her

3) to watch a new film

4) to make sure she wouldn’t be cheated

6Mr Unterberg’s wife was with the author.

1) hostile 2) rude

3) friendly 4) arrogant

7 The author’s mother did not like Dave because

1) he was silly

2) he was hot-tempered

3) he came from a poor family

4) he was rude

Задание 5

The dinner party

By Nickolas Monsarrat

A full thirty years ago, I myself was fifteen. That is not really important, though it was important to me at the time, on the threshold of superb adult world. More important to this story, my uncle Octavian was then a rich man.

He was a charming host whose villa on the Riviera was an accepted meeting of the great. And he was a hospitable, contented, and most amiable man — until January 3rc^, 1925.

There was nothing special about that day in the life of my uncle Octavian, except that it was his fifty-fifth birthday. As usual on such day, he was giving a dinner party, a party for twenty people. All of them were old friends. I, myself, aged fifteen, was deeply privileged, I was Stayingwith my uncle at his exquisite villa, and as a special concession on this happy day, I was allowed to come down to dinner. It was exciting to me to be admitted to such company, which included a newspaper proprietor and his fabulous American wife; a recent prime minister of France and a Habsburg prince and princess of exceptional eloquence.

At that age, on holiday from school, you will guess that I was staggered. Even today, thirty years later, one may fairly admit that the company was distinguished. But I should also stress that they were all old and intimate friends of my uncle Octavian.

Towards the end of a wonderful dinner when dessert had been brought in and the servants had left, my uncle learnt forward to admire a magnificent diamond ring on the princess’ hand.

Across the table the newspaper proprietor leant across and said: ‘May I also have a look, Therese?’ She smiled and nodded. Then she took off the ring and held it out to him. There exclamations of delight and admiration. The ring was passed from hand to hand.

It was some twenty minutes later when the princess stood up, giving the signal to the ladies to withdraw. She looked round us with a pleasant smile. Then she said: ‘Before we leave you, may I have my ring back?’

I remember my uncle Octavian murmuring: ‘Ah, yes — that wonderful ring!’ Then there was a pause while each of us looked expectantly at his neighbor. Then there was an aggravating silence. The princess was still smiling, though less easily. She was unused to asking for things twice.

When no one responded and the silence continued I still thought that it could only be a practical joke and that one of us — probably the prince himself — would produce the ring with a laugh, perhaps chiding her for her nonchalance. But when nothing happened at all, I knew that the rest of the night would be wretched.

I am sure that you can guess the sort of scene that followed. There was the dismay, immediate and shattering, of the guests — all of them old and intimate friends. There was the freezing politeness of the prince, the near-tears of the princess. There were the demands to be searched, the overturning of chairs, the minute scrutiny of the carpet, and then the whole room.

All these things happened, but they didn’t bring the princess’ ring back again. It had vanished. Uncle Octavian’s face was pale and tremendously tense, as if he had been dealt a mortal blow. No servants had entered the room. No one had left it for a moment. The thief was one of us; one of my uncle Octavian’s cherished friends.

J The author tells us a story which happened.

1) at his dinner party 2) at his fifteenth birthday party

3) at his uncle’s birthday party 4) at his uncle’s friends’ villa

2 This event absolutely changed.

1) the princess’s life 3) the author’s life	2) the uncle’s life 4) the friends’ lives
3	That day the author felt________ . 1) a bit nervous 3) a little worried	2) very unconfident 4) enough mature
4	The uncle’s villa was________ . 1) in modem style 3) in the suburb	2) tastefully made 4) of huge size
5	One of the guests wanted_________ . 1) to thank the uncle for dinner 3) to joke with princess	2) to talk to the princess 4) to examine the princess’ ring
6 7	The princess went on smiling because__________ . 1) it was funny joke 2) she tried to show good manners 3) she was afraid 4) she gave the signal that way The ring vanished because. 1) one of the uncle’s friend stole it. 2) the servant stole it 3) it was lost in the room 4) the princess lost it in the room

Задание 6

(from ’Taking the veil’ by Katherine Mansfield)

It seemed impossible that anyone should be unhappy on such a beautiful morning. Nobody was, decided Edna, except herself. The windows were flung wide in the houses. From within there came the sound of pianos, little hands chased after each other and ran away from each other, practicing scales. The trees fluttered in the sunny gardens, all bright with spring flowers. Street boys whistled, a little dog barked; people passed by, walking so lightly, so swiftly, they looked as though they wanted to break into a run. Now she actually saw in the distance a parasol (=an umbrella which protects from the sun), peach — coloured, the first parasol of the year.

Perhaps even Edna did not look quite as unhappy as she felt. It is not easy to look tragic at eighteen, when you are extremely pretty, with the cheeks and lips and shining eyes of perfect health. Above all, when you are wearing a French blue frock and your new spring hat trimmed with cornflowers. True, she carried under her arm a book bound in horrid black leather. Perhaps the book provided a gloomy note, but only by accident; it was the ordinary Library binding. For Edna had made going to the Library an excuse for getting out of the house to think, to realize what had happened, to decide somehow what was to be done.

An awful thing had happened. Quite suddenly, at the theatre last night, when she and Jimmy were seating side by side in the dress-circle, without a moment’s warning — in fact, she had just finished a chocolate almond and passed the box to him again — she had fallen in love with an actor. But — fallen in — love…

The feeling was unlike anything she had ever imagined before. It wasn’t in the least pleasant. It was hardly thrilling. It was — really, it was absolutely — oh, the most — it was simply — in fact, from that moment Edna knew that life could never be the same. She drew her hand away from Jimmy’s leaned back, and shut the chocolate box forever. This at last was love.

Edna and Jimmy were engaged. She had had her hair up for a year and a half; they had been publicly engaged for a year. But, they had known they were going to marry each other ever since they walked in the Botanical Gardens with their nurses, and sat on the grass with a wine biscuit and a piece of barley — sugar each for their tea. It was so much an accepted thing that Edna had worn a wonderfully good imitation of an engagement-ring out of a cracker all the time she was at school. And up till now they had been devoted to each other.

But now it was over. It was so completely over that Edna found it difficult to believe that Jimmy did not realize it too. How much better to know it now than to wait until after they were married! Now it was possible that Jimmy would get over it. No, it was no use deceiving herself; he would never get over it! His life was wrecked, was ruined; that was inevitable. But he was young…

1 It was wonderful spring day.

1) Edna felt very exciting.

2) Edna thought everyone was sad.

3) everyone was happy besides Edna.

4) everybody was happy.

2 she was very nice girl.

1) In spite of her sadness

2) Because of her up-to-date clothes

3) Thank for good weather

4) Because of her age

3 Edna went out because she.

1) wanted to understand herself.

2) was going to the library.

3) borrowed a book from the library.

4) had decided to do it before.

4 The feeling of love was for Edna.

1) familiar 2) absolutely new

3) unpleasant 4) enjoyable

5 What was the relationship between Edna and Jimmy?

1) Edna had known Jimmy since childhood

2) Edna and Jimmy had been married for a year

3) Edna and Jimmy had loved each other for year and a half

4) Edna had broken up with Jimmy

6 Edna thought.

1) Jimmy understood everything 2) Jimmy suspected her

3) Jimmy couldn’t believe her 4) Jimmy noticed nothing

7 Edna worried that her behavior.

1) would break the engagement

2) would ruin him

3) could finish their relationship

4) could be taken by him easily

Задание 7

The Pot of Gold

(an extract from The Pot of Gold by H. Melville)

Ralph worked nights on a plan that promised him a well-paying job in Texas, but through no fault of his own this promise was never realized. In the third year of his marriage with Laura, a firm that was almost identical in size and character with the firm Ralph worked for underwent a change of ownership, and Ralph was approached and asked if he would be interested in joining the overhauled firm. His own job promised only meager security after a series of slow promotions and he was glad of the chance to escape. He met the new owners, and their enthusiasm for him seemed intense. They were prepared to put him in charge of a department and pay him twice what he was getting then. The arrangement was to remain tacit for a month or two, until the new owners had secured their position, but they shook hands warmly and had a drink on the deal, and that night Ralph took Laura out to dinner at an expensive restaurant.

They decided to look for a larger apartment, to have a child and to buy a secondhand car. They faced their good fortune with perfect calm, for it was what they had expected all along. The city seemed to them a generous place, where people were rewarded either by a sudden and deserved development like this or by the capricious bounty of lawsuits, eccentric and peripheral business ventures, unexpected legacies and other windfalls.

He was twenty-eight years old; poverty and youth were inseparable in his experience, and one was ending with the other. The life they were about to leave had not been hard, and he thought with sentiment of the soiled tablecloth in the Italian restaurant where they usually went for their celebrations, and the high spirits with which Laura on a wet night ran from the subway to the bus stop. But they were drawing away from all this. Shirt sales in department — store basements, lines at meat counters, weak drinks, the roses he brought her up from the subway in the spring, when roses were cheap — these were all unmistakably the souvenirs of the poor, and though they seemed to him good and gentle, he was glad that they would soon be memories.

The reorganization and Ralph’s new position hung fire, but they talked about it freely when with friends. ‘All we need is patience,’ Laura would say. There were many delays and postponements, and they waited with the patience of people expecting justice. He decided to telephone his potential employers. Their secretary told him they were both out. This made him apprehensive. He called several times from the telephone booth in the lobby of the building he worked in and was told that they were busy, they were out, they were at conference with lawyers, or they were talking long-distance. This variety of excuses frightened him. He said nothing to Laura that evening and tried to call them the next day. Late in the afternoon, after many tries, one of them came to the phone. ‘We gave the job to somebody else’ he said. Like a saddened father, he spoke to Ralph in a hoarse and gentle voice. ‘Don’t try to get us on the telephone any more. We’ve got other things to do besides answer the telephone. This other fellow seemed better suited. That’s all I can tell you, and don’t try to get me on the telephone any more.’

1 What type of firm was Ralph offered a job in?

1) Same type as the previous job. 2) Overhauled firm.

3) Identicalinsize. 4) Security firm.

2 Ralph decided to accept the job offer because.

	1) he would have been given a reward 2) he would have been given a promotion 3) he wanted to escape boredom 4) the owners were very enthusiastic
3	Ralph and Laura looked forward to the new position________ 1) with excitement 2) with dreams about this challenging job 3) with indifference 4) with the feeling that they deserved it
4	Ralph bought Laura roses because_________ . 1) they were her favourite flowers 2) they were cheap 3) they were sold nearby 4) he liked them
5	According to the author________ . 1) Ralph didn’t want to leave the life he led 2) Ralph regretted his departure 3) Their life was full of pleasant things 4) Ralph was eager to escape but was sentimental
6	What was Laura reaction at delays of the new position? 1) She telephoned the employers. 2) She was patient. 3) She was worried. 4) She kept silent about it.
7	The new owners’ attitude to Ralph_________ . 1) remained as enthusiastic as before 2) was sympathetic 3) changed with time 4) was rude

Задание 8

(By S. Maugham)

Susie felt it impossible to stay in the deserted studio any longer, and accepted a friend’s invitation to spend the winter in Italy. Margaret had not written to her, and she could not make herself write to her. In Rome Susie had news of Oliver Haddo and his wife. They had spent some time there, and the little English circle was still talking of their eccentricities. Oliver Haddo had excited attention by the extravagance of his costume and manner; and Margaret by her beauty. She was seen in her box at the opera every night, and her diamonds were the envy of all women. But suddenly the pair had disappeared without saying a word to anybody. It was reported that they were now in Monte Carlo.

Susie had intended to pass the spring on the Riviera, but when she heard that the Haddos were there, she hesitated. She did not want to run the risk of seeing them, and yet she had a strong desire to find out exactly how things were going. At last curiosity won and she went to Monte Carlo. After two or three days she saw them at the tables, but they were so absorbed in their game that they did not notice her. Margaret was playing, but Haddo stood behind her and directed her movements. Susie was unable to recognize in her the girl who had been her friend. What struck her most was that there was in Margaret’s expression an extraordinary likeness to Haddo’s. In spite of her beauty, she had Oliver’s evil look which suggested that she saw with his eyes.

They had won great sums that evening. Taking up the money, Haddo touched her on the shoulder, and she followed him.

Susie learned that the Haddos had rooms at the most expensive of the hotels. They knew few English except those who had bad reputations, but seemed to prefer the society of those foreigners whose wealth and eccentricities made them the centre of that little world. Margaret moved among all those odd people with a cold mysteriousness that excited everybody’s curiosity. Oliver’s eccentric imagination invented whimsical festivities and orgies that were held in the dark sitting-room of the hotel. He wanted to revive the mystical ceremonies of old religions imitating those he had seen in Eastern places.

No one understood his true relations with his wife, and it was said that he was sometimes very cruel to her. Susie’s heart sank when she heard this; but several times when she saw Margaret, she seemed in the highest spirits. Then the same thing that had happened in Rome happened here again; they suddenly disappeared.

Susie had not been to London for some time, and as the spring advanced she remembered that her friends had invited her. Though she would not confess it to herself, her desire to see Arthur was the strongest of her motives. She knew that he would never care for her, but she was glad to be his friend.

In London she wrote to Arthur, and he invited her to the opera. Susie was terrified at the change that had taken place in him. He looked ten years older, he had lost weight, and his hair was white. But what most struck her was the change of his expression. The look of pain which she had seen on his face that last evening in the studio has now become settled, so that it changed its countenance. He was more silent than ever, and when he spoke, it was a strange low voice that seemed to come from a long way off.

]Margaret’s was (were) the envy of all women.

1) beautiful voice 2) handsome husband

3) sense of humour 4) wealth and beauty

2 Susie learnt some details about the Haddo’s life.

1) from newspapers 2) from common friends

3) from Margaret’s letters 4) from different people

3 Thinking of possibility to meet Margaret Susie.

1) was excited

2) had controversial feelings

3) felt curiosity

4) was frightened

4 Susie was struck to see that Margaret.

1) had not changed at all

2) had got many features of her husband

3) looked unhappy

4) did not recognize her

5 When Susie heard that Haddo was sometimes very cruel to Margaret

1) she got upset

2) she felt satisfaction

3) she thought it was a lie

4) she could not believe it

6 Susie went to London because she.

1) was eager to see Arthur

2) was afraid of meeting Arthur

3) knew Arthur needed her help

4) wanted to tell Arthur about the Haddos

7 SeeingArthur Susie could understand easily that

1) he was satisfied with his life

2) he was quite a happy man

3) he had been suffering much

4) he was not glad to see Susie

Задание 9

(By Oliver Burkeman)

Be positive, look on the bright side, stay focused on success: so goes our modern mantra. But perhaps the true path to contentment is to learn to be a loser.

In an unremarkable business park outside the city of Ann Arbor, in Michigan, stands a touching memorial to humanity’s shattered dreams. It doesn’t look like that from the outside, though. Even when you get inside — what members of the public rarely do — it takes a few moments for your eyes to adjust to what you’re seeing. It appears to be a vast and haphazardly organised supermarket; along every aisle, grey metal shelves are crammed with thousands of packages of food and household products. There is something unusually cacophonous about the displays, and soon enough you work out the reason: unlike in a real supermarket, there is only one of each item. And you won’t find many of them in a real supermarket anyway: they are failures, products withdrawn from sale after a few weeks or months, because almost nobody wanted to buy them. In the product-design business, the storehouse has acquired a nickname: the Museum of Failed Products.

By far the most striking thing about the museum, though, is that it should exist as a viable, profit-making business in the first place. Most surprising of all is that many of the designers who have found their way to the museum have come there to examine — or been surprised to discover — products that their own companies had created, then abandoned. They were apparently so averse to dwelling on the unpleasant business of failure that they had neglected even to keep samples of their own disasters.

Failure is everywhere. It’s just that most of the time we’d rather avoid Confrontingthat fact.

Behind all of the most popular modern approaches to happiness and success is the simple philosophy of focusing on things going right. And that it is our constant quest to eliminate or to ignore the negative — insecurity, uncertainty, failure, sadness — that causes us to feel so insecure, anxious, uncertain or unhappy in the first place.

Yet this conclusion does not have to be depressing. Instead, it points to an alternative approach: a ‘negative path’ to happiness that entails taking a radically different stance towards those things most of us spend our lives trying hard to avoid. This involves learning to enjoy uncertainty, embracing insecurity and becoming familiar with failure. In order to be truly happy, it turns out, we might actually need to be willing to experience more negative emotions — or, at the very least, to stop running quite so hard from them.

Another problem with our Reluctance Is that it leads to an utterly distorted picture of the causes of success.

Fortunately, developing a healthier approach to failure may be easier than you’d think. The work of the Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck suggests that our experiences of failure are influenced by the beliefs we hold about the nature of talent and ability — and that we can encourage ourselves towards a better outlook. Perfectionism Is one of those traits that many people seem secretly, or not-so-secretly, proud to possess, since it hardly seems like a character flaw. Yet, at bottom, it is a fear-driven striving to avoid the experience of failure at all costs. At the extremes, it is an exhausting and permanently stressful way to live. To fully embrace the experience of failure, not merely to tolerate it as a stepping stone to glory, is to abandon this constant straining never to put a foot wrong — and to relax.

1 If you get inside the Museum of Failed Products you.

1) can buy different kinds of food and household products

2) can see products which have not been in demand

3) can see products which are popular among customers

4) can exchange unnecessary goods for something useful products

2 The main difference of the Museum of Failed Products from an ordinary supermarket is.

1) that only one of each food and household products is presented there

2) that along every aisle, grey metal shelves are crammed with thousands of packages of food and household products

3) that the items are arranged according different categories there

4) that the aisles are too long there

3 Many of the designers who visited the museum were surprised because

1) they examined rare samples of goods there

2) they met their competitors there

3) they found a calm environment in the aisles

4) they saw the unsuccessful products created by them

4 According to author’s opinion, people tend to.

1) discuss their future

2) ignore their successful moments

3) concentrate on their success and achievements

4) feel insecure and anxious in the Museum of Failed Products

5 What alternative approach does the author suggest?

1) He advises to Ieam how to be uncertain and insecure and to take pleasure of it.

2) He recommends avoiding negative emotions.

3) He offers to use special technologies to forget negative emotions.

4) He suggests doing psychological tests.

6 What does the word Reluctance refer to?

1) reluctance to help people who failed

2) reluctance to think about or analyse failure

3) reluctance to think about or analyse the causes of success

4) reluctance to attend special help

7 In the article Perfectionism is considered as.

1) a trait of character which helps us to relax

2) a trait of character people should be proud of

3) a way of life which leads to the avoidance of failures

4) a way of life everyone should follow

Задание 10

(By S. Maugham)

Margaret Dauncey lived in an art studio near the Boulevard Montpamasse with Susie Boyd. Susie was eager to see Arthur. She had heard a great deal about the young man and knew about his romance with Margaret. For years Susie had led the monotonous life of a teacher in a school for young ladies, and when Margaret, who had been her pupil, told her of her intention to spend a couple of years in Paris to study art, Susie willingly agreed to accompany her. With almost maternal pride Susie watched how each year added new charm to Margaret’s extraordinary beauty. She was proud to think that she would hand over to Arthur Burdon a woman whose character she had helped to form.

Susie Boyd was thirty but she looked older. She was not pretty but her face was so kind, her sense of humour so attractive that no one after ten minutes thought of her ugliness. Her taste was so good, her talent for dressing so remarkable that she was able to make the most of herself. It was due to her influence that Margaret was dressed always in the latest fashion.

There was a knock at the door, and Arthur came in.

’This is the fairy prince,’ said Margaret, leading him to her friend.

’I’m glad to see you to thank you for all you’ve done for Margaret,’ he smiled, taking Susie’s hand.

While Margaret was preparing tea, his eyes followed her movements with a touching doglike devotion. Margaret felt that he was looking at her and turned round. Their eyes met and they stood some time gazing at each other silently.

’Don’t be a pair of perfect idiots,’ exclaimed Susie gaily. ’I’m dying for my tea.’

The iovers laughed and blushed. Margaret smiled with happy pride. For all her good nature, Susie could not help feeling a pang of jealousy: for she was also capable of love but no one had ever tried to find it. No one had ever whispered in her ear the charming nonsense that she read in books. She knew that she had no beauty to help her and she was not young any longer but her instinct told her that she was made to be a good wife and the mother of children.

’What a fool I am!’ thought Susie.

When Margaret had closed the door on Arthur, she turned to Susie.

’Well, what do you think of him?’ she asked smiling.

Susie hesitated for a moment.

’You know, before Γd seen him I hoped with all my heart that he would make you happy. I was afraid. I knew he was much older than you. He was the first man you’d ever met. But now, when I saw him, I hope with all my heart that you’d make him happy. It’s not you Γm frightened for now but him.’

Margaret did not answer; she could not understand what Susie meant.

’I don’t think you can realise how awfully he may suffer. Be very careful, Margaret, and be very good to him, for you can make him more unhappy than any human being can be.’

’Oh, but I want him to be happy,’ cried Margaret. ’I’ll do all I can to make him happy.’

Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke. Susie, with a little laugh that was half hysterical, kissed her.

’My dear, for Heaven’s sake, don’t cry.’

1 Susie treated Margaret as if Margaret were.

1) her daughter

2) her rival

3) her enemy

4) her mother

2 Margaret’s charm and good character were in part.

1) the merit of Susie 2) the merit of Arthur

3) the merit of art 4) the merit of mutual love

3 The sentence ‘she was able to make the most of herself’ means

1) that Susie suffered from her ugliness

2) that Susie envied Margaret

3) that Susie was able to show off her advantages

4) that Susie was able to earn a lot of money

4 While Margaret was preparing tea.

1) Arthur and Susie were talking about Margaret

2) Arthur and Susie were talking about Margaret’s dog

3) Arthur could not take his eyes from his bride

4) Susie tried to entertain Arthur with a small talk

5 Looking at Arthur and Margaret Susie.

1) felt a slight envy

2) remembered her first love

3) hoped that Margaret would be a good wife and mother

4) felt she was not capable of love

6 After Arthur had gone Margaret was eager to.

1) meet Arthur again

2) know Susie’s opinion about Arthur

3) know Arthur’s opinion about Susie

4) marry Arthur

7 Susie was afraid that.

1) Arthur was too old for Margaret

2) Margaret could make Arthur unhappy

3) Margaret was too young for marriage

4) Arthur was insincere

Задание 11

This expedition began this morning almost an hour later than I had planned, despite my having completed my packing and loaded the Ford with all necessary items well before eight o’clock. What with Mrs Clements and the girls also gone for the week, I suppose I was very conscious of that once I departed, Darlington Hall would stand empty for probably the first time this century — perhaps for the first time since the day it was built. It was an odd feeling and perhaps accounts for why I delayed my departure so long, wandering around the house many times over, checking one time all was in order.

It is hard to explain my feelings once I did finally set off. For the first twenty minutes or so of motoring, I cannot say I was seized by any excitement or anticipation at all. This was due, no doubt to the fact that though I motored further and further from the house, continued to find myself in surroundings with which I had at least a passing acquaintance. Now I had always supposed I travelled very little, restricted as I am by my responsibilities in the house, but of course, over time one does make various excursions for one professional reason or another, and it would seem I become much more acquainted with those neighbouring districts than I had realised. For as I say I motored on in the sunshine towards the Berkshire border, I continued to be surprised by familiarity of the country around me.

But then eventually the surroundings grew unrecognizable and I knew I had gone beyond all previous boundaries. I have heard people describe the moment, when setting sail in a ship, when one loses sight of the land. I imagine the experience of unease mixed with exhilaration often described in connection with this moment is very similar to what I felt in the Ford as the surroundings strange to me. I took a turning and found myself on a road curving round the edge of a hill. I could sense the steep drop to my left, though could not see it due to the trees and thick foliage that lined the roadside. The feeling swept over me that I had truly left Darlington Hall behind, and I must confess I did feel a slight sense of alarm — a sense aggravated by the feeling that I was perhaps not I on the correct road at all, but speeding off in totally wrong direction into a wilderness. It was only the feeling of a moment, but it caused me to slow down. And even when I had assured myself I was on the right road, I felt compelled to stop the car a moment to take stock, as it were.

I decided to step out and stretch my legs a little and when I did so, I received a stronger impression than ever of being perched on the side of a hill. On the one side of the road, thickets and small trees rose sharply, while on the other I could now glimpse through the foliage the distant countryside.

I believe I had walked a little way along the roadside, peering through the foliage hoping to a better view, when I heard a voice behind me. Until this point, of course, I had believed myself quite alone and I turned in some surprise. A little way further up the road on the opposite side, I could see the start of a footpath, which disappeared sharply up into the thickets. Sitting on the large stone marked this spot was a thin, white-haired man in a cloth cap, smoking his pipe. Не called to me and though I could not quite make out his words, I could see him gesturing for me to join a moment. I took him for a vagrant, but then I saw he was just some local fellow enjoying the air and summer sunshine, and saw no reason not to comply.

J____ The writer set out on his journey later than planned because.

1) packing his belongings took longer than expected

2) there was no one to help him get everything ready

3) he was exciting about leaving the house

4) he repeatedly inspected the house

2 What did the writer realise as he drove further away from the house?

1) How well he knew the local area.

2) How busy he had become.

3) How little he had travelled.

4) How many trips he’d made for his job.

3 The writer uses the phrase ‘I had gone beyond all previous boundaries’ (page 60, line 16), to mean that.

1) he now felt that there was no turning back

2) he had entered an area that was new to him

3) he had crossed the border into a different county

4) he now had no idea where he was going

4 The writer compares his journey to the beginning of a sea voyage because.

1) his feelings matched those he imagines people experiencing on a sea voyage

2) it reminds him of a sea voyage he once went on

3) he remembers feeling as if he was ’sailing’ into the unknown

4) his surroundings were unfamiliar, just as on a sea voyage

5 What caused the writer to start driving more slowly?

1) The road had become steep and winding.

2) He suddenly realised he was driving too fast.

3) He began to feel panic, making it difficult to drive.

4) He suddenly feared that he might have got lost.

6 Where was the old man that the writer came across?

1) directly behind the writer

2) at the side of the road looking out from the bushes

3) in some trees at the top of a hill

4) at the start of a footpath

7 All in all, what seemed to be the writer’s attitude to his trip?

1) He regretted having started it.

2) He felt unable to continue it.

3) He had mixed feelings about it.

4) He just wanted to get it over with.

Задание 12

(By A. Conan Doyle)

Of all the sciences which interested people, none had such an attraction for the learned professor von Baumgarten as psychology and the relations between mind and matter. By experiments which lasted over 20 years he obtained facts upon which he intended to build up a new science which would embrace mesmerism (гипнотизм), spiritualism and all related subjects. In this he was much helped by his profound knowledge of physiology which explains the work of the brain, for Alexis von Baumgarten was professor of Physiology at the University of Keinplatz and had a laboratory to help him in his profound researches.

Professor von Baumgarten was popular among the students, who often gathered round him after his lectures and listened enthusiastically to his strange theories. He often called for volunteers from them in order to conduct some experiments. So there was hardly a fellow in the class who had not, at one time or another, been thrown into a mesmeric trance by his Professor.

Among all his students there was none who could be compared in enthusiasm with Fritz von Hartmann. He was a clever fellow. Months before he had given his heart to young Elise, the blue-eyed daughter of the Professor. Although she was not indifferent to him either, he had never dared to propose to her. So it would have been difficult for him to see his young lady if he had not made himself useful to the Professor. By this means he frequently was asked to the old man’s house, where he willingly agreed to be experimented upon in any way in the hope of receiving one glance from Elise or one touch of her little hand.

To tell the truth, Fritz had a bad record in Keinplatz. Never was there a scandal or a duel in which the young student wouldn’t take the most active part. No one used more free and violent language, no one drank more, no one played cards more habitually than he. No wonder that the Professor’s wife did not like his presence in the house. As to the Professor, he was too much busy with his strange studies to form a definite opinion of the student.

For many years there was one question which had especially interested the Professor. A hundred times a day he asked himself whether it was possible for the human spirit to exist apart from the body for some time and then to return to it once again. There were many things which made him believe that it was possible. At last it occurred to him that by a daring and original experiment the question could be definitely decided.

One day Fritz von Hartmann came to the Professor.

‘I know, Professor, that you want to do some wonderful experiment in which you hope to take a man’s soul out of his body and then put it back again. Is it so?’

‘It is true, Fritz.’

‘And don’t you think that you may have some difficulties in finding someone on whom to try this? Suppose, that the soul went out and wouldn’t come back. Who will take the risk?’

‘But, Fritz,’ cried out the Professor, ‘I had relied upon your assistance. I am sure you will not desert me.’

‘Then listen,’ said Fritz solemnly. ‘If you give your word that after this experiment I may have the hand of your daughter, then I agree to assist you; but if not, I shall have nothing to do with it. These are my terms.’

1 Professor von Baumgarten was mostly attracted by.

1) physics

2) physiology

3) psychology

4) spiritualism

2 The students at the University of Keinplatz.

1) often missed the Professor’s lectures

2) often helped him in his experiments

3) were afraid of his experiments

4) knew nothing about the Professor’s researches.

3 Fritz was always ready to take part in the Professor’s experiments

1) because he wanted to learn more about it

2) because he wanted to get closer to the Professor’s daughter

3) because he wanted to get a good mark at the exam

4) because he wanted to steal the Professor’s notes

4 The Professor’s wife did not like Fritz because___________ .

1) he had a bad reputation

2) he was poor

	3) he was too old for Elise 4) he was a foreigner
5	The Professor’s daughter Elise_________ . 1) liked Fritz 2) didn’t know Fritz 3) was indifferent to Fritz 4) avoided Fritz
6	It was difficult_______ to conduct the Professor’s experiment. 1) to get a permission 2) to find time 3) to find a place 4) to find an assistant
7	The Professor’s experiment was_________ . 1) very expensive 2)secret 3) dangerous 4) a losing game