February 13, 2017

1. Read the text and mark the following statements «True» (T) or «False» (F).

Cornelia Funke is a German writer. Her famous story «Inkheart» is a rich story centred around a 12-year-old book lover whose father has a unique gift for bringing the world of books to life. «Inkheart» was the first in a trilogy and Funke followed with «Inkspell» and «Inkdeath». Before writing «Inkheart», she learns about booksellers, book collectors, book thieves and even book murderers as well as reading about martens and fire-eaters. She then imagines the characters and the places they might go, writes down lines for the first 20 chapters. Then, and only then — after about six months — she writes the first sentence. A novel will take her about a year to write. She always does her own sketches — in pen and ink, she creates a picture of her own characters to help her write about them. She married printer Rolf Funke in 1981. They have two children, Anna and Ben. Up until 2005 the Funke family lived in Hamburg, Germany, when they moved to Los Angeles. Sadly, in March 2006, Rolf died of cancer.

1) «Inkheart» is the first book in the series.________

2) «Inkheart» is about the girl who can bring characters of books to life.____

3) Before writing a story the author finds out a lot of things she wants to write about.______

4) It takes Cornelia Funke six months to write a story._______

5) Cornelia’s grandfather illustrates her books._________

6) Cornelia Funke is a widow.__________

2. Read the text. Make the sentences below the text true.

Built five thousand years ago, the mysterious stone circle on the Salisbury Plain, in southern England attracts many visitors. Some have thought that the large stones were set to worship the gods of the ancients, while others have said that it was an observatory or solar chronometer to mark the seasons. Its purpose has been lost to history, but its beauty has stood the test of time. Visits inside of the centre circle of the site are not allowed during normal hours, but can be arranged at other times.

1) This passage is from a newspaper article.

2) This monument is in Ireland.

3) People know exactly why the stones are standing there.

3. Read the text below. Match choices (A—G) to (1—6). There is one choice you do not need to use.

Christopher Paolini was born on 17 November 1983 1)_______ . He has lived most of his life in Paradise Valley, Montana 2)______ . The tall, jagged Beartooth Mountains rise on one side 3)_______ . Snowcapped most of the year, 4)_______ .

Christopher was homeschooled by his parents. As a child, he often wrote short stories and poems, 5)_________ , and read much. Some of his favorite books were Bruce Coville’s «Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher», Frank Herbert’s «Dune», 6)__________ . The idea of «Eragon» began as daydreams of a teen.

A) with his parents and younger sister, Angela

B)often went to the library

C)they inspired the fantastic scenery in «Eragon»

D) and Raymond E. Feist’s «Magician»

E) he climbed the mountains

F )of Paradise Valley

G) in Southern California

December 21, 2016

Television Program
Television programs are watched by millions of people worldwide. Particular television programs can influence even policy of a nation. Television is absolutely everywhere in our society today that it is hard to imagine a time when it did not exist.
Television has been bought since the late 1930s and has become more and more common ever since. The 1970s saw another evolution in TV as recording systems were designed so that people could watch recordings as well as broadcasts. There are many different types of programs with new genres.
Common TV programs include news broadcasts and TV series in drama and comedy, documentaries about various subjects. There are many other genres of programs as well including game shows, music programs and reality television.
Television has an extremely large influence on cultures all over the world. The TV networks and the programs that are shown will continue to have great effect on global culture both in the near future and for long time to come.
As online computer systems become more popular, television and computers are increasingly integrated. Such technologies combine the capabilities of personal computers, television, DVD players, and in some cases telephones, and greatly expand the kinds of services that can be provided. For example, computer-like hard drives in set-top recorders automatically store a TV program as it is being received so that the consumer can pause live TV, replay a scene, or skip ahead. For programs that consumers want to record for future viewing, a hard drive makes it possible to store a number of shows.
Level 1
1. Put a tick (v) against each a word you hear. Task (0) is an example.
0. A) television B) radio C) vision D) division
1. A) theatre B) programs C) book D) cinema
2. A) science fiction B) concert C) interview D) news
3. A) global B) globally C) general D) important
(0) – A

Level 2
2. Match the parts of the word combinations. Task (0) is an example.
0. music A) broadcast
1. recording B) show
2. news C) system
3. game D) program
(0) – D

Level 3
3. Choose the correct variant and complete the sentences. Task (0) is an example.
0. Television is absolutely everywhere in our world.
A) Television B) Radio C) TV D) A program
1. Televisions________________________since the late 1930s.
A) buys B) will buy C) are buying D) has been bought
2. There are many ____________ types of programs.
A) bored B) different  C) difficult D) general
3. TV________________ in drama and comedy, and documentaries are shown every day.
A) series B) news C) channels D) concerts
(0) – A

Level 4 
4. Write questions to get the following answers. Complete the dialogue. Task (0) is an example.
What will we watch tonight? ___________
There is a good program at 7.
1. What ___________________________
It’s a football match.
2. When ___________________________
Your favourite “Police story” will be right after the match.
3. Do_______________________________
Well, I don’t want to watch it. I don’t like detectives.