Test

Providing five-star luxury in the middle of a treasured wilderness without damaging the environment might not be easy, but it is far from impossible. The King Pacific Lodge in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest proves that if enough care and attention is taken, the task is within the reach of any tourist provider.

Unlike many other hotel building projects no trees were cut down and no land was wasted in order to build it.The Lodge does not have a permanent location but sits on a floating barge towed into the sea bay in May, where it anchors till September. Those wishing to stay in one of its seventeen rooms must access it by boat or seaplane. Each guest staying at the Lodge is charged 3 % conservation tax, but is rewarded by the chance to sight whales and bears. And since these are the main attractions of the area and of the Lodge, the management is well aware that in order to stay in business they must leave the area untouched. In 2000, the Lodge management signed an agreement with the native Gitga'at people by whom they were later adopted. Together they work for the benefit of the area.The Lodge recognises the native tribe as the owners of the land, pays the tribe for the use of their land and even supports the native youth and employs the tribe's people.They, in turn, teach the newcomers about the local culture.

The King Pacific Lodge is one of a growing number of tourism companies that go beyond purely minimising their environmental impact to win the approval of the local community where they establish their business.These companies use eco-friendly solutions to problems, and are careful to restrict their use of resources and protect threatened species. Realising how destructive tourism can be they want to avoid the love-it-to-death effect of tourism and leave a lighter environmental footprint.

1  According to the text, luxury hotels

A   usually have a positive effect on their environment.

 B   are more eco-friendly when they are difficult to reach

-C   do not harm the environment if they are carefully designed.

   D   are impossible to find in the middle of a wilderness.

2 The King Pacific Lodge

A   is situated far away from an important wilderness.

 B   has been created after careful consideration.

C   is less luxurious than might be expected.

 D   is based on a good example.

3 What is true about the Lodge?

A   It is located in an area without any trees.

B   It can be moved from place to place.

C   Guests have to pay extra for the flight to get there.

D   Guests can take part in conservation programmes.

4 The Lodge management

A   cooperate with the native people.

 B   bought the land for a lot of money.

C   do not care about the local culture.

 D   are difficult to cooperate with.

5  Some of the native people

A   did not want to sell their land.

B   go to school to learn about the local culture.

C   work from a very early age.

D   earn money at the Lodge.

6 According to the text, the tourist industry

A   ignores the importance of eco-friendly tourism.

 B   will always be a threat to the environment.

 C   can limit the damage it does to the environment.

 D   is in conflict with the local communities.

Liverpool had done it before and really wanted to do it again. However, the Archdruid put his foot down and refused.   He even went so far as to say that he would deny them his presence. Liverpool insisted. The Archdruid persisted. He believed somewhere in Wales was a more suitable choice. What was the squabble all about? The hosting of the time-honoured Welsh art festival - the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

The festival's roots can be traced back to 1176 when the first Eisteddfod (literally 'sitting' festival) is said to have been held at Lord Rhys' castle in Cardigan. It was a grand gathering of poets and musicians from all over the country with the prize of a chair at the Lord's table awarded to the best artists.

The idea caught on in no time, and the Eisteddfod became a folk tradition across Wales. However, when the Eisteddfod was officially associated with the Gorsedd of Bards at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it firmly established itself as a great artistic occasion. The Gorsedd of Bards is made up of the most distinguished Welsh artists who, to this day, participate in the festival. At their head is the Archdruid, who is responsible for conducting the ceremonies during Eisteddfod week and for choosing the venue. The ceremonies are still held to honour literary achievements amongst Welsh poets and prose writers.

Three ceremonies are held during the Eisteddfod week, the Crowning ceremony to honour the finest free verse poet, the Prose Medal ceremony and the Chairing ceremony for strict metre poetry. During the ceremonies, members of the Gorsedd of Bards gather on the Eisteddfod stage along with the Archdruid. But the indisputable highlight of the week is when the Archdruid reveals the identity of the winning poet, who is then honoured by a children's floral dance.

In its purest form an eisteddfod is simply a series of music and poetry competitions and there are hundreds of small local and school eisteddfodau (plural of eisteddfod) throughout Wales all year round. However, it is the national Eisteddfod that is the main event being held in a different spot each year and hosted by the Bards in their historic ceremonial robes. The venue turns into a vast sea of tents providing a roof for the artists and visitors who come to enjoy the performances as well as the craftsmen and traders surrounding the event.

According to the first paragraph

A   Liverpool hosted the first Eisteddfod.

B   the Archdruid thought the festival should take place in Wales.

C   the Archdruid refused to make a choice.

 D   Liverpool did not want to host the festival.

 The first Eisteddfod took place

 A   in a castle.

 B   all over the country.

C   around a large table.

D   in a large theatre.

3 What is true about Eisteddfod?

A   It quickly became very popular in Wales.

B   Prominent artists did not have time for it.

C   It became unpopular at the start of the 19th century.

D   It was only for Lords and the wealthy.

4  Nowadays, Eisteddfod

A   is held in the town of Gorsedd.

B   has awards in two categories.

C   includes a dance competition with flowers.

D   is held where the Archdruid decides.

5  A floral dance is held to celebrate
A   the victory of the winning poet.
B   the end of the Eisteddfod week.  
C   the arrival of the Archdruid on stage.
D   all of the week's highlights.

6 The national Eisteddfod

 A   takes place at the same time as hundreds of small, local competitions.

       B   is only for artists who have already won their local eisteddfod.

       C   in the most famous of many competitions which happen all through the year.

       D   travels from one venue to another throughout the year.

Reading Test

Dr. Brown's dental practice was on the ground floor of a large suburban house which had been built towards the end of the 19th century. The front room, which served both as the waiting room and an office for the secretary, was furnished with dusty armchairs and a couple of sofas that looked as though they must have been bought second-hand when the house was first occupied. The usual selection of magazines, all hopelessly out of date and falling to pieces, were scattered on the scratched coffee table that stood on the worn-out carpet in the centre of the room.

    John wondered where all these magazines came from. Somehow, he could not imagine Dr. Brown reading magazines with titles like "Woman's Fashion Weekly”and "Home and Family"  in his spare time. Perhaps the secretary brought them in, he thought, as he sat fidgeting on the uncomfortable sofa next to his serious-looking father. He wanted to ask her, but it somehow seemed wrong to  speak;just about the only sounds that could be heard in the room was the steady tick of the clock which stood on  the mantelpiece over the fireplace and the tap-tap of the secretary’s typewriter.

Some of the people sitting in the waiting room idly flipped through the old magazines while others, probably regular visitors, read the morning newspaper they had wisely brought with them. One lady sat next to the fire quietly knitting what looked like a long scarf, exactly as if she were sitting in her own living room at home. Another woman kept looking at the clock and moaning softly, but there was no conversation amongst the waiting patients.

      Bored, John started to play a game. What was wrong with all these people he asked himself. Were they all here for the same routine check-up as he was? Surely not; that lady was clearly in pain, so he decided the others must all have terrible problems as well. He imagined that the knitting lady had absent-mindedly put one of her knitting needles in her mouth and bitten it, breaking a tooth. He was sure this was the case because his mother was always warning him that this would happen to him if he didn't stop chewing his pen when he was doing his homework. And that man with the grey hair; wasn't his right cheek just a little bit swollen? Obviously he had eaten something with a maggot in it and now the maggot was still there in his mouth, eating through his gums...  Suddenly, John was brought back to earth by the sound of footsteps in the hall outside and then a bell rang somewhere in the room. Everybody looked up at the secretary as she consulted a list of names in the diary on her desk. "Mrs. Barker", she called out, and the lady by the fire carefully put her knitting away in the plastic bag she carried and rose to her feet, heading towards the door and the dentist's chair. The other patients seemed to relax a little as they returned to their reading; even the moaning from the clock-watching lady ceased for a few seconds. John sighed inwardly and  picked up one of the more colourful-looking magazines in  front of him. He had had enough of his game, but he had a horrible feeling that it was going to be a long time before he got to see the dentist.

Statements

 1. The furniture in the waiting room must have been:

 a) made before the house was built;

 b) very shabby and dirty looking;

 c)  not new when it was bought;

 d) not suitable for a dental practice.

 2. John was quite sure that Dr. Brown:

 a)  never read the magazines in the waiting room;

 b)  told his secretary to buy new magazines;

 c)  did not'know where the  magazines came from;

d)  did not have enough time to read magazines.

 3. Why didn't John ask the secretary about the magazines?

a)  H is father would be angry;       

 b)  he could see she was very busy;

 c) he was too shy to do so;          

 d)  nobody else was talking.

 4. The writer suggests that some patients had brought newspapers with them because:

 a) they wanted to catch up with the news;

 b) they didn't want to talk to each other;

 c) they knew nothing about the magazines;

 d) they had been to the dentist before.

 5. There were some patients that:

 a) needed treatment badly;

  b) spent their time doing something useful;

  c) were playing table games while waiting;

  d)were impatiently wandering around the room.

 6. Why did John have to see the dentist?

  a) He had broken one of his teeth

  b) his mother insisted on it;

  c)he was in a lot of pain; "

  d)  it was time for his regular visit.

 7. John must have had:

a) good imagination;

b)  a bad toothache;

c) maggot in his mouth;

d)  grey hair.

   8. The secretary knew the dentist was ready to see the next patient because:

  a) she heard footsteps in the corridor;

  b)  the clock sounded the hour;

  c)she heard a special signal;       

  d)  Mrs. Barker put her knitting away.

  9. The patients in the waiting room seemed to feel:

  a) quite relaxed;                   

  b)  a bit frightened;

  c) little annoyed;                 

  d)  a little bored.

  10. Why did John stop playing his game?

  a) He had got bored with it;

  b) It was time to see the dentist;

  c) he wanted to read the magazine;

  d) It was not very relaxing

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From «Palms Grow in the Gulf» by Chris Carroll, National Geographic June 2004

They're actually visible to the naked eye from space: two palm tree-shaped artificial islands in the Persian Gulf, one three miles across, the other four and a half. For Dubai, the Palms, as they're officially called, are the keys to the future.

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TEXT 1

 «How a Shark Finds Its Food» from Wind by the Sea by Silver, Burdett & Ginn

Hunting its food in the vast open sea, the shark has three senses on which it chiefly relies. These are smell, sight, and the vibration of the water – the shark's «hearing». Of these, the sense of smell is usually thought to be the most important. Although the shark's brain is small for the size of its body (some people believe the shark's brain does not even re­cord the sense of pain) a very large part of the brain is given to the sense of smell. Some scientists refer to the shark as a «swimming nose».

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TEXT1

VIOLENT GAMES AND HUMAN BRAIN

Playing violent computer games can make you care less about violence in real life, according to a study. Researchers watched a group of people playing games with brutal killings and high-powered weapons in them. Then they showed them photos of real violence and found they were not as shocked by them as expected. They did this by monitoring their brains.

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Текст 1

Rechargeable batteries are restoring coral reefs in the tropical island of Vanuatu. The tiny Pacific Island of Vanuatu has no main supply of electricity – inhabitants rely on batteries for their electrical energy. Batteries are expensive and account for a large proportion of most families’ monthly income. They are also difficult to dispose of as they release acids and toxic chemicals as they decompose (decay, rot).