Английский язык. Тесты для историков

TEST ON READING 4

I. Read the text and list the key events mentioned for each of these periods:

a) ancient Greece b) the Romans c) early Christianity d) 17th and 18th centuries e) 19th century f) post-World War Two:

Footprints In the Sand of Time

I do it, you do it, even the ancient Greeks did it. Travelling for pleasure, travelling to experience new places and events, travelling to relax and get away from it all – in other words, tourism.

Ever since man first emerged from his cave-dwelling, it seems he felt the urge to travel. But tourism had to wait for the civilization of ancient Greece before it really got moving. The Olympic Games of 776 BC were the first international tourist event, with people travelling from many countries to watch and take part.

Of course, if you want to travel from A to B, a good road is always an advantage, and we have a lot to thank the Romans for here. During the heyday of the Roman Empire they built thousands of roads. Some of the first people to take advantage of these roads were religious travellers visiting cathedrals, shrines, or holy sites – the word “holiday”, after all, originally comes from “holy day”. Pilgrims like Geoffrey Chauser would tell each other stories to entertain themselves on the road. Nowadays we have the in-flight movie – in medieval times they had the Canterbury Tales!

Gradually, more and more people caught the travel bug. At first it was the nobility who set out in the 17th and 18th centuries on their Grand Tours – an essential part of every young gentleman’s education. At the same time the upper classes were flocking to spa towns like Bath and Cheltenham. They also enjoyed the healthy pleasures of sea-bathing at Brighton and other resorts.

But it was development in transport that really opened up the tourist industry. First there were stagecoaches and coaching inns. Then came steam, and suddenly the world was a smaller place. Steamboats crossed the English Channel, and raiways stretched their iron webs across the civilized world. No sooner had the first railways been built in the 1830s than enterprising men like Thomas Cook in England began to exploit their potential by selling organized tours.

With excursion across continental Europe, the building of hotels and resorts to cater for the tastes of the pleasure-seekers, and the introduction of hotel vouchers and traveller’s cheques, the tourist industry in its modern form was born. By the end of the 19th century the middle classes, and mass tourism was a reality.

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If the 19th century saw the birth of mass tourism, then the post-war years have witnessed its coming of age. Soon after the end of the Second World War, paid holidays became normal in Britain and many other countries. People now have more disposable income to spend on leisure time, and travel and tourism were available to the many rather than the elite few. Holiday camps sprang up, offering the masses an affordable accommodation-and-entertainment package. Television sets were appearing in more and more homes, bringing the attractions of distant lands into people’s living rooms. Package holidays abroad began to appear in the 1950s. But it wasn’t until the introduction of the first commercial jet airlines that the idea of foreign holidays really took off.

In recent decades things have only got better for the tourist: faster and cheaper travel options, a wider range of suitable accommodation, more time and money to spend on their holidays. Tourism has come a long way from its distant, humble beginnings. So when you are next wandering along a sun-kissed foreign beach, sipping your cocktail, gazing at the sunset, and trying to forget your wordly cares, remember – you may be treading in the footprints of a 19th-century adventurer, a gentleman on his Grand Tour, a pilgrim or a crusader, or even a Roman soldier or an ancient Greek.

II. Read the text again and answer these questions:

1. What reasons are given to people wanting to travel? 2. Find four examples of improvements in transport 3. What were the Canterbury Tales?

4. What did Thomas Cook do?

5. Why was the introduction of hotel vouchers and traveller’s cheques so important?

6. Why were holiday camps so popular?

7. What technical development helped the expansion of package holidays abroad?

III. Explain these expressions:

a)travelling to relax and get away from it all

b)more and more people caught the travel bug

c)the idea of foreign holidays really took off

d)trying to forget your wordly cares

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TEST ON WORD FORMATION

I. Look at the following words. They are all verbs and nouns. Change them into adjectives and put into columns below:

1. Words ending in –y: ____________________________________________

2.Words ending in –ic: ___________________________________________

3.Words ending in –ful: __________________________________________

4.Words ending in –able: _________________________________________

5.Words ending in –ous: __________________________________________

6.Words ending in –al: ___________________________________________

II. a) Add each negative prefix to the adjectives given below:

ilim- inun- irdis-

Comfortable; pleasant; acceptable; legal; legible; literate; courteous; honest; organised; practical; polite; patient; rational; regular; relevant; accurate; competent; capable.

b) Read the following sentences. Fill in the blanks with one of the negative adjectives from a). Sometimes more than one answer may be possible:

1.Passengers are reminded that it is ... to bring pets or other animals into the UK, and that the punishment for anyone doing so is severe.

2. The whole tour was completely ... . The rep was not there to meet us, the hotel was overbooked, and nobody knew what was happening.

3.Could you change the bed in my room? It was so ... that I didn’t get any sleep last night.

4.The description of the facilities in your motorhomes is totally ... , and I suggest you get the errors corrected as soon as possible.

5.I’m not complaining about the colour of the car – that is ... . What I am complaining about is the fact it is not safe to drive.

6. You cannot seriously expect my wife and I and four children to sleep in a single room. That is a completely ... suggestion.

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KEYS

Part I

Test 1

Task 1. accomplishment; to go after animals; tool; to settle down; to bring about; crude; to record; to adjust to.

Task 2. Earth quark; to obey; extensive; to alter; architecture.

Task 3. To reflect in the artwork; rules of behaviour; pottery making and weaving; the rise of the cities; more extensive systems of government; to record the thoughts and discoveries; to alter the landscape; to spread from one area of the world to another.

Task 4. 1-c; 2-b; 3-c; 4-d; 5-a.

Task 5. 1-b; 2-a; 3-c; 4-a; 5-a; 6-c; 7-b; 8-a; 9-c; 10-b; 11-a; 12- c; 14-d; 15-a; 16-b; 17-c; 18-d; 19-a; 20-c.

Task 6. 1-any; 2-a; 3-a; 4-some; 5-any; 6-some; 7-any; 8-some; 9-some, any; 10-any, some.

Task 7. 1-much; 2-many; 3-much; 4-a little; 5-a few (many); 6-many; 7-much; 8-a few; 9-a little; 10-a little.

Test 2

Task 1.

to put finishing touches on; to come from;

to modify;

to improve on; to take over; to spell a word.

Task 2.

alphabet, a letter, a consonant, a vowel, a sign.

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Task 3.

the series of letters; to come from; the first two letters of the Greek alphabet; to put finishing touches on a system; they borrowed Phoenician symbols; modified the shapes of the letters; both consonants and vowels; Greeks improved; to spell a word.

Task 4.

1 – b; 2 – b; 3 – c; 4 – b; 5 – c.

Task 5.

1 – entered; 2 – was covered; 3 – was shocking; 4 – was asked; 5 – declared; 6 – had been fighting; 7 – had been burned; 8 – had been devastated; 9 – had been driven; 10 – was exacted; 11 – was driven; 12 – had deprived; 13 – had been dragged.

Task 6.

1 – greatest; 2 – the largest; 3 – the most noticeable; 4 – shorter; 5 – the greatest; 6 – the greatest; 7 – the most popular; 8 – beautiful; 9 – the greatest, further; 10 – less refined, lower; 11 – a more direct; 12 – more effective and efficient, stable.

Test 3

Task 1.

to gain; to perfect; to honour; to simplify; to erase; to carte.

Task 2.

capital letters – small letters to perfect – to begin

to honour – to dishonour to simplify – to complicate thick – thin

top – bottom ugly – beautiful difficult – easy

strength – weakness

Task 3.

A sculptor, uncials, a scribe, a chisel, inscriptions, a stonecutter, serifs, a carver.

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Task 4.

Gave it much the same form we use today; capital letters; the alphabet to have been perfected by A.D. 114; the style of lettering; a stonecutter; rounded or squared; they developed thick-and-thin strokes; ugly blunt lines; a chisel; to erase the mistake; a small letter, a scribe; lower-case letters; to save space.

Task 5.

1 – b; 2 – a; 3 – b; 4 – b; 5 – c; 6 – d; 7 – c.

Task 6.

1 – a; 2 – d; 3 – b; 4 – a; 5 – c; 6 – a; 7 – b; 8 – d; 9 – c.

Test 4

Task 1.

1 – benefits; 2 – independent under the law; 3 – to be responsible for; 4 – rhetoric; 5 – thriving; 6 – to enter law or polities; 7 – available; 8 –to entertain; 9 – intermissions; 10 – to appeal to; 11 – a guardian; 12 – a craftworker.

Task 2.

political and economic benefits; were independent under the law; responsible for all subjects; to enter law or politics; a thriving place; water available; to entertain people; did not appeal to all Romans; Jupiter; Juno; Minerva; Vesta; Lares, Penates; Pantheon.

Task 3.

1 – plebeian; 2 – a patrician; 3 – a political figure; 4 – a temple; 5 – siege; 6 – the Senate; 7 – a legion; 8 – a slave; 9 – ruling classes; 10 – a republic.

Task 5.

1 – a; 2 – a; 3 – a; 4 – b; 5 – b; 6 – b; 7 – a; 8 – b; 9 – a; 10 – a; 11 – c; 12 – b.

Task 6.

Zeus asked Prometheus why he was …

He wanted to know what Prometheus found on earth that was were beautiful

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He said there was nothing more beautiful, but there was something sweeter to him…

Prometheus asked the king to remember that he had been born where he ruled Then he said that he was a son of Earth and that the green meadows were dearer …

When Hermes returned he told the king of the gods not to be afraid that Prometheus would plot … Prometheus loved the race … and he did … Hermes said that Prometheus had taught …

He added that the people there called him … and they had spoken … he had promised …

Zeus asked what that was.

Hermes answered that they did not know but Prometheus had told them that it would be …

Zeus thought that he would teach them … they would become … . He would make them …

Test 5

Task 1.

1 – c; 2 – e; 3 – b; 4 – f; 5 – i; 6 – a; 7 – h; 8 – j; 9 – g; 10 – d.

Task 2.

prisoners; frequently, to depict, medium, a frontier; disastrous, rapid, rigid, to occur; to reflect, authority; to conclude, fascinating, manifestation.

Task 3.

war; frequently, to begin; strength, success; victory, enemy, rapid, to complete.

Task 4.

prisoners of war, Roman coins, an effective medium for propagandizing, beyond the pointers of the empire, first came to be used; rigid stratification, the complete authority of the state over the individual, fascinating transformation, the triumph of Christianity over paganism, the message of Roman strength and success.

Task 5.

1 –a; 2 – b; 3 – b; 4 – b; 5 – a; 6 – a; 7 – a.

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Task 6.

a)a; a; –; the; a; the; the; the; a; –; –; the; the; the.

b)–; –; –; –; –; –; a; –; –; the; –; the; the; a; –; the; the; the; the; the; –; –; the; –; –; –; –; –; –; a.

c)the; a; the; the; a; the; the; the; –; a; the.

Task 7. after, of, to, by, to, of, at, in, off, of, after, of, about, back, to, in, at, by, by, –, –, –.

Task 8.

Part II

Test 1

Task 1. Spirit; scholar; to share smth.; medieval; tragedy; to draw on smth.; to take part; particularly.

Task 2. Admiration; true; quiet; playwright; to recognize; to explore.

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Task 3. to reach the height; to share the humanists’ interest; descendants;

made of wood; sword fight; to be recognized in his lifetime; to explore human behaviour and feelings with smth insight.

Task 4. 1 – b; 2 – c; 3 – b; 4 – d; 5 – a.

Task 5. 1 – D; 2 – P; 3 – D; 4 – P; 5 – D; 6 – D.

Task 6. 1 – c; 2 – a; 3 – b; 4 – a; 5 – c; 6 – c; 7 – a; 8 – b; 9 – b.

Task 7. 1 – a; 2 – c; 3 – d; 4 – d; 5 – a; 6 – e.

Task 8. 1 – in order to; 2 – for; 3 – to make sure; 4 – to make; 5 – so that; 6 – in order to; 7 – to make; 8 – for; 9 – to make sure; 10 – so that.

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Part III

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