Task 9

Прочитайте тексты и установите соответствие между текстами и их заголовками: к каждому тексту, обозначенному буквами A–G, подберите соответствующий заголовок, обозначенный цифрами. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании есть один лишний заголовок.

1. Geography
2. Famous people
3. Population
4. Education
5. Sports
6. Holidays

1. The United States is the second largest country in North America after Canada. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the east, by the Pacific Ocean in the west and by the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The country is so big that there are four standard time zones. It also possesses many islands in the Pacific Ocean and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Atlantic. The USA has the third largest population in the world (after China and India).
2. The American Dream, the hope for a better life in a new country, has attracted people from all over the world. Most of them leave their homeland because they are poor and have few opportunities. Some are forced to leave because of famines and civil war; others come for religious freedom. There are nearly 250 million people living in the USA. 10% are Spanish-speaking people than people of Asian and Pacific Island origin.
3. Each September, more than fifty million students between the ages of five and seventeen start the new school year. Students attend classes for an average of five hours a day, five days a week, and they have homework assignments to complete after school and on weekend. Many students sign up for after-school programs at their school or nearby. Sports are very popular. There are children’s baseball, soccer, football, and basketball teams in almost every school. 41% of high school graduates go to college.
4. This day celebrates Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492. As Columbus was Italian, working for Spain, Columbus Day is especially important for many Italian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. Since 1971, the holiday has been commemorated in the U.S. on the second Monday in October. Officially, the people of the USA are invited to celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of their country with church services and other activities. In some towns and cities, special church services, parades and large events are held.
5. Most Americans enjoy sports – both playing sports themselves and watching their favourite teams and competitions. Children are encouraged to participate in sports at an early age. The rivalry between high schools and colleges in sporting events goes right through the school year from football in September to track and field in June. Sports are important in college. Students who show talent in a sport like tennis, track and field, swimming, football, or basketball can apply for sports scholarships.

Tasks 10-17

Прочитайте текст. Определите, какие из приведённых утверждений 10–17 соответствуют содержанию текста (1 – True), какие не соответствуют (2 – False) и о чём в тексте не сказано, то есть на основании текста нельзя дать ни положительного, ни отрицательного ответа (3 – Not stated).

Peer pressure

Peer pressure* is very strong, especially among young people. Almost everyone can remember a moment when they did something because their friends were doing it. Teenagers often buy something just because their friends have it, and this thing comes into fashion. If teenagers didn’t imitate their friends’ behavior, there would be fewer social problems: smoking, crime and so on.

On the other hand, peer pressure can also produce positive results. Youth crime and vandalism in one of the districts of Bristol, a city in England, fell by 20% last year. Why? Because young people stopped doing stupid and anti-social things. Now they are trying to keep out of trouble. And it's all the result of a new project.

Two Bristol policemen organised a football league for teenagers in one of the poorest parts of the city. The idea is to prevent teenagers from committing crimes. They want to show teenagers how they can spend their free time in a better way.

The policemen introduced a system in which football results are connected to young people's behaviour outside the football grounds. Teams get points for winning their matches, but lose points if any team-member does anything he shouldn't on the football field or off it! For example, teams get ten points for winning a match, but if any player is arrested, the team loses ten points. If a member is caught doing an act of vandalism, such as spraying graffiti, the team loses five points. Three points are lost for less serious crimes.

The results in Bristol are great. None of the teenagers playing in the football league has been arrested by the police. Instead of doing antisocial things and causing problems these teenagers are trying to behave properly!

The idea is already getting popular in other parts of Britain, and similar programmes will be started in other cities. Social workers are also trying to use «peer pressure» to get other positive results. If some more original ways are found, levels of crime among young people will soon be falling quickly.

Some people also think that a similar system should be used for professional footballers. If a professional player gets into a fight on the football ground, his team loses points. In this way footballers will try to behave with more respect to other players.

Another example of positive peer pressure is that there are fewer teenagers who smoke or take drugs. This is the result of the growing popularity of mobile phones. A mobile has become a new symbol of growing up. Teenagers no longer need to smoke to show that they are adults. Now they want to get a phone as cool as their classmates have.

*Peer pressure – the strong influence of a group, especially of children, on the members of that group to behave as everyone else does. If someone does something because of peer pressure, they do it because other people in their social group do it.

10. Teenagers try to follow their friends’ habits.

        1) TRUE                        2) FALSE                        3) NOT STATED

11. The Bristol football league for teenagers was started by a social worker.

        1) TRUE                        2) FALSE                        3) NOT STATED

12. The aim of the project is to prepare professional footballers.

        1) TRUE                        2) FALSE                        3) NOT STATED

13. The results of football matches are sent to school.

        1) TRUE                        2) FALSE                        3) NOT STATED

14. The football team loses points when its member commits a crime.

        1) TRUE                        2) FALSE                        3) NOT STATED

15. Social workers are against using peer pressure method.

        1) TRUE                        2) FALSE                        3) NOT STATED

Задание 9:        A1        B3        C4        D6        E5

10.        1 (TRUE)

11.         2 (FALSE)

12.        2 (FALSE)

13.        3 (NOT STATED)

14.        1 (TRUE)

15.        2 (FALSE)

16.        no task

17.        no task