Deadly driving

Around the world, people ignore/neglect (1) dangers on the road and drive as if they believe they could never be engaged/involved (2) in a tragic accident. Whether riding a motorcycle or driving a car or lorry, many don’t seem to care about security/safety (3). The number of road deaths is expected to increase dramatically/tragically (4) in the next decades, especially in the developing countries.

Owing/According (5) to the report of the World Health Organization, road accidents were the ninth on the list of reasons/causes (6) of death worldwide. Sadly, the report predicts/prescribes (7) that by the year 2020 they will be the third on the list, and there is scare/fear (8) that the situation might deteriorate.

The number of deaths and serious damages/injuries (9) among car users has fallen by twenty-three per cent in the late/last (10) years thanks to the increased use of seatbelts. At the same time, the number of slight/light (11) injuries has risen by fifty per cent, which indicates/identifies (12) that the number of road accidents in general/whole (13) is in fact going up.

The main reason/cause (14) for the fall in road deaths in Britain is that more people are choosing to travel by car rather/sooner (15) than risk cycling or walking along busy roads. Because people in cars are more defended/protected (16) from the force of any impact, they are less likely/like (17) to be seriously injured than people on foot. It seems that as long as drivers continue to be careless, self-defense/self-protection (18) is the key to surviving in today’s traffic.

8. Выберите подходящее слово из предложенных двух вариантов.

TAXI

The first known taxi was an Egyptian water cab in about 4000 BC. In the 17^th century, first in Paris, then in London, there were horse-drawn hackneys and as early as 1623 London’s ferry-boat operators were already competing/ complaining (1) that the hackneys deprived them of their life/living (2).

Taxis soon came under government rule/regulation (3). In 1800, in Paris, the cabriolet, a speedy/speeding (4) two-wheeled carriage dragged/pulled (5) by a single horse, was dubbed the ‘cab’ and in 1834, Joseph Hanson patterned/patented (6) the Hansom Cab. Before the automobile became the taxi of choice/selection (7), there were a few excessive/eccentric (8) efforts to improve on the Hansom Cab; but it was Harry N. Allen who was the father of the taxi cab. For his New York vehicles he imported the French taxi-mètre, which could size/measure (9) taxis, or ‘fares’, and the ‘taxi-cab’ was born.

Just as the men who made Hollywood were dwellers/dreamers (10) and entrepreneurs, so were the men who made the taxis in America run. Among them was John Hertz, who got into the taxi business in 1907. After reading a University of Chicago survey/surveillance (11) that said yellow was the colour most easily spilled/spotted (12), he developed the yellow cab. He was responsive/responsible (13) for the purpose-built taxi and he made it affordable/affectionate (14) – cabs had always been for rich folk. He organized Yellow Cab companies in other towns, like New York City, and later set up the first car loan/rental (15) service.

9. Выберите подходящее слово из предложенных четырех вариантов.

TWO –WHEELERS

T he (1) ___ form of transport in the twentieth century was (2) ___ the motor car. But as the century drew to a close, a large number of road users were (3) ___ these petrol-driven, four-wheeled boxes for a much cleaner, more (4) ___ machine: the bicycle.

It is not a new invention, of course. In 1817, Barton von Drais invented what became known as the ‘running machine’. This was a two-wheeled vehicle which looked very (5) ___ to a bicycle, (6) ___ that it had no chain or pedals. The rider simply sat in the saddle and ran. It is surprising that these machines were so popular when you (7) ___ how uncomfortable they must have been, but they were very (8) ___ among the upper classes.

It was not until 1885 that something truly (9) ___ a modern bicycle came onto the market. The ‘safety cycle’ (10) ___ the beginning of the age of the two-wheeler. This was not just an expensive toy for the (11) ___ of the upper classes. It was a cheap and (12) ___ machine, and it was not long before everyone had one.

With the (13) ___ in car use in the 1950s and 60s, the bicycle went into decline. The car was, after all, faster and more comfortable. Until there were so many of them, that is! Nowadays more and more people (14) ___ that for city journeys a bicycle can be up to five times faster than a car – and it is much easier to find a parking (15) ___!

1	A dominant	B dominate	C predominate	D domination
2	A certainty	B unsurely	C undoubtedly	D unbelievably
3	A parting	B departing	C ceasing	D abandoning
4	A sufficient	B efficient	C deficient	D suffocating
5	A like	B same	C equal	D similar
6	A access	B accent	C except	D expect
7	A conceive	B concept	C conclude	D consider
8	A fashionable	B stylish	C modern	D fascinating
9	A looking	B resembling	C appearing	D seeming
10	A pointed	B marked	C showed	D started
11	A amazement	B attraction	C astonishment	D amusement
12	A space	B practical	C precise	D premium
13	A rise	B raise	C arouse	D arise
14	A recall	B relieve	C realize	D recollect
15	A space	B spot	C sight	D sign

10. Образуйте соответствующее однокоренное слово.

“PENNY AND FARTHING”, QUARDCYCLE, TRICYCLE AND BICYCLE

T he first ever vehicle which was not pulled by horses but was powered by human energy was a wood (1) quardcycle, for which the Frenchman Jean Théson obtained a 30-year patent in 1645. This able (2) him to improve the vehicle, which was moved only by the act (3) of pushing on the ground with alter (4) feet. It was very heavy and in 1690 it was reduced to two wheels (by Sivrac). However, the machine resembling the body of an image (5) animal was still rather convenience (6), as well as its next version made in 1771 by Francois Masurier and Michel Blanchard. They turn (7) to Tréson's four wheels, which were definite (8) more stable. The two-wheeler appeared (9) in 1818 when the baron Drais de Sauerbron introduced a bicycle with a huge front wheel and a very small rear wheel. It looked so funny that people nicknamed it ‘Penny and Farthing’, both (10) denominate (10) being out of use today.

The real technical innovate (11) in this domain came from Scot Kirkpatrick MacMillan who, in 1839, made the vehicle look like a modern one by fitting pedals to driving rods between the axles of front and rear wheels of the bicycle. Though the construction turned out to be perfect (12), MacMillan is regarded as the real inventor of the bicycle. Quite a number of inventors from different countries contribution (13) to the development of the vehicle: they made pedals rotate smooth (14) and introduced spiked wheels and a metal frame. Indeed, these contributions and the ones that were to come later made the machine appreciate (15) lighter and pleasant to ride on. Indeed, no pleasure is compare (16) to that derived by every child trying out his first tricycle.

11. Выберите подходящее слово из предложенных трех вариантов.