1) BRITISH THEATRE
The theatre has always been very strong in Britain. Its centre is, of course, London, where successful plays can 1 ____ without a break for many years. London has several dozens of theatres, most of them not 2 ____ from Trafalgar Square. 3 _____ London even some quite big towns have no public theatre at all, but every town has its private theatres. British theatre is much admired. There you can 4 ____ the best of everything – an excellent orchestra, famous conductors, celebrated actors and a well-dressed 5 ____.
Choose a good play, and you’ll enjoy yourself throughout from the moment the curtain 6 ____to the end of the last act. Get your seats beforehand, either at the box-office or at the theatre itself. You’ll probably want to sit as near to the 7 ____ as possible.
1. А) show Б) perform В) run Г) produce
2. А) far Б) remote В) distant Г) close
3. А) Inside Б) Outside В) In Г) Out
4. А) take Б) give В) hold Г) get
5. А) audience Б) auditorium В) authority Г) publicity
6. А) puts up Б) sets up В) makes up Г) goes up
7. А) scene Б) stage В) scenery Г) performance
2) 'It's Only Me'
After her husband had gone to work, Mrs Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too excited to do any
1 ______ that morning, because in the evening she would be going to a fancy dress party with her husband. She intended to dress up as a ghost and she had 2 ______ her costume the night before. Now she was 3 ______ to try it on. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet, it was very effective. MrsRichards put it 4 ______, looked in the mirror, smiled and went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be 5 ______ to wear.
Just as Mrs Richards was entering the dining-room, there was a 6 ______ on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to 7 ______ the poor man, Mrs Richards quickly hid in the small store-room under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the store-room was opened and a man entered. Mrs Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the meter. She tried to 8 ______ the situation, saying 'It's only me', but it was too late. The man let out a cry and jumped back several paces. When MrsRichards walked towards him, he ran away, slamming the door behind him.
1. А) homework; Б) household; В) housework; Г) housewife
2. А) did; Б) made; В) built; Г) created
3. А) nervous; Б) restless; В) ill at ease; Г) impatient
4. А) up; Б) on; В) over; Г) down
5. А) attractive; Б) exciting; В) comfortable; Г) cozy
6. А) knock; Б) kick; В) hit; Г) crash
7. А) fear; Б) worry; В) disturb; Г) frighten
8. А) describe; Б) explain; В) interpret; Г) clear
3) Light from the Past
When you stand and look at the stars, you are really looking at past history. The light from Alkaid, the end star in the handle of the Big Dipper, has taken about 210 years to 1 ______ your eyes. If Alkaid stopped
2 ______ today, people on earth would still see it 3 ______ about 210 years. Some of the stars you see here tonight may have stopped existing several thousand years ago. The light from some 4 ______ stars right now will not be seen on earth until thousands, or even millions, of years from now!
It’s 5 ______ breathtaking, and it 6 ______ to the great mystery about the nature of light. Think about water waves. They get smaller and smaller in amplitude as they travel. Their energy is lost in friction among the water molecules. Think of sound waves in air. They too get weaker and weaker because of friction among the air molecules.
But light waves stop only if they strike something, and their energy is transferred 7 ______ another form.8 ______, they can go on and on, at the same terrific speed, with no loss of energy, forever!
1. A) approach; Б) reach; В) hit; Г) achieve
2. A) burning; Б) flashing; В) blushing; Г) shining
3. A) after; Б) through; В) for; Г) at
4. A) farewell; Б) faraway; В) far; Г) fair
5. A) quit; Б) quick; В) quiet; Г) quite
4) The First Day at School
4) Do you remember your first day at school?
It was probably 1 ____ confusing. Now, to 2 ____ this confusion, many primary schools in England have a special teacher who welcomes new pupils. She is 3____ a reception class teacher. The children are 4 ____ with the idea of school and if they have been good, they can’t understand why they have to go to school. They imagine that school is optional. When the child goes to school on his first day and watches his mother leaving he thinks that she is deserting him. The teacher must 5 ____ him that at the end of the day his mother will be back and take him home. The children are not the only people that are disturbed by going to school. The teacher sometimes has as much difficulty in 6 ____ with the mothers. They hang around and dislike leaving the child without their protection.
The best way to 7 ____ with the situation is to get the child used to the idea of school. Before the beginning of term, the mother should take her child to see the teacher and to look 8 ____ the school. The first day should be something to emphasize the regularity of school.
1. А) enough; Б) rarely; В) rather; Г) equally
2. A) escape; Б) defeat; В) beat; Г) avoid
3. A) named; Б) called; В) said; Г) told
4. A) afraid; Б) threatened; В) endangered; Г) risked
5. A) convince; Б) prove; В) explain; Г) announce
6. A) managing; Б) guiding; В) coping; Г) handling
7. A) face; Б) deal; В) touch; Г) consider
8. A) through; Б) about; В) after; Г) round
Your Future World
5) What will you be doing in 2025?
Will you be living in an undersea research station? Will you be the chief engineer 1 ______ a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean? Will you be leading an 2 ______ to the planet Mars? Will you be …?
You can daydream, of course, but nobody knows exactly what the world will be 3 ______. But scientists have made some guesses.
Based on the advances made, they believe people will be healthier. Diphtheria, malaria, tuberculosis, polio and many other killers are under control now. These diseases are on the way out, 4 ______ to germ-killing chemicals, new ways of finding out about our bodies, and new ways of providing clean, safe 5______ and water.
Healthier people live longer, so we can expect the world’s population to 6 ______ sharply. It may double in the next forty years! This brings up a serious problem: how will we find food, water, and minerals for such a huge population?
Scientists are at work on some 7 ______. From the ocean they hope to get new fertilizers to increase the yield of the soil; new chemicals to kill crop-destroying insects without 8 ______ other animals, new sources of water or supplies of food.
1. A) inventing; Б) designing; В) scheming; Г) doing
2. A) exploration; Б) expenditure; В) expedition; Г) exhibit
3. A) like; Б) alike; В) likely; Г) likable
4. A) as a result; Б) because; В) on account; Г) thanks
5. A) eat; Б) feed; В) food; Г) cooking
6. A) decrease; Б) distract; В) dissolve; Г) increase
7. A) solutions; Б) alternatives; В) preferences; Г) questions
8. A) hurting; Б) harming; В) injuring; Г) wounding
6) Alaska
The first Europeans to visit what is now called Alaska were Russian sailors led by Captain Bering. The 1 ______ was funded by Russian czar Peter the Great. In 1728 Bering and his crew 2 ______ through the strait that is now named after him, between the easternmost part of Asia and the westernmost part of the Americas. Their journey 3 ______ that Asia was not connected to North America; however, due to the heavy fog, they never actually saw the nearby land of North America. In 1741 Bering headed further south, landing on tiny Kayak Island off the 4 ______ of what is now the southeastern part of the state.
In the 1780s and 1790s Russians began small colonies, first on Kodiak Island and later on the mainland. In 1799 the Russian-American Company was established to 5 ______ Russian interests. For the next 68 years the company provided the only form of government for the European colonists, 6 ______ never numbered more than a few hundred. The Russians ruled the 7 ______ until the late 1860s, when they sold it to the United States for $7.2 million dollars.
The 8 ______ of gold in 1896 in the Yukon Territory started a huge gold rush that brought thousands of settlers.
1. A) travel; Б) trip; В) journey; Г) expedition
2. A) paddled; Б) sailed; В) travelled; Г) rowed
3. A) proved; Б) convinced; В) persuaded; Г) appeared
4. A) bank; Б) beach; В) shore; Г) sea-side
5. A) look after; Б) look at; В) look for; Г) look away
6. A) which; Б) whose; В) what; Г) who
7. A) country; Б) area; В) ground; Г) earth
8. A) discovery; Б) detection; В) exploration; Г) innovation
7) Ordinary
“Ordinary” was the worst word she could find for anything. She and I would argue fiercely because I wanted to be ordinary as desperately as my mother wanted to be 1 ______ .
“I can’t 2 ______ that hair-do”, she said when I went to the hairdresser with my friend and came back with a pageboy haircut straight out of Seventeenmagazine, “It’s so terribly ordinary”. Not ugly, not unsuitable. But ordinary.
Her 3 ______ of ordinariness came out most strongly in her clothes.
“Couldn’t you please 4 ______ something else?” I asked her when she was dressing for Parents’ Day in tight-fitting pants and a bright pink sweater, with a Mexican cape.
“What’s wrong with my outfit?”
What wasn’t wrong with it!
“It’s just that I wish it would be something more plain,” I said sheepishly, “something that people won’t 5 ______ at.”
She looked at me angrily and drew herself 6 ______ to her full height of five feet ten inches.
“Are you 7 ______ of your own mother? Because if you are, Isadora, I feel 8 ______ for you. I really do.”
1. A) uncommon; Б) unusual; В) odd; Г) peculiar
2. A) stand; Б) approve; В) agree; Г) vote
3. A) worry; Б) trouble; В) panic; Г) fear
4. A) dress; Б) put; В) wear; Г) clothe
5. A) watch; Б) stare; В) glance; Г) peep
6. A) up; Б) on; В) over; Г) at
7. A) sorry; Б) shamed; В) ashamed; Г) angry
8. A) regretful; Б) sorry; В) guilty; Г) unhappy
8) Searching for a New Programme
A healthy lifestyle can vastly improve your well-being. This is a lifestyle designed for those who wish to feel more certain about their health and more in control of what the present and future will bring them in that important 1 ______ of existence. None of us wants to be sick. None of us enjoys the idea that we may become a medical statistic. This is a simple, easy-to-follow health-style that can enable you to get cards very much in your 2 ______. The doctors were fortunate enough to come into 3 ______ with a field of study that brought them to healing and well-being that they so desperately needed. They personally have 4 ______ thousands of people improve their health using only a small part of information. Many more people begin to improve their health now. Embracing the most current information from many health-related fields, the programme of healthy lifestyle gives you an understanding of the impact of exercise, breathing, sunshine, sleep and much more on your health. In order for this programme to work for you, you have to be willing to apply at least some part of it. Some change will be 5 ______. And as you make those first modest changes, you will get positive results that encourage you to do more. Changing is fun. And if you realize that your new healthy lifestyle 6 ______ the making of new habits, not the 7 ______ of old ones, you will feel very positive about what the future holds for you.
1. А) sector Б) region В) area Г) territory
2. А) benefit Б) advantage В) privilege Г) favour
3. А) touch Б) contact В) view Г) connection
4. А) confessed Б) witnessed В) determined Г) recognized
5. А) ordered Б) commanded В) forced Г) required
6. А) contains Б) consists В) involves Г) encloses
7. А) breaking Б) damaging В) ruining Г) destroying
9) To the North of London
The Aldenham Country Park is a large and pleasant area easily reached if you are travelling north out of London. It is worth visiting if you want a quick breath of fresh air and a reasonably attractive place for a brief picnic. The most important point of the park is Aldenham Reservoir. It was built in 1796 to 1 ______ the water level in the river 2 ______ by the newly constructed Grand Union Canal, and more recently has been used as a reserve public water supply. Not far from there lies the busy town of Watford which can be recommended for a brief visit. And in any 3 ______ much more interesting stretches of the canal are met further north. And if you make your way through the town you can visit the Watford Museum in the High Street which has materials on printing and paper-making on 4 ______. The picture gallery has changing exhibitions of works by artists who lived or painted in the area. Another attraction of the neighbourhood is a fascinating complex of Roman buildings, the 5 ______ of a great city, once the third largest centre of Roman Britain. The private houses were impressive, many of them furnished with mosaic floors. The beauty of the mosaics can hardly be described on paper, and it is best 6 ______ by standing and looking for a while. The other principal Roman site to be visited is a long stretch of the city wall which 7 ______ back to the 3rd century.
1. А) remain Б) support В) hold Г) maintain
2. А) confused Б) affected В) bothered Г) disturbed
3. А) condition Б) situation В) circumstance Г) case
4. А) presentation Б) display В) demonstration Г) exhibition
5. А) remains Б) wastes В) wreckage Г) reminders
6. А) praised Б) approved В) appreciated Г) regarded
7. А) dates Б) returns В) follows Г) comes
10) Sharing music with friends
Brenda is a nineteen-year old full-time college student, and she earns money working part time as a waitress. Brenda loves to listen to music like most young people, but she can’t 1 _____ the high CD prices that record companies 2 _____ for popular CDs. Brenda says that the prices of CDs are ridiculously high at $17 to $20 each and there are only two or three good songs on each CD.
She 3 _____ an apartment with three other roommates. She pays her own 4 _____ and she also pays most of her 5 _____. Her solution to expensive CDs is to download or copy music from the Internet. Brenda and millions of other people are called “downloaders” because they download free file-sharing software and music. When Brenda later gives, shares, or trades her music files free over the Internet, she is also an uploader. She considers herself an active music uploader, but the music industry considers her a 6 _____. From 2001 on, the Recording Industry Association of America has sued and fined dozens of file-sharing services, for uploading music files, and hundreds of people, for 7 _____ the law by downloading music.
1. А) provide Б) supply В) afford Г) allow
2. А) offer Б) charge В) suggest Г) propose
3. А) leases Б) lends В) hires Г) rents
4. А) lessons Б) classes В) tuition Г) education
5. А) costs Б) fees В) expenses Г) payments
6. А) thief Б) cheater В) burglar Г) bandit
7. А) undermining Б) disobeying В) breaking Г) ruining
12) A CHINESE VASE
When I was a child I loved visiting my grandmother. I thought her house was as beautiful as a palace. As I grew older the house and garden seemed smaller, but I still loved visiting the old lady. There were so many lovely things to look 1 _____ in the house.
I loved her paintings and the old clock, but 2 _____ all I loved a big Chinese vase which stood in the hall. It was 3 _____ than me, and I couldn’t see 4 _____ it. I walked round and round it looking at the beautiful ladies and the birds and flowers and trees, and Grandmother often 5 _____ me stories about these ladies. She said that her grandfather had brought the vase with him when he returned from a long 6 _____ to China.
We live in a modern house, and I’m afraid my husband and I often nag at the children. “Don’t make the new carpet dirty, Paul!” “Be careful with the new table, Philip!”
Before she died, Grandmother gave me the vase I loved so much. It 7 _____ beautiful in our modern hall.
One day I came home from the shop. The boys met me at the door. “I’m as strong as George Bes, Mummy,” said Paul. “I got a goal and I broke the vase.” Philip tried to be more diplomatic than Paul, “It doesn’t really matter, does it? You told us it wasn’t new. You aren’t cross, are you?”
1. А) out Б) at В) into Г) about
2. А) mostly Б) great of В) greatly Г) most of
3. А) higher Б) larger В) taller Г) greater
4. А) about Б) around В) inside Г) outside
5. А) said Б) spoke В) talked Г) told
6. А) voyage Б) tour В) hike Г) excursion
7. А) looked Б) viewed В) appeared Г) seemed
13) A QUIET HOUSE
It was April and John Moore was studying for an important examination. As the date of the exam 1 _______ nearer, he decided to go somewhere and read by himself.
He did not want the amusements of the seaside, or the beauties of the countryside. He decided to find a quiet, little town and work there undisturbed. He2 ______ his suitcase with clothes and books. Then he looked in a railway timetable for a town that he did not know. He found one, and bought a ticket to go there. He did not tell anyone where he was going. After all, he did not want to be 3 ______.
That is how Moore arrived at Benchurch. It was a market town, and once a week it was quite busy for a few hours. The rest of the time it was a very quiet and sleepy place. Moore spent his first night at the only hotel in the town. The landlady was very kind and helpful, but the hotel was not really quiet enough for him. The second day he started 4 ______ for a house to rent.
There was only one place that he liked. It was more than quiet – it was deserted and very lonely. It was a big, old seventeenth-century house. It had barred windows like a prison, and a high brick wall all around it. It would be hard to 5 ______ a more unwelcoming place. But it suited Moore perfectly. He went to find the local lawyer, who was responsible for the house.
Mr. Carnford, the lawyer, was very happy to rent the house to him. “I’d be glad to let you have it free,” he said, “. It’s been empty so long that people have started to 6 ______ a lot of foolish stories about it. You’ll be able to prove that the stories are wrong.
Moore didn’t think it was necessary to ask the lawyer for more details of the foolish stories. He paid his rent, and Mr. Carnford gave him the name of an old servant to 7 ______ him. He came away from the lawyer with the keys of the house in his pocket.
14) Looking for a job
My new home was a long way from the center of London but it was becoming essential to find a job, so 1 ______ I spent a whole morning getting to town and applying to London Transport for a job on the tube. It turned out that they were looking for guards, not drivers. This 2 ______ me. I couldn’t drive a car but I could probably guard a train and perhaps continue to write poems between stations. “Yes, I would be a tube guard,” I thought. I could see myself being cheerful, useful, a good man in a crisis.
The next day I sat down, with almost a hundred other 3 ______, for the intelligence test. I must have done all right because after half an hour’s wait I was sent into another room for a psychological test. The examiner sat at a desk. You were signaled forward to occupy the seat opposite him when the previous occupant had been 4 ______. Sometimes the person was rejected quickly and sometimes after quite a while. Obviously the longer interviews were the most successful ones. Mine was the only one that lasted a minute and a half. I can remember the questions now: “Why did you leave your last job, “Why did you leave your job before that? “And the one before?” I can’t 5 ______ my answers, except they were short at first and grew shorter as we continued. His closing statement 6 ______ a lack of sensitivity, which helped to explain why as a psychologist he had risen no higher than the underground railway. “You have failed this test and we are unable to offer you a position.” Failing to get that job was my low point. Or so I thought, believing that the work was easy. Actually, such a job 7 ______ exactly this sort of elementary responsibility a dreamer like me is unlikely to have. But, I was still far short of self-understanding as well as short of cash.
15) Tracy
Tracy was as excited as a child about her first trip abroad. Early in the morning, she stopped at a 1 ______ agency and reserved a suite on the Signal Deck ofthe Queen Elizabeth II. The next three days she spent buying clothes and luggage.
On the morning of the sailing, Tracy hired a limousine to drive her to the pier. When she 2 ______ at Pier 90, where the Queen Elizabeth II was docked, it was crowded with photographers and television reporters, and for a moment Tracy was panic stricken. Then she realized they were interviewing the two men posturing at the foot of the gangplank. The members of the crew were helping the passengers with their luggage. On deck, a steward looked at Tracy’s ticket and 3 ______ her to her stateroom. It was a lovely suite with a private terrace. It had been ridiculously expensive but Tracy 4 ______ it was worth it.
She unpacked and then wandered along the corridor. In almost every cabin there were farewell parties going on, with laughter and champagne and conversation. She felt a sudden ache of loneliness. There was no one to see her 5 ______, no one for her to care about, and no one who cared about her. She was sailing into a completely unknown future.
Suddenly she felt the huge ship shudder as the tugs started to pull it out of the harbor, and she stood 6 ______ the passengers on the boat deck, watching the Statue of Liberty slide out of 7 ______, and then she went exploring.
16) Busy Day
Let me tell you what happened once when my dear Uncle Podger decided to hang a picture on the wall. He told us not to 1 ______ and just watch him do it. He said he would do it by himself. Well, he came up to the picture which was waiting to be put up in the dining room and took it. But suddenly it fell down and the glass 2 ______ into pieces and he cut his finger. He started to 3 ______ his handkerchief but couldn’t find it because he had put it in his coat and none of us knew where his coat was.
“Six of you!” Uncle Podger exclaimed, “and you cannot find the coat that I put down only five minutes ago!” But then he got up from his chair and found that he had been sitting on his coat the whole time. “Oh, you can stop your 4 ______. I’ve found it myself!”
Then after an hour was spent in tying up his finger Uncle Podger wondered where the hammer had disappeared to. And while everybody was trying to get the hammer he was standing on the chair saying: “Well, I want to know if you are going to 5 ______ me here all evening!”
Finally the hammer was found, but we noticed that the nail which he had prepared was lost. And, of course, Uncle Podger didn’t keep 6 ______ while he was waiting for another nail to be brought. We heard all he had to say about our habit of losing all the things he needed.
When the picture was hanging on the wall at last, everybody looked very 7 ______, all except Uncle Podger, who was lively as ever. Aunt Maria remarked that if Uncle Podger wanted to do a job like that again, she would spend a week with her mother until it was over.
1. A) scare B) disturb C) worry D) fear
2. A) failed B) broke C) ruined D) fell
3. A) look at B) look to C) look after D) look for
4. A) search B) investigation C) exploration D) study
5. A) stay B) keep C) put D) take
6. A) dumb B) cool C) still D) silent
7. A) dull B) tired C) fresh D) boring
17) A Storyteller
In my early 20s, after a year and a half in England, and four months in France, I returned to the United States and got a job at a camp in northern Virginia. My 1 ______ that summer was Dan from Mississippi, and I am from Rhode Island. We worked together with a group of boys from 12 to 14 years old. I've always been a bit untidy, but Dan was 2 ______ and clean, even after a night in the woods with our campers. We could not have been more different, but we got on because we shared the same 3 ______ of humor.
At the end of the summer, a few of us went to 4 ______ a cave in West Virginia and got stuck in the cave for the night. It wasn’t as dramatic as it sounds. The park rangers had told us to stay there if anything happened. They knew where we were going, and when we should have been back. Dan hurt his right foot badly. So we had to 5 ______ the night in the cave. Food and water were not a problem, but we turned off our lights to save power. In the distance, we could hear the sound of running water.
To 6 ______ the time, we told stories. That night in the cave we moved from one family story to another. As the night wore on, I remembered more and more. I was not alone–the cave, the blue light and the flowing water released stories and memories that we had never revealed to anyone. It was as if a river of stories had started flowing in each of us.
When the rangers came the next morning, we didn’t want to 7 ______. "Can't we just tell a few more stories?" In the cave, that night, I became a storyteller.
1. A) friend B) teammate C) partner D) opponent
2. A) clear B) neat C) exact D) careful
3. A) feeling B) emotion C) reason D) sense
4. A) explore B) analyze C) teach D) learn
5. A) lead B) spend C) hold D) waste
6. A) keep B) waste C) spare D) pass
7. A) escape B) leave C) remain D) retire
18) New York City: Nostalgia for the Old Neighbourhood
Life is made up of little things: some unimportant memories from childhood that, in fact, shaped your character. I 1 ______ on Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan during the 1950s-60s where family life was centred around old 2 ______ of flats and small stores. Third Avenue was my old neighbourhood and it had character. It was 3 ______ with working families of Italian, German and Irish origin. We shopped together with all those people and their kids played together. Third Avenue influenced the way our family lived. I absorbed the street life. It gave me an 4 ______ that I could not have received in any other place. To me, it was home.
In a recent walk around Third Avenue my eyes 5 ______ signs of the old neighbourhood but couldn’t find any. If I hadn't been born here and someone described the area, it would be 6 ______ to believe. It wasn't because a few buildings had changed – everything had changed. The transformation began in the late 1950s and 60s when corporations replaced the old neighbourhood. In the early 1960s, the houses were pulled down. Families were forced to 7 ______, the small stores went out of business and the old neighbourhood was changed forever. And now there is a lack of character in the transformed neighbourhood.
1. A) brought up B) grew up C) went up D) got up
2. A) blocks B) houses C) groups D) sets
3. A) covered B) held C) loaded D) filled
4. A) knowledge B) information C) education D) training
5. A) looked after B) looked for C) looked through D) looked at
6. A) hard B) easy C) strange D) heavy
7. A) stay out B) take out C) move out D) go out
19)To Hear A Child
I believe in patience. I live as a volunteer residential counselor in a small group home. These boys have brought joy and happiness into my life; they have made me laugh and made me proud. However, they have also challenged me, made me angry and tested my patience.
Each day we start anew, going about a 1 ______ routine. I drive them to school, pick them up, cook for them and help with homework. We spend the evenings 2 ______ about what happened during the day. I meet their teachers and study for tests with them. They are the last people I see each night and the first ones I hear in the morning. They have become a 3 ______ of my life. I am twenty-two and am beginning to understand the love of a parent.
I could not have come this far without patience. They do not think like miniature adults and it is not fair to expect them to. 4 ______ my expectations of them are high, I must remember that so much of what they see and understand is for the first time. First loves, first failed test, first time feeling the need to break away from the nest. I must have patience with them, because there is still a child within that comes out when I least expect it.
This world is a fast-paced, fast food, fast-internet place. 5 ______, no matter how fast things move, children will be children. I believe they will mature quicker and with more tools if I am patient. I see it in their eyes. Over time, sad eyes can glisten again, but only if I am 6 ______ of the fact that it takes them longer to get somewhere.
I see around them a world that expects too much of them. They come 7 ______ too many things that give them too much sadness. They listen to me, respect me and understand reason but not always when I want them to. This opportunity has given me wisdom but only when I was patient enough to hear a child.
1. A) daily B) common C) average D) traditional
2. A) discussing B) debating C) talking D) saying
3. A) bit B) part C) parcel D) piece
4. A) also B) altogether C) although D) thus
5. A) nevertheless B) nevermore C) although D) therefore
6. A) common B) familiar C) aware D) acquainted
7. A) through B) along C) upon D) across
20) Bo
It was raining. The rain started early in the morning and it seemed, that it would never stop. Looking out of the window, Bo was thinking about his telephone conversation. Raindrops spattered the windshield as the taxi sliced through 1 ______ traffic on Park Avenue. There were too many cars as usual. When it had skidded to a halt at the curb, Bo gave a ten-dollar bill to the driver. That included a very generous tip. He 2 ______ his point of destination and was ready to take on Frank Ramsey. He had called Ramsey that morning from the Yale club and demanded the meeting. Ramsey had tried to avoid it but Bo insisted and Ramsey gave 3 ______.
At the building’s revolving doors, Bo glanced back over his shoulder through the rain and noticed a woman standing on the sidewalk a short distance away. In the dim light he could not get a clear picture. She 4 ______ so much like Tiffany. She was wearing a yellow top and had long blond hair. Standing absolutely 5 ______ beneath her umbrella while everything around her moved, she seemed to be gazing sraight at him. His heart 6 ______, the way it always did when he saw her. He couldn’t help it. Bo strained to 7 ______ sight of her as he was jostled into the doorway. When he cleared the doors, the woman had already disappeared.
1. A) solid B) heavy C) hard D) difficult
2. A) achieved B) arrived C) entered D) reached
3. A) to B) on C) in D) off
4. A) stared B) gazed C) looked D) glanced
5. A) inert B) static C) quiet D) still
6. A) set B) sank C) moved D) dropped
7. A) keep B) hold C) take D) give
21) The secret tunnel
In the middle of our village, there is a beautiful old church, which dates back to the beginning of the Middle Ages. It was rebuilt several times, but some of its parts, including the foundations, are 1 ______.
Well, 2 ______ about restoration, a while ago they decided to install a heating system there, as it gets cold in winter. Some of the local boys volunteered to help, including myself.
The benches were connected in stacks, so it was hard work to lift or to push them away, but we managed it. Most of the church floor was covered with marble-type slabs, but under some benches there were just some ancient-looking bricks.
We got really 3 ______, as we had heard stories about an old underground passageway leading from a crypt below the church to the castle in the nearest city. It is twelve miles 4 ______.
So, a friend of mine and I started to dig down there. It was relatively easy to pull out the top layer of bricks, and underneath them we found soil, which also moved easily as it was completely dry. We found that one side of the hole was so soft that you could just 5 ______ a stick through it. It was obviously that passageway! Then some workmen came in and told us to stop. Just fancy that! We had to stop at the most exciting moment.
After a few days, the workmen put a layer of hard cement over the entire floor, so our find remained a mystery. But I won’t give 6 ______. I still hope to go there some day and find that secret tunnel. Maybe, that will become the greatest 7 ______ of the 21st century.
1. A) natural B) original C) real D) genuine
2. A) commenting B) telling C) saying D) speaking
3. A) excited B) amazed C) annoyed D) animated
4. A) away B) far C) off D) about
5. A) shift B) pull C) push D) remove
6. A) in B) up C) on D) at
7. A) innovation B) invention C) discovery D) development
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