Part 1. Listening Comprehension

Task 1. You will hear a conversation. For items 1-5, decide whether the statements marked 1-5 True (A) or False (B) according to the text you hear. You will hear the recording only once.

The movie starts at 2:35.

True



False

The girl’s mother won’t go with them because she’s at a meeting.

True



False

After the movie they’ll go for a stroll.

True



False

The girl wants to go to the beach.

True



False

They are not going to have dinner at home.

True



False

Task 2. Listen to the text and choose the best answer A, B or C to questions 6-13 according to what you hear. You will hear the recording twice.

Where was Randall Davis Born?

A In the state of Indiana.

B In Venezuela.

C in Utah.

What did Randall major in when he was at Brigham Young University?

A Spanish.

B Japanese.

C Spanish education and TESOL.

Where does he work now?

A Japan.

B Utah.

C Spain.

What is the most important thing for Randall?

A His family.

B His work.

C Achieving his goals.

How many children does Randall have?

A Two.

B Three.

C Four.

Why does Randall like talking to his children on their hikes?

A There’s no TV and the Internet.

B He seldom sees them because of his work.

C They spend most of their time at school.

What does Randall say about telling stories?

A It can be a challenging activity.

B It’s boring.

C It’s easy.

What is Randall’s opinion about life problems?

A They seldom have problems.

B They talk to each other openly and solve problems together.

C They don’t like to face challenges.

Reading Comprehension

Task 1. Read the following newspaper article. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A-G) the one which fits each gap (1-6) best of all. There is one extra sentence, which you do not need to use.

The Window

There were once two men, both seriously ill, in the same small room of a great hospital.

_______________

One of the men, as part of his treatment, was allowed to sit up in bed for an hour in the afternoon (something to do with draining the fluid from his lungs). His bed was next to the window. But the other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. 2) _____________ .

The window apparently overlooked a park where there was a lake. There were ducks and swans in the lake, and children came to throw them bread and sail model boats. Young lovers walked hand in hand beneath the trees, and there were flowers and stretches of grass, games of softball. 3) ____________ The man on his back would listen to the other man describe all of this, enjoying every minute. He heard how a child nearly fell into the lake, and how beautiful the girls were in their summer dresses.

His friend’s descriptions eventually made him feel he could almost see what was happening outside.

Then one fine afternoon, the thought struck him: Why should the man next to the window have all the pleasure of seeing what was going on? Why shouldn’t he get the chance? 4) __________. He’d do anything!

One night as he stared at the ceiling, the other man suddenly woke up, coughing and choking, and his hands groping for the button that would bring the nurse running. 5) ___________ In the morning, the nurse found the other man dead, and quietly took his body away.

As soon as it seemed decent, the man asked if he could be switched to the bed next to the window. 6) ____________ The minute they left, he propped himself up on one elbow, painfully and laboriously, and looked out the window.

It faced a blank wall.

A He felt ashamed, but the more he tried not to think like that, the worse he wanted a change.

B Every afternoon when the man next to the window was propped up for his hour, he would pass the time by describing what he could see outside.

C So they moved him, tucked him in, and made him quite comfortable.

D And at the back, behind the fringe of trees, was a fine view of the city skyline.

E Quite a small room, it had one window looking out on the world.

F But the man watched without moving – even when the sound of breathing stopped.

G However, he could not see anything.

Task 2. Read the following text and answer questions 7-15 by choosing А, В, C, or D. Give only one answer to each question.

How I Became an Athlete
By Jesse Owens

One of the most wonderful moments in my life was standing waiting to be awarded my forth gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games.

And as I stood there, my thoughts raced back to a time when it seemed impossible that I would ever run like other boys and girls, let alone run in the Olympics. It began one night when I was six.

“What’s that strange bump on your leg, Jess?” my mother asked me as I was getting into bed.

“Gee, I don’t know, Ma,” I answered. “It doesn’t hurt much”.

So we didn’t pay any more attention to it then. But as the days passed, the bump began to get bigger and to hurt. Finally I was limping. Then the day came when I could no longer walk.

Where we lived in the Deep South at that time, there were few doctors, and my family couldn’t even afford secondhand crutches. So my mother took it upon herself to get me well. She tried every home remedy she knew. She massaged my leg and made me walk on it, even if it hurt to do so. And she somehow fed me like a king on the day laborer’s salary of my father.

Until one day, the bump started getting smaller! And then finally, when I was nine years old, it went away completely.

Maybe it was because I was so thankful to have two legs again like all my classmates that I took up running. Of course, the schoolhouse I went back to was just one room, and we had no gym or equipment. So I simply ran across the fields and down the roads. That was harder than the way athletes train today. But, in the long run, it turned out better for me because, when we moved to Cleveland, it was so easy to run on the smooth streets and flat floors of the gym where we exercised. I found that I was faster than the other boys, and I was looking forward to junior high when I would really have a chance to join a team.

But fate seemed to have other plans again. My father became ill. My mother had to go to work. And when I wasn’t in school, I had to shine shoes instead of run in them. Then my father got better but had trouble finding work. Just when I thought I would have time to run again, I had to go on shining shoes and delivering groceries on Saturday and on Sunday after church.

It was a hard time for me but it passed, and finally I was entering junior high. I’ll never forget that first day – the day I met the Fairmont School coach, Charles Riley. My mother had given me a healthy pair of legs by never giving up when everyone else said that I was doomed to be a cripple. Now Mr. Riley showed me how to use those legs – and the spirit that makes them move even more than blood and muscles do.

When did Jess Owens start to remember his childhood trouble?

When he was watching an award ceremony.
When he was given a medal for victory in Olympics.
When he was waiting to be awarded his forth gold medal.
When he was six.

What happened to Jess when he was six?

He broke his leg.
His leg started to hurt very much.
He became unable to walk long distances.
He got a bump on his leg.

Why did Jess’ mother treat him herself?

She knew a lot of remedies.
The doctors refused to help him.
The family didn’t have enough money for doctors.
She didn’t trust the doctors from Deep South.

What did Jess’ mother do to get him well?

She gave him good crutches.
She fed him well and treated the bump every day she could.
She spent his father’s salary for remedies.
She didn’t allow him to walk very much.

What did Jess start to do when he got well?

He began to practice in athletics.
He began to make equipment for sports.
He started to make all his classmates run.
He paid more attention to his work at school.

Why did Jess have to exercise in the fields and on roads?

He didn’t like flat floors.
It was easier to run there.
There were no facilities at school.
He liked to train on the streets.

Why did Jess start shining shoes?

He wanted to run in shining shoes.
He had to help his family.
He liked it better than delivering groceries.
He had to do this instead of his ill father.

What happened on Jess’ first day in junior high school?

He started to train with a real coach.
He met new classmates.
He had to leave his mother.
He realized that he was no longer a cripple.

What was the most important thing that Charles Riley taught Jess?

to keep legs healthy.
to run very fast.
to be a real sportsman.
to strengthen muscles.