Test 2 (Variant e)
1. Read the text:
GREAT BRITAIN
The official name of Great Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is a political union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK is situated on the British Isles to the West of the mainland of Europe. (1)This group of islands consists of about 5,000 islands with two of them being very big: Great Britain and Ireland. Three parts of the state: England, Scotland and Wales are situated on Great Britain, Northern Ireland occupies northern part of Ireland.
* The unification of minor independent states into one powerful unit was started in the 13th century with conquering Wales. Scotland remained independent for a long time. The final unification took place in 1707 with the signing an agreement to form a common parliament for Britain and Scotland. Ireland became Britain’s colony in the 11th century. There were bloody battles on religious background till 1921 when Ireland was separated into two countries: the Irish Republic and Ulster, which belongs to Britain. The Ulster problem is still a painful point of Britain’s policy.
(2)The geographical position of the country influences greatly the climate of Great Britain. The country is surrounded by the sea what makes the climate rather mild. Besides the Gulf Stream warms the country and all this causes relatively small seasonal changes of weather. The difference between winter and summer temperatures is not very big. The relief and the landscape of the country vary greatly in different parts of the country: from plains in the South-East to high mountains in the North. In fact Great Britain has all the landscapes which can be found on our planet but deserts and glaciers. The diversity of the landscape is really great and it provides the diversity of wild life.
The UK is a highly developed country with very long industrial traditions. (3)The country gave the birth to the industrial revolution, which changed the ways of history all over the world. Traditionally Britain has very developed machine-building and ship-building industry. Metal ore and coal extraction, the two more traditional fields, are experiencing hard times now. A very important break-through in economy was the exploit of the oil and gas fields on the North Sea shelf what reduced the dependence of the country on the import of these materials. Pacing with progress Britain has developed some new industries: aerospace, electronic and chemical industries. (4)The country occupies a middle position in the list of the European Community countries.
2. Translate the marked (*) paragraph into Russian.
3. Put questions to the numbered sentences using the prompts:
1. How many...? Alternative.
2. General, Disjunctive.
3. What ... to?
4. Why ... ? What position ...?
4. Use the Future Indefinite or the Future Continuous:
1. He is so boring! He (to tell) you his African experiences the whole weekend. 2. I promise I (to see) my doctor on Friday. 3. So I (to wait) for you at 5 p.m. sharp in the hall. 4. I think he (to arrive) in two weeks. 5. I (to go) downtown later. Can I get you anything? 6. I (not/to be) in the office tomorrow.
5. Put questions using the words in brackets:
1. Judge Blake will expect you in the courtroom at 10 a.m. on Thursday. (Who? When? Where?)
2. Mr Crage will not be able to make a speech. (Why? General)
3. The assistants will be working on the report the whole day. (Alternative, Disjunctive)
6. Open the brackets:
1. I (to phone) you when I (to get) home from work. 2. I don’t know when he (to try) to contact you. 3. I bet she (to reprimand) you as soon as she (to come) back. 4. You (to be) at home if I (to come) at half past nine? 5. If we (not/to start) working at once we (not/can) to finish the work by the end of the week. 6. If the alarm (to work) the police (to arrive) in 6 minutes.
7. Insert articles where necessary:
1. He signed ... agent agreement on selling ... glass. 2. Mark was very good at ... mathematics at school. 3. We are searching for ... information. ... information we possess at the moment is not enough. 4. Our office spends big sums on ... stationary. 5. We will not buy ... furniture made of ... metal and ... plastic. 6. I want to leave early today, so I have to ask for ... permission. 7. I have never dealt with ... police before. 8. ... revenge is ... inhuman word.
8. Use much or many:
1. Do they usually take ... luggage? 2. The work will not take you ... time. 3. How ... VAT do you have to pay monthly? 4. This new engine does not take ... fuel. 5. ... people are against death penalty. 6. His career is finished: he drinks too ... alcohol.
9. Use some, any, no (nobody, nothing, etc.)
1. We have already ordered ... pieces of furniture. 2. I can’t find ... papers on our negotiations with Shell company. 3. Has ... asked me? No, sir, ... . 4. These idle deliberations bring ... peace of mind at all. 5. ... has left a message for you. 6. I have heard ... from him lately.
10. Choose the proper preposition from those in brackets:
1. He is very proud (about, of, with) his son. 2. It was very stupid (from, with, of) you to sign that contract. 3. The plan consists (with, in, of) three chapters. 4. He greatly influenced (on, at, -) the foreign policy of Britain. 5. He was disappointed (at, by, with) the results of his exam. 6. Who was responsible (at, about, for) the market studies? 7. The retail price depends (-, at, on) the transportation expenses. 8. Sometimes I feel so tired (with, by, of) my routine life. 9. I must apologize (for, about, at) my mistake. 10. I can’t rely (at, -, on) my assistant any more.