Test 2 (Variant d)

1. Read the text:

THE USA

The United States of America stretch from the Atlantic seaboard, across the rich flat central Plains, over the Rocky Mountains to the fertile, densely populated West Coast. The continental United States with Alaska and Hawaii covers 9,372,614 square kilometres. In area, it is the third largest nation in the world (behind Canada and China).

(1) America is a land of physical contrasts. The southern parts of Florida, Texas, California and the entire state of Hawaii have warm temperatures year round. Most of the United States is in the temperate zone, with four distinct seasons, while the northern states and Alaska have extremely cold winters. The land varies from heavy forests to deserts, from high mountains to deep canyons.

The United States is also a land of bountiful rivers and lakes. The northern state of Minnesota, for example, is known as the land of 10,000 lakes. The broad Mississippi River system is the world’s third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon. The five Great Lakes make the world’s largest inland water transportation route and the biggest body of fresh water in the world.

(2) The USA has a highly developed agriculture. American farmers plant wheat on the cold western Plains; raise corn, wheat and beef cattle in the Midwest and rice in Louisiana. Florida and California are famous for their vegetable and fruit production, and the cool, rainy Northwestern states are known for apples, pears, berries and vegetables.

*(3) Underground, a wealth of minerals provides a solid base for American industry. America’s yearly production of gold is $1,374.700,000. It is far exceeded by the value of its petroleum, natural gas, clays, phosphates, lead and iron. The production value of crude oil alone is about $39 thousand million annually.

* The American economy is a free enterprise system. Together, all sectors of the American economy produce almost $4,527 thousand million dollars worth of goods and services annually. (4) The government plays an important role in the US economy. The federal government strongly supports the development of transportation. America’s 50 states have been most active in building roads and in the field of education. Despite the fact that the U.S. government supports many segments of the nation’s economy, economists estimate that the public sector accounts for only one-fifth of American economic activity.

2. Translate the marked (*) paragraphs into Russian.

3. Put questions to the numbered sentences using the prompts:

1. What kind ...? Disjunctive.

2. General.

3. What ...? What ... for?

4. Why ... ? Alternative.

4. Use the Future Indefinite or the Future Continuous:

1. I think I (to cope) with the problem myself. 2. Unfortunately, tomorrow at 5 o’clock I (to fly) to New York, so I (not/can) to be at your birthday party. 3. I (to write) a letter to Mr Horn. I (to send) your best regards to him, Mike? 4. He probably (to arrive) at Victoria station. 5. Tom (not/to hold) his post for long: he does not suit it. 6. You (to use) your computer tomorrow morning?

5. Put questions using the words in brackets:

1. Mr Jackson will be waiting for you in his office at 11 p.m. (Who? When? Where?)

2. They will not accept the promissory note without your signature. (Alternative, General)

3. Mrs Harvey will co-ordinate the work of the both teams. (Why? Disjunctive)

6. Open the brackets:

1. They (to stay) in your room if you (not/to mind). 2. If you (to phone) me as soon as you (to return) we (can) organise a briefing. 3. If she (to mail) the documents we (to process) the information the whole weekend. 4. Next Monday when you (to sit for) your exam my friends and I (to go) by train to the Black Sea. 5. I don’t know whether they (to have) time to visit our premises. 6. I think they (to give) you this job if you (to apply).

7. Insert articles where necessary:

1. He drinks neither ... tea nor ... coffee, only ... mineral water. 2. ... doctors and ... lawyers are ... very highly paid specialists. 3. They both are keen on ... history. 4. I think he is just afraid of ... people. 5. Look! There are ... people we saw the other day. 6. Excuse me! These people are looking for ... accommodation. Can you give them ... advice? 7. She has got ... very long hair. 8. .. rich rule ... law.

8. Use much or many:

1. Dad usually doesn’t have ... work at the end of a month. 2. How ... people can we engage in the project? 3. Why was there so ... meat contaminated by dioxin? 4. They don’t spend ... money on books, they buy ... CDs instead. 5. Do they need ... support from the state? 6. The country doesn’t have to import ... machinery.

9. Use some, any, no (nobody, nothing, etc.)

1. He has ... on his account with our bank. 2. Have your ever received ... sponsorship? 3. ... has sent me a letter with a murder threat. 4. It is a very personal question: ... will answer it. 5. There have been ... visitors so far. 6. You can do ... about it at the moment.

10. Choose the proper preposition from those in brackets:

1. He usually works overtime (at, on, in) Monday evenings. 2. I have to answer hundreds of letters (while, for, during) a week. 3. The delegation will arrive (at, in, to) France next week. 4. The car broke and they had to get (at, to, --) the station (by, with, on) foot. 5. They decided to start their business in Italy (at, to, in) end. 6. We spent plenty of time looking (at, for, to) a solution (of, to, with) the problem. 7. The parties were satisfied (by, on, with) the verdict. 8. He was suspicious (about, with, of) my intentions. 9. The board was impressed (with, by, at) his simple but effective plan. 10. The man is similar (for, to, by) me.