Тесты по чтению на английском языке. Готовимся к централизованному тестированию

A.First Masterpiece

B.Lorenzo, Civilized Ruler of Florence

C.Work in the Sistine Chapel

D.Michelangelo's Heritage

E.Father's Surrender

F.Florence the Beautiful

G.Family Roots

H.Birth of David

I.David, Young Shepherd Boy

d III. Прочитайте текст и выполните послетекстовые задания.

(1)Tom Keating was born in 1917 in a poor area of London. He loved to draw and from an early age dreamed of going to art school and becoming an artist. But his father was a poor house painter, and Tom had to leave school at the age of fourteen to get a job.Over the years he worked as a barber, an elevator attendant, and a bellhop. He joined the Royal Navy during the Second World War and afterward got a small grant to attend art classes. But he had so little money that he couldn't even afford to buy paints, so instead of painting pictures for a living, he entered his father's business, painting houses.

(2)But all this time, whenever he had a free moment and a bit of paper, Keating would draw or paint. And he got better and better. Gradually, he found that he could make a living by restoring old paintings that had been damaged. In this way he learned about the techniques and materials used by painters in the past. In London, late in the summer of 1976, there was to be an auction of paintings by the nineteenth-century landscape painter Samuel Palmer. A journalist named Geraldine Norman was investigating a rumor that not all of the paintings were genuine. The problem wasn't that they didn't look like Palmers. The problem was that there were just too many of them. Then someone told Norman about Tom Keating. She went to see him at his cottage, and a few days later this shy old man with a white beard was making headlines all over the world.

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(3)Tom Keating had decided to tell Geraldine Norman his life story. He cheerfully admitted that over the last twenty-five years he had faked the work of over a hundred well-known painters, ranging from contemporary artists to those who had painted three hundred years ago. But sometimes, he said, the spirit of the original artist would come to him and guide his hand.

(4)The art world was in an uproar over Keating's fakes. But Keating didn't think he had done anything wrong. He'd never made a secret of his fakes and never tried to make money from them, either. Most he had just given away to friends. Keating deceived many famous scholars, and he did admit that he enjoyed doing that. But he was basically an honest man and didn't want anyone to be fooled permanently. So, in every fake he did something that, sooner or later, would give it away.

(5)Sometimes he'd paint with colors that had not been used by the painter he was copying. Sometimes he'd paint over the top of an old painting, using paints that would peel off after fifty years. Sometimes he'd add a tiny detail that an expert could see wasn't right. And sometimes, when the artist was guiding his hand, he'd start with white lead paint and write a message for future generations, letting them know the truth: "Fooled you, did I? Sorry. This one's a Keating!"

(6)Those future generations have a lot of work to do. The trouble was, he'd done so many over the years that he couldn't remember them all. Next time someone tells you that a famous painting is by Goya, Turner, or Constable, who knows? Perhaps, underneath the paint, a different message is waiting, "Is it real or is it a Keating?"

d Выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанного текста (задания 1 – 5).

1. Tom had to leave school at the age of fourteen because …

A.he couldn't find a common language with his classmates.

B.his father didn't have enough money to pay for Tom's education.

C.he found a job to financially support his family.

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2. He entered his father's business, painting houses, because …

A. he wanted to continue the family tradition.

B. thus he got access to paints, which he couldn't afford to buy himself.

C. he needed to earn his living.

3. Tom learned about the techniques and materials used by painters in the past by…

A. studying specialized literature.

B. restoring old paintings that had been damaged. C. imitating painters' styles.

4. A rumor about Samuel Palmer's paintings spread on the basis that …

A. they didn't look like Palmers.

B. there was an abundance of them, which seemed weird.

C. an article with Keating's interview about his fakes appeared in the press.

5. There was a scandal in the art world over Keating's fakes, but…

A. he never considered himself a criminal. B. he was immensely pleased with himself. C. he didn't care much about it.

d Определите значение указанного слова в тексте (задания

6 –8).

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d Выберите правильный вариант перевода в соответствии с содержанием текста (задания 9 – 12).

9.In London there was to be an auction of paintings by the nine- teenth-century landscape painter Samuel Palmer (2).

A.В Лондоне должен был состояться аукцион картин Самуэля Палмера, пейзажиста 19 века.

B.В Лондоне состоялся аукцион работ Самуэля Палмера, пейзажиста 19 века.

C.Самуэль Палмер, пейзажист 19 века, планировал проведение аукциона своих работ в Лондоне.

10.He'd never made a secret of his fakes and never tried to make money from them, either (4).

A.Он никогда не делал секрета из своих подделок, а также никогда не пытался заработать на них деньги.

B.Он никогда не секретничал о своих подделках и не зарабатывал ими деньги.

C.Это не было секретом, что он подделывал картины, но он никогда не пытался зарабатывать на них деньги.

11.But he was basically an honest man… (4).

A.Но в основном, он был честным человеком …

B.Но он, в целом, был честным человеком …

C.Но он был по своей натуре человеком честным …

12.Sometimes, he said, the spirit of the original artist would come to him and guide his hand (3).

A.Иногда, говорил он, дух художника – автора посещал его и направлял его руку.

B.По утверждению Китинга, временами его душевное состояние было близким настоящему художнику и это управляло его рукой.

C.Иногда, говорил он, дух оригинального художника являлся ему и направлял его руку.

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TEST 13

ON FOREIGN LANGUAGES

d I. Прочитайте текст и выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанных фрагментов (А-F).

A.Victor: "Because I'd like to see more of the United States and I'd like to go to South America, and Spanish is the predominant language in many parts of the United States these days, and certainly in South America, so I think it would be a useful language for traveling in that part of the world".

B.Ann: "Because the country's such a powerful economic force, especially for us in Australia, but actually the more I think about it, probably the rest of the world too. It's an economic force. There are a lot of tourists coming to Japan for example – that doesn't mean I want to get involved in the tourist industry – but of all the regional languages within the Pacific basin, I think that would be the one that would be most useful to me in what I do for a living and help me to get on".

C.Alex: "It would be exciting actually. I think it would be great. I know very little about Russia. I think most of us in North America anyway know very little. And it's such a vast country, I think we're only just beginning to understand what an incredibly varied country it is. And with all the changes in recent years, there's so much to discover, and language is really the key".

D.Joan: "I like the sound of the Arabic language and I'm fascinated by the way it's written, back to front to our eyes, of course, but it's so beautiful when you see it in an old manuscript or as part of the decoration of a mosque. I'd like to be able to use it too, of course, but it's really the language itself, it's always fascinated me".

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E.Kate: "I'm sure Chinese is incredibly difficult and that puts a lot of people off, I know. But you'd feel terribly pleased with yourself if you could master it, or at least be able to hold a simple conversation. I like the idea of drawing all those little characters, too. But I think the pronunciation would be the hardest part. I've heard you can make awful mistakes by using the wrong tone when you say a word, so you say 'hello' but it means 'fish' or something!"

F.Mike: "Well, it's the ancient language of a beautiful island -you know they call it the Emerald Isle? Not that many people speak Irish as their first language any more, unfortunately – English has taken over – but I think everyone still learns it in school. I'm very interested in all the old traditional songs and stories and I'd love to be able to understand them in the original language. I'd like to talk to the old people in the country areas, too, and hear about how they lived in the old days".

1. The person who would like to take up the particular language for work-related reasons is

A.Kate

B.Victor

C.Mike

D.Ann

2. The person who would like to learn the language because of the challenge it presents is

A.Alex

B.Joan

C.Kate

D.Mike

3. The person for whom studying the language means in a way safeguarding cultural heritage is

A.Victor

B.Joan

C.Ann

D.Mike

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4. Learning this particular language will mean expanding horizons and breaking barriers for

A.Mike and Joan

B.Victor and Mike

C.Alex and Victor

D.Ann and Kate

5. The person who would study the language because it appeals to his/her sense of beauty is

A.Kate

B.Joan

C.Victor

D.Ann

d II. Прочитайте текст. Подберите соответствующий заголовок к каждому абзацу (1-6).

(1)The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, to give it its full name, was established as long ago as 1858 to provide exams in a whole range of school subjects. The Certificate of Proficiency in English, or CPE, was the first English as a Foreign Language examination and it was introduced in 1913. It was first intended especially for teachers of English but nowadays it's recognized very widely for business and academic purposes.

(2)A lower level examination, which developed into the First Certificate that we know today, was introduced twenty odd years later, in 1939. Both Proficiency and First Certificate, or FCE, have been revised from time to time over the years, but nowadays they both have a similar structure, with 5 papers each, and you can take them in June or December. It's also worth noting that the listening and speaking papers make up one third of the total marks. There were about 50,000 candidates for the Proficiency exam in 1990, for example, while First Certificate, which has become the most popular Cambridge exam of all, had a staggering 180,000.

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(3)Next there came an extremely high level exam called the Diploma of English Studies which tests knowledge of Literature and Civilization as well as language ability and this was introduced in 1941. You have to sit four papers altogether in the Diploma and it's taken once a year in June. Only people who have achieved a grade A or B in Proficiency can enter for the Diploma. Not surprisingly, candidate numbers are a lot fewer than for CPE or FCE – there were around 500 in 1990.

(4)The Preliminary English Test, which is often referred to as PET, was first introduced in 1980, and it was revised a few years later. This is a fairly basic level exam and it's designed to test students' 'survival' skills in social and work situations. There are three papers in P.E.T which cover all four language skills. You can take the test on 5 fixed dates during the year and it's getting very popular -there were roughly 30,000 candidates for PET in 1990.

(5)Then in 1990, CCSE was introduced, which means Certificates in Communicative Skills in English, because there are four different levels from basic to advanced. There are also four papers, Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing at each level and you can take the exams in November or in May/June each year. CCSE is very different from the other exams in a number of ways. For one thing, you can take just one or two papers if you like – you don't have to take all four. You can also mix up the levels. Another special feature that in the Writing paper you can use a dictionary, and that's very popular with students! There were about 1,000 candidates in the first year and numbers are expected to grow.

(6)Finally, there is CAE, the Certificate in Advanced English. That was only introduced in 1991, although it had been developed over a period of six years or so. It fits between First Certificate and Proficiency in level and it's similar to those exams in that there are 5 papers all. The exam times of June and December are the same too. But the questions are rather different, as you'll know and a special feature of CAE is that throughout the exam the emphasis is on real world tasks.

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A.The Youngest Exam

B.Diplomas You Get

C.Top of Popularity List

D.How It All Began

E.Not Everyone Can Do It

F.Flexible Exam Scheme

G.Hurdles to Tackle

H.Cambridge University Exams

d III. Прочитайте текст и выполните послетекстовые задания.

(1)Dictionary-making, since computers took the drudgery out of it, has become fun. These days Hanks, the chief editor of Collins English dictionaries works from Birmingham University, leading an outfit which is rather off-puttingly known as Cobuild. It stands for the Collins and Birmingham University International Language Database, and is housed in a handsome Edwardian mansion in one of Birmingham's greener suburbs.

(2)How do modern lexicographers find their words? Dr Johnson, one of the first dictionary-makers, found most of them from his own reading. Today, methods have changed. Cobuild has pioneered a huge electronic database, known as a "corpus", containing 18 million words – not, of course, all different. It includes complete novels, best-selling non-fiction titles, magazines and newspapers, transcripts of BBC programmes, casual conversations and lectures. A particular word, together with its context, can be called up any time on the computer screen. What's more, the team is building up a "monitoring corpus". Last year, it started inputting every issue of The Times, and the computer prints out new words on demand, giving the frequency with which they appear.

(3)But spoken language is important, too. A team of word-detectives, based in Glasgow at Collins English Dictionary Unit, visits pubs and discos, hangs about in supermarkets and launderettes and listens to loud ladies on the bus, in the race to pin down new words and meanings as soon as they are born. They scour shops for examples of new

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types of food and clothing. All finds are noted and go straight into the computer. The new dictionary's new words paint a picture of life in the late 1990s. Health hazards, environmental problems, computer jargon, music argot, financial slang – it is all there.

(4)Other words develop new meanings while retaining the old. "Dinosaur", for instance, now means "a person or thing which is considered to be out of date," as well as its more familiar definition. One of Hanks's favourite new words is "check it out" in the casual sense of "have a look at" rather than "investigate". If we call up "greenhouse", from The Times database, we shall watch hundreds of references, to the "greenhouse effect" fill the screen, far outnumbering gardening references in relation to tomatoes and pot plants.

(5)"We try to reflect English as it is really used today," says Rosamund Moon, who has been working on the project for eight years. She points out that deceptively simple words are often the most complicated. "Take 'take', for example. What is its core meaning? You may think it is something like 'to transport from place to place', but our monitoring shows us that this is not the most common use. It is much more often used in phrases such a 'take a look' or 'take a photograph'. A key problem is which words to include. A new word could turn out to be ephemeral, no sooner frozen in print than disappeared from the street".

d Выберите вариант ответа, соответствующий содержанию прочитанного текста (задания 1-5).

1. From what we can gather, Dr Johnson

A.was an early dictionary-maker

B.had no idea of how to make a dictionary

C.worked at Birmingham University

2. Dictionary-making has become fun since

A.the invention of the computer

B.the boring part was delegated to computers

C.editors started to combine work and play

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