Learn English

Master English listening, reading, and grammar with comprehensive practice exercises.

Listening (Part 2)Aim: to prepare the student for Task 5 (Listening for gist) of the Listening part.Read the statements at first. Mind the keywords.Listenforinformation,notseparatewords.Ifyoudon'tknowtheanswer,makeanintelligentguess.Are you ready to start?Listen to five people A - E and choose the correct sentence for each speaker. There is one extra sentence you do not need to useВы готовите тематическую радиопередачу с высказываниями пяти разных людей, обозначенных буквами А, В, С, D, Е. Подберите к каждому высказыванию соответствующую его содержанию рубрику из списка 1–6. Используйте каждую рубрику из списка только один раз. В списке есть одна лишняя рубрика. Вы услышите запись дважды. 1. Uniforms worn by people of different professions.D2. Practical clothes for different activities. B3. Uniforms for professional sportsmen. Ex4. The advantages of school uniform. C5. His shopping experience. E6. The disadvantages of school uniform. A Transcript Speaker AMy parents often say it's good to have school uniforms. I don't agree with them. I think school uniforms make us look all the same. It's a bit boring to wear the same clothes every day, isn't it? We cannot even change the colour. My uniform, for example, is blue. I know that this colour doesn't suit me, but I have to wear it anyway. Besides, the uniform can be very uncomfortable. In some weather you feel too hot in it and sometimes you feel too cold.Speaker BI don't think about fashion too much, I think comfort is more important. That's why my favourite clothes are jeans, t-shirts and jumpers. I feel very comfortable wearing them and don't have to change too often. Jeans and t-shirts are appropriate everywhere. I can go to a picnic and to a party, do cycling and play volleyball. Your footwear should be comfortable too. That's why my choice is trainers or light tennis shoes. I can't understand people who buy special clothes for every occasion.Speaker CWherever I go, I want to look nice and appropriate. Usually it takes time and effort to decide what to wear and to choose clothes that go with each other. Luckily, I don't have this problem every morning. My school has a uniform. All I need to do is to keep my uniform clean and tidy. School is not a fashion show. We need to concentrate on learning, not on what we're wearing.Speaker DMost students do not like wearing school uniform very much, but uniforms are not only for children. Lots of people wear them and for very serious reasons. For example, policemen need to be distinguished from the crowd at once, because others go to them for help and defence. Firefighters wear special clothes that protect them from heat and fire and make them recognisable to each other, which is necessary to work as a team.Speaker EI enjoy wearing nice and fashionable clothes and I don't like wearing the same clothes all the time. Last week, I decided that I needed new jeans, but there was no time to go to the shop. I was very busy at school, as it's exam time. A friend of mine recommended buying the jeans in an Internet shop and it took seconds. However, when I got the parcel, I felt really disappointed. The jeans were two sizes too big. Reading (Part 2)Aim: to prepare the student for tasks 13—19 (Reading for specific information) of the Reading part.Read the text carefully.Find answers to the questions in the text.The questions are presented in the same order as the information in the text.You have 15 minutes to complete this task.Прочитайте текст. Определите, какие из приведённых утверждений 13—19 соответствуют содержанию текста (1 — True), какие не соответствуют (2 — False) и о чём в тексте не сказано, то есть на основании текста нельзя дать ни положительного, ни отрицательного ответа (3 — Not stated). В поле ответа запишите одну цифру, которая соответствует номеру правильного ответа. ‘The 1900 House’‘The 1900 House’ was a reality television programme in Britain. It took people back a hundred years to the time of Queen Victoria, when there were no computers, mobile phones or the Internet. The idea of the show was to give people an experience of living in the past.A modern family, the Bowler family, spent three months living like people at the beginning of the 20th century. There were the parents (Paul and Joyce) and their four children (three daughters and a son). The cameras recorded them every day. The house didn't have a telephone, a fridge, a TV set or even central heating. The Bowlers wore clothes from 1900 and ate the food that existed in England at that time. There wasn't much to choose from. The main dishes on the table were meat and fish, and the day usually started with a cup of tea and porridge.The father of the family, Paul Bowler, still went to work but in an old-fashioned uniform. He couldn't read newspapers or use a computer. The mother, Joyce, became a housewife and stayed home. She did all the cleaning, washing and cooking. The children still went to school, but they changed their clothes on the way to and from school so their classmates wouldn’t know anything about this unusual project.The Bowlers noticed that life at the beginning of the century was much slower. It was rather hard for them to get used to the new speed. For example, it took 28 minutes to boil water and make a cup of tea. And can you imagine cleaning the house without a vacuum cleaner or washing clothes without a washing machine? There wasn't any toothpaste or modern shampoo. Without central heating nobody thought about a warm bath or a shower in the morning. Toothbrushes were made of pig and horse hair. Toothpaste was expensive so most people cleaned their teeth using salt or soda. The children thought it was horrible.11-year-old Hilary said: "The most difficult thing was finding entertainment. We couldn't go to the cinema or to a café. It was a new experience to be with the family for half a day or more. It was new and hard to be nice to each other all the time. But I really think we all became closer."17-year-old Kathryn remembered that she couldn't wear any make-up. She had to wear a corset every day and had only three sets of clothes: one to wear every day, the second— to wear while cleaning, and the third was for special events, like celebrations.When the show was over the Bowlers were asked: what did you miss most from the modern world? The father said it was a hot shower. The mother had longed to have a quick cup of tea. The daughters said it was the music, the hot water, shampoo and “normal sounds like the washing machine” which they missed. For the son it was pizza and the computer.It's interesting that the family was allowed to keep anything they wanted after the project. Joyce took her corset and each of the children took something from the house to remind them of their experience.‘The 1900 House’ is a TV programme about Queen Victoria’s life.13. ‘The 1900 House’ is a TV programme about Queen Victoria’s life. 21) True2) False3) Not stated14. There were only two rooms and a kitchen in the house. 31) True2) False3) Not stated15. During the project Mr Bowler learnt the news from the newspapers. 21) True2) False3) Not stated16. The children had to miss their school classes because of the project. 21) True2) False3) Not stated17. Because of the project Hilary had to spend more time with her family. 11) True2) False3) Not stated18. During the project it was difficult for the Bowler’s boy to live without his computer. 31) True2) False3) Not stated19. After the project the family bought a new house. 31) True2) False3) Not stated Grammar (the use of eEnglish) Aim: to prepare the student for tasks 20—28 of the Use of English part.Fill in all the gaps.Read the text again to make sure you have chosen the right forms for the words in the gaps.Прочитайте приведенный ниже текст. Преобразуйте слова, напечатанные заглавными буквами в конце строк, обозначенных номерами 20—28 так, чтобы они грамматически соответствовали содержанию текста. Заполните пропуски полученными словами. Каждый пропуск соответствует отдельному заданию 20—28. It was holiday time and Kevin could allow himself to sleep till late. When he woke (WAKE) up, it was late morning. Kevin looked through the window. His granddad was planting (PLANT) something in the small garden in front of the house. A couple of large white butterflies (BUTTERFLY) were flying beside him. Kevin put on his shorts and a T-shirt and went off to his granddad. “If you go on sleeping till midday, you will miss(MISS) the whole summer,” said the old man. Kevin laughed and hugged him: “Don’t worry. It’s only the fourth (FOUR) day of my holidays. I still have two weeks ahead.” “Right,” agreed the grandfather, “And tomorrow we are going fishing. It means you need to get up at five in the morning.” Kevin made a face but didn't protest(NOT / PROTEST). The next morning, at dawn, the grandfather shook Kevin’s shoulder. When the boy opened his eyes, the old man gave him (HE) two fishing rods. “They are both yours,” said the grandfather, “They are made (MAKE) of bamboo. An old friend of mine made them himself and they are much better (GOOD) than anything you can find in the shops.” Kevin took the rods – they were light and very smooth. The Most Fun Classroom Games! Vocabulary (the use of English)Aim: to prepare the student for tasks 29—34 of the Use of English part.Look out for negative meanings.Remember that spelling can be changed when the word changes its form.If you don't know the answer, make an intelligent guess.Прочитайте приведенный ниже текст. Преобразуйте слова, напечатанные заглавными буквами в конце строк, обозначенных номерами 29—35 так, чтобы они грамматически и лексически соответствовали содержанию текста. Заполните пропуски полученными словами. Каждый пропуск соответствует отдельному заданию 29—34. Amy was really happy to get a place at St. Martin’s College of Art and Design. Her dream was to be a fashion designer (DESIGN). Amy got seriously(SERIOUS) interested in fashion when she was twelve. Her mother sewed well and once she made a carnival costume. The costume looked wonderful (WONDER). Amy’s friends asked whether her mum could make any costumes for them too. That inspired Amy to create her first collection (COLLECT) of fashion accessories. They didn’t look very professional (PROFESSION), of course. But they were original and very different (DIFFER) from what people can buy in a shop.