Card # 15

LISTENING (7 minutes)

Listen to the recording [T.15] ‘Strange behavior’ and and complete the test.

(listening - 2 minutes; time for fulfilment - 1 min., for answering -1 min.).

#		true	false
1	Pete has a friend called Martina and she owns two rabbits.
2	Martina has got a habit of talking to Pete everywhere she goes.
3	There was a couple that used to have a bag of toy animals, children’s toys.
4	The couple used to line the toys up, so that the toys could look out of the window.

Task 2. Retell the listened text (time for preparation - 2 min., time for answer - 1 min.).

SPEAKING (10 minutes)

Task 1. Discuss the topic: ‘Why people go to the museums?’

(Time for preparation -2 min., time for answer -2 min.).

Task 2. Speak on the given topic: The advantages of living in my city

(time for preparation -5 min. Time for answer – 1 min.).

READING (9 minutes)

Task 1. Read the text (silent reading – 1 min., reading aloud – 2 min.)

Make a plan to the text (time for preparation- 1 min., time for answering- 1 min.).

Culture of the United States

The culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore. Today, the United States of America is an ethnically and racially diverse country as a result of large-scale immigration from many different countries throughout its history. Its chief early influences came from English, Scottish and Irish settlers of colonial America. British culture, due to colonial ties with Britain that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances, had a formative influence. Other important influences came from other parts of Western Europe, especially Germany, France, and Italy.

Many cultural elements, especially popular culture, have been exported across the globe through modern mass media. The United States has often been thought of as a melting pot, but recent developments tend towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot. Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique social subcultures within the United States. The cultural affiliations an individual in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic characteristics such as religious background, occupation and ethnic group membership.

Task 2. Translate the 1-st paragraph of the text (Time for preparation- 3 min., time for answering – 1).

WRITING (14 minutes)

Task 1. Write an essay to the given topic: ‘Are people in danger of being replaced by robots at work?’ (100 words).

(Time for preparation -13 min., time for answer -1 min.).