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RENE  DESCARTES, PHILOSOPHER  AND  SCIENTIST

Conventionally recognised as the founder of modern philosophy, René Descartes (1596-1650) is also inseparably associated with the development of modern science. Primarily a scientist, Descartes opposed Christian Scholasticism. Known to have dissected corpses, he was apparently an early vivisectionist, a factor meeting with strong criticism.

CONTENTS KEY

1.        Introduction

2.        Early  Life

3.        A  Reclusive  Philosopher

4.        The  Suppressed  New  Astronomy

5.         From  the  Rules  to  Meditations

6.         Problems  with  Calvinist  Theologians

7.         Principia  Philosophiae

8.        The  Vivisection  Issue

9.        Supporters  and  Critics

            UPDATE

            Bibliography

1.   Introduction

While Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is famed as the innovator of modern empirical method, Rene Descartes (1596-1650) has the repute of a rationalist, employing a form of intensive deductive reasoning. However, his procedure was not divorced from experiment; he pursued a form of scientific research. This thinker remained a Roman Catholic in his basic religious views, although he was not by any means typical of that ideological category. «Descartes challenged the fundamental philosophy in terms of which both Catholic and Reformed theologians had expressed their teaching of Christian dogmas for centuries» (Clarke 2006:4).

Modern commentators often refer to the «new science» of that era. Descartes opposed the traditional Scholastic philosophy perpetuated by the universities, a form of thinking rooted in Aristotelianism as interpreted by the Christian Schoolmen of the late medieval period. This version of Aristotle had been accommodated to concepts and circumstances completely unknown to the Stagirite.

Scholastics identified their form of Aristotelianism with the Bible, maintaining that support was found in Biblical text. «Accordingly, if someone were to try to refute some main Aristotelian tenet, then he could be accused of holding a position contrary to the word of God and be punished» (J. Skirry, «Rene Descartes: Overview,» Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

A philosophical system cannot be studied adequately apart from the intellectual context in which it is situated. Philosophers do not usually utter propositions in a vacuum, but accept, modify, or reject doctrines whose meaning and significance are given in a particular culture. Thus, Cartesian philosophy should be regarded, as indeed it was in Descartes’ own day, as a reaction against, as well as an indebtedness to, the scholastic philosophy that still dominated the intellectual climate. (Ariew 2011:1)

The version of philosophy and science, emerging in Descartes, evoked the fierce hostility of some Roman Catholic and Calvinist theologians. Those dogmatic opponents were adherents of the Scholastic Aristotelianism which Descartes negotiated so assiduously. «He is best characterised as a philosopher of the Scientific Revolution» (Clarke 2006:2). However, his definition of animals is controversial, being open to strong criticism. His interpretation was influential in vivisection practices. See Descartes and Vivisection.

In general terms, Descartes was often erroneously presented over the generations. For instance, the trend of French materialism, in the eighteenth century, mistakenly interpreted him as an atheist and political revolutionary.

Descartes’ almost canonical status has led to his thought being assimilated to a range of very different philosophers, and put to a wide variety of different and often incompatible uses. More than any other modern philosopher, he has been fashioned according to the philosophers of the time and interpreted accordingly. (Gaukroger 1995:3)

2.   Early  Life

The social context is relevant. Descartes was born at the small town of La Haye, near Poitiers. His father is often described as one of the landed gentry, gaining the reputation of a magistrate and lawyer. Cf. Gaukroger 1995:20, informing that the pater came from a predominantly medical family, while his mother’s family were originally merchants and subsequently public administrators. The ancestral status was fairly pronounced.

His family background was in the legal profession and the royal administration. The office held by his father conferred noble rank, but such office-holding nobles had far less prestige than the military nobilty. Yet Descartes, as Ian Maclean observes, derived a sense of status from this background, borne out in his later attitudes, including a tendency to refuse to be identified as a professional scholar. (Moriarty 2008:ix)

French society was then divided into three classes, namely the aristocracy, the clergy, and the «third estate.» There could be some movement in the conglomerate third class, where lawyers had some eminence. Most of those below that social level were afflicted with disadvantages, including illiteracy. Even a century later, most of the French population were illiterate. They had no chance of learning the prestige language of Latin, employed by the clergy and scholars. Many people could not even sign their names in French.

His father was a magistrate in Brittany; through his profession he possessed the status of nobility, being a member of the so-called «noblesse de robe.» This class was resented by the old military nobility (the «noblesse d’ epee»), who looked on lawyers as little more than pen-pushers; but those who enjoyed the status set great store by it. They were not above inflating their claims to aristocracy by acquiring lands which conferred on them titles, and even putting on military airs…. Rene’s title, which he used until his mid-twenties, was du Perron: he was known by this title by his Dutch acquaintances in the early 1620s. The sense of status which this background gave him was a motivating force in his later life. (Maclean 2006:viii)

Descartes was educated at the Jesuit College of La Fleche, where he boarded for eight years. The curriculum was not limited to theology, instead lending scope to the classical humanities. The prevalent Christian Late Scholastic Aristotelianism was represented, at a time when the Jesuits adapted the French university system, gaining control of bourgeois and upper class education. The course at La Fleche «consisted of five years of French and Latin grammar, with a year of rhetoric from Greek and Roman authors, culminating in the last three years with the philosophy curriculum and some mathematics» (Ariew 2000:vii). By this means, Descartes gained «a thorough grounding in ancient languages and literatures, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and instructed in scholastic natural philosophy, mathematics, metaphysics, and ethics» (Maclean 2006:ix).

The pupil was thus able to become proficient in Latin. Descartes moved on to the University of Poitiers, where he gained a law qualification in 1616. He was apparently following paternal wishes, but did not pursue any career in law. Instead he reacted to academic studies, resolving to take life in the raw. In his later Discourse on Method, composed in readable French, he says:

The only profit I appeared to have drawn from trying to become educated, was progressively to have discovered my ignorance. And yet I was at one of the most famous schools in Europe, where I thought there must be learned men, if there were any such anywhere on earth…. Above all I enjoyed mathematics, because of the certainty and self-evidence of its reasonings, but I did not yet see its true use…. As soon as I reached an age which allowed me to emerge from the tutelage of my teachers, I abandoned the study of letters altogether, and resolving to study no other science than that which I could find within myself or else in the great book of the world, I spent the rest of my youth in travelling, seeing courts and armies, mixing with people of different humours and ranks. (Sutcliffe 1968: 29-33)

In 1618 Descartes opted for military enlistment, moving to the Netherlands where he joined the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau. He is described by some modern commentators as a «gentleman soldier.» One deduction is that, because of a truce at that period, he did not participate in any military action. The early biographer Baillet suggested that the young Descartes served as an engineer, using his educated talent. However, «he might equally have undergone a form of training as a gentleman soldier» (Maclean 2006:xi).

That same year he encountered at Breda the Dutch schoolmaster and mathematician Isaac Beeckman (1588-1637). This acquaintance was «an enthusiastic scientific amateur» who «introduced Descartes to some of the new currents in science, the newly revived atomist ideas, and the attempt to combine mathematics and physics» (D. Garber, «Rene Descartes: 1 Life,» Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, online).

Descartes soon moved to Germany, taking further military service in a Catholic army, apparently without finding action on the battlefield. In November 1619, while lodging at Ulm, he experienced three intense dreams narrated by his early biographer Adrien Baillet in La Vie de M. Descartes (1691). This reputed episode created in him the belief that he was destined to complete an encyclopaedia of the sciences. His enthusiasm for mathematics was accompanied by such developing themes as the light of reason.

The ‘light of reason,’ or ‘natural light’ as Descartes came to call it, is nothing ‘revelatory’ in the biblical sense; on the contrary, it is the austerely intellectual faculty bestowed on us by God which enables us to grasp as self-evident the fundamental mathematical and logical truths that are the key to understanding the universe. (Cottingham 2000:103)

He may have been a participant at the Battle of the White Mountain (near Prague) in November 1620 (Moriarty 2008:x). His presence at that event is disputed. This was the first engagement of the Thirty Years War afflicting Central Europe. Descartes continued to travel after leaving military service; events are basically obscure. In 1622 he returned to France, but did not settle, visiting Italy, afterwards living at Paris. Via an inheritance derived from his mother, he acquired an annual income; he was accordingly able to live as a gentleman. However, Descartes reacted to encounters with Parisian society.

In a gathering at Paris in 1628, at the residence of the Papal nuncio, Descartes expressed some of his emerging ideas to a small audience discussing Scholastic philosophy. Cardinal Pierre de Berulle (1575-1629), the Augustinian theologian, encouraged Descartes to pursue his researches as a means of serving Christianity. Descartes soon afterwards left Paris for Holland that same year, while clearly working on independent lines.

The reason for this departure is sometimes presented in terms of an effort to gain solitude away from the customary urban distractions. However, solitude can be a misleading word here; some of his activities were rather more extroverted than a retirement may suggest. More specifically, his preoccupation with corpses and carcases in a pursuit of anatomical discovery.

Though Descartes moved to Holland, he never settled. For twenty years he lived in numerous places, including Amsterdam, Leiden, and Utrecht. He became so difficult to locate that some persons spelt his name as Monsieur d’Escartes, meaning Mr. Evasion.

Descartes never married. The tendency of the subject to withdrawal did not prevent his relationship in 1635, at Amsterdam, with the servant girl Helena Jans van der Strom, who gave birth to his daughter Francine that year. Some commentators dwell upon his concern for the tragic death of his daughter in 1640.

3.   A  Reclusive  Philosopher

Descartes is described in a major academic work as «a reclusive, cantankerous, and oversensitive loner» by the late 1630s (Clarke 2006:180). We may believe that «his aversion to the ideas of others extended to his avoidance of learned people; in fact, as he matured, he tended to avoid all contact with people, and his adult life was lived primarily in isolation» (K. Detlefsen, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews).

It is not too difficult to discern why the subject was so wary of involvement with the learned, who were so often linked to the inflexible Scholastic curriculum which he opposed in his researches.

While Descartes is portrayed [by Desmond Clarke] with many flaws and few positive personality traits, the reader gains insight into one reason why Descartes might have been so. He lived under an almost constant threat from various religious authorities, a threat that constantly undermined his ability to write and publish freely, especially on scientific matters…. Many of Descartes’ ‘battles,’ in which his cantankerous personality is on display, were centered around potential theological clashes and his attempts to avoid them. (Detlefsen, review of Clarke, link above)

What was the reclusive philosopher trying to avoid? He must have known of such unfortunate instances as Vanini, who had died hideously at the time when Descartes enlisted with the military.

Guilio Cesare Vanini, a wandering priest-scholar, was accused of atheism and other crimes in Toulouse in 1618. Having been imprisoned for six months, he was condemned to have his tongue cut out by the public executioner, and then to be strangled and burned at the stake…. There were many examples of the barbaric penalties that were applied to those who expressed dissident views in the early seventeenth century. (Clarke 2006:7)

Quite understandably, Descartes did not want his tongue cut out for contradicting ecclesiastical authorities, who inhabited the upper tiers of the French class system. Religion so often becomes a suppressive measure of convenience for the executioner mentality, which can too easily masquerade behind the pomp and veneer of presumed spirituality.

More well known than Vanini is the plight of Giordano Bruno (1548-1600), who was publicly burned in Rome for heresy. Tommaso Campanella (1538-1639), sometimes described as a Renaissance philosopher, spent over twenty-five years in prison. Also notorious is the condemnation of Galileo, a name strongly associated with the «cantankerous» Descartes.

The major correspondent of Descartes was Marin Mersenne (1588-1648), an erudite French theologian and multi-linguist in contact with scientists and philosophers throughout Europe. Mersenne was a Franciscan Minim friar (not a Jesuit) living at Paris. This «secretary of learned Europe» is noted for extensive correspondence and a habit of questioning that generated scientific research. During the 1620s his output attacked atheists and «freethinkers,» but mellowed from about 1630 onwards, opting for a moderate Catholicism. He had both Protestant and Catholic correspondents, evidently seeking to overcome doctrinal divisions. During the 1630s, he promoted Galileo (Dear 2015).

Mersenne was in long term correspondence with Descartes from the 1620s, serving as the major transmitter of intellectual news to the reclusive researcher. Over 140 letters to Mersenne from Descartes are extant. Whereas only four letters of Mersenne to Descartes survive. Despite the frequency of their correspondence, «one would hardly have described Mersenne as a friend of Descartes; he was more like a Catholic apologist who was anxious to enlist Descartes’ assistance in his religious propaganda» (Clarke 2006:250). The philosopher was always respectful to Mersenne, a habit of courtesy extended «even towards the Jesuits whom he was criticising» (ibid).

Some other commentators seem to regard the two correspondents as friends. «Mersenne endlessly provided Descartes with books, fresh information, and editorial services, requesting in exchange answers to queries of all sorts» (Philippe Hamou, «Marin Mersenne,» Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Mersenne even acted as a mediator in the controversies of Descartes with opponents like Voetius.

The temperament of Descartes is depicted both favourably and critically. From the early biography (or hagiography) of Baillet to the more sceptical modern commentators, the risk is one of extremes. He was not the strongest man, having a weak chest that made him careful about his health; he generally rose late in the day rather than early. «Descartes seems to have been naturally frugal; he did not maintain a large retinue, ate and drank in great moderation, dressed in a sober fashion, and avoided socialising» (Maclean 2006:xi). His relations with contemporaries are regarded with frequent disapproval.

He never fell out, it is true, with his closest acquaintance Mersenne, although he offended him on occasion, but with many other contemporaries his relationship ran into difficulties arising from his touchiness, his high assessment of his own work, his low assesssment of the intelligence of those around him…. He instructed the long-suffering Mersenne to treat his adversary Jean de Beaugrand (d.1640) with contempt, and described his letters as fit only for use as lavatory paper; the work of Pierre de Fermat (1601-65) was «dung»; mathematicians who criticised his geometry were said to be «flies.» (Maclean 2006:xx)

Descartes described Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) as being «extremely contemptible» for daring to call his output into question (ibid). The British philosopher became a member of the Mersenne circle while spending a decade in exile at Paris during the 1640s. Hobbesian political philosophy included a defence of absolute sovereignty, a subject not appealing to Cromwell supporters. Some objections raised by Hobbes to the Essays (1637) resembled criticisms of Descartes already lodged by the mathematician Pierre Fermat (Clarke 2006:203).

The acrimonious dispute with Fermat, in 1638, is also associated with Jean Beaugrand, who had published the now obscure Geostatique (1636) and opposed the Cartesian geometry via hostile anonymous pamphlets. Descartes affirmed that Beaugrand’s Geostatique «was so impertinent, ridiculous, and despicable that I am surprised that any honest person has ever taken the trouble to read it» (ibid:171). Very briefly, Beaugrand accused Descartes of plagiarism, but was himself accused of the same problematic tendency (Lennon 2015:56-7).

«Like Descartes, Pierre Fermat was effectively a self-taught amateur in mathematics» (Clarke 2006:168). Fermat was not off the map; he was a lawyer at the parliament of Toulouse. Descartes had apparently borrowed from an unpublished manuscript of Fermat in circulation; these two are sometimes described as independent innovators in algebra/geometry.

In retrospect, the row between Fermat and Descartes was sustained by misunderstandings on both sides…. Since Fermat was unwilling to have his mathematical results published, he is probably best understood as a relatively innocent and reluctant critic of an extremely defensive opponent who thought of his reputation as depending on the originality of the analytic methods that he had independently developed in the Geometry. (Clarke 2006:174)

4.   The  Suppressed  New  Astronomy

Descartes inherited the new and improved astronomy from Copernicus and Galileo, while ingeniously attempting to remain safely within the dogmatic confines of the Roman Catholic Church. «He avoided church censure of his astronomy for almost two decades by dissimulation, self-censorship, and astuteness» (Clarke 2006:4).

The suppressed new astronomy is inseparably associated with the drafting of Le Monde (The World), a work which Descartes had virtually completed by 1633, incorporating his mechanistic physics and physiology. That same year, however, he learnt with dismay of the recent condemnation (in Rome) of Galileo for holding Copernican views. Descartes prudently decided not to publish his book, which was Copernican in some respects.

Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) was a canon at Frombork, a mathematician and astronomer who had enrolled at the University of Cracow in Poland. In his On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, Copernicus redefined the Earth as a small planet moving around the sun, as distinct from the traditional geocentric theory which believed the Earth to exist at the centre of the universe. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) assimilated the heliocentric new astronomy, authoring the first book (Mysterium Cosmographicum) to be openly heliocentric (see Stanford Encyclopedia). The Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was one of Kepler’s readers.

Galileo was subsequently an empirical convert to the Copernican rationale. With the aid of improved telescopes, he made various important discoveries of his own. In 1610, in a letter to Kepler, «Galileo reported that the professors at Padua and Pisa did not want to know of his discoveries because they adhered to the opinion that truth is not to be found in nature but in text comparisons» (Shepherd 1983:91).

Galileo’s conversion to Copernicanism met with strong resistance from theologians, certain of whom denounced him to the Roman Inquisition. Galileo went to Rome to defend himself against accusations, only to find in 1616 that Cardinal Bellarmine prohibited him from advocating or teaching Copernican astronomy. So Galileo had to abandon the heliocentric rationale.

Many years later, he reasserted that rationale in his Dialogue concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), published at Florence. The Inquisition banned the sale of his book. Galileo was ordered to appear before the ecclesiastical authorities in Rome. In 1633, the Inquisition issued a sentence of condemnation. The victim was forced to recite and sign a formal abjuration of the heresy (see further Stanford Encyclopedia). Galileo was confined in Siena and placed under house arrest. That same year, he was permitted to retire to his villa at Arcetri, near Florence, where he lived under house arrest for the remaining years of his existence.

«The same eyes which had made telescopic discoveries were totally blind during the last years of his life, Pope Urban VIII having denied his requests to consult doctors in nearby Florence at the critical onset of the fatality» (Shepherd 1983:92). Eyes could suffer as well as tongues, in the climate of inquisition.

Galileo has been described as an astronomer, mathematician, and physicist, and the probable key figure in the birth of modern science. Via the self-deliberating suppression of his own work Le Monde, Descartes remains closely associated with the fate of Galileo.

5.    From  the  Rules  to  Meditations

The travelling Descartes had earlier studied various sciences, including optics; he may have discovered the law of refraction independently. During the 1620s he composed an incomplete treatise on method entitled Rules for the Direction of the Mind. This early work evidences a preoccupation with mathematics; he perhaps abandoned the Rules because of the difficulties encountered in taking mathematics as the model for knowledge. His subsequent works predominantly contain metaphysics and much natural philosophy; his invocation of mathematics as a gauge of certainty has been viewed as rhetorical by close analysts. The «method of reasoning based on mathematics» was an optimistic claim to exhaustive knowledge of the universe.

After his suppression of Le Monde, Descartes published three scientific essays in 1637. These Essays appeared in French, not the scholastic Latin. The Dioptrique (Optics), Geometrie (Geometry), and Meteors (Meteorology) contained some of his most advanced research; however, Descartes was careful to conceal his Copernican leanings and his rejection of certain Scholastic doctrines. Strong claims have been made for his version of geometry as the origin of co-ordinate geometry, although some commentators have modified the attribution.

The trio of essays were accompanied by a more famous work, intended as an introduction to the essays. Again in French, the full title in translation reads Discourse on the Method of Properly Conducting Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences. This was published anonymously, incorporating an autobiographical content relating to the author’s discoveries.

In the third section of the Discourse, Descartes claims to cultivate the divinely implanted «light of reason,» supposedly facilitating discrimination between truth and falsity, in contrast to the opinions of others. His Discourse and Essays were evidently aimed at educated citizens who might find Latin more difficult. These anonymous contributions appear to have created much interest.

Since that time, his remarks (in part five of the Discourse), on the substantial difference between animals and humans, have drawn criticism. His argument about the absence of thought in animals is associated with an inflexible theme of automata amenable to vivisection (section 8 below). In the Discourse, Descartes claims that animals «do not have a mind, and that it is nature which acts in them according to the disposition of their organs, as one sees that a clock, which is made up of only wheels and springs, can count the hours» (Sutcliffe 1968:75-6). The clockwork theme proved strong in Cartesian ideation, overlooking pain and squashing scruple, traits which became integral to laboratory science.

The famous phrase cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) has «a relatively minor role» in the exegesis of Descartes (Clarke 2006:1), though often assumed to be a virtual cardinal tenet. This phrase (initially in the Discourse) appears as a counter to scepticism, a contemporary trend which Descartes adapted to form a preliminary exercise of doubt about the nature of knowledge. That trend is strongly associated with Michel de Montaigne (1533-92), a humanist and «new Pyrrhonist» whose writings exercised a pervasive influence upon French intellectual life during the seventeenth century. Descartes only names Montaigne once in his writings; however, these two are inseparably associated in modern commentary. «Like Descartes, this sixteenth century author was a legally trained gentleman of leisure, who engaged in a broad range of reflections» (Maclean 2006:xxv).

Employing his neo-sceptical line of enquiry, or «method of doubt,» Descartes professedly arrived at certainty, both of his own mental existence and that of God. The sceptical ingredient in his approach was misconstrued. Some theological opponents said that his proofs for the existence of God, outlined in the Meditations, amounted to secret atheism, also that his method of doubt was sufficient to incite libertinism.

In 1641, Descartes published in Latin the Meditationes (Meditations on the First Philosophy). This eventually became his most celebrated work. An attached text (Objections and Replies) comprises written objections from leading scholars and theologians, plus the replies of Descartes. The critics included Pierre Gassendi, Antoine Arnauld, Thomas Hobbes, and Marin Mersenne (otherwise the supporter of Descartes). The intermediary for this feedback was Mersenne, who had a strong religious profile. The Meditations do not explicitly promote heretical views such as the Copernican model. Nevertheless, in his attempt to introduce the ground for science or knowledge (scientia), Descartes was in the underlying role of contesting Scholastic philosophy. That role is confirmed by the following detail:

In a letter to Mersenne, dated 28 January 1641, Descartes says «these six meditations [i.e., the Meditations] contain all the foundations of my physics. But please do not tell people, for that might make it harder for supporters of Aristotle to approve them. I hope that readers will gradually get used to my principles, and recognise their truth, before they notice that they [my principles] destroy the principles of Aristotle.» (Stanford Encyclopedia, 2007)

The hostile response eventually listed him posthumously in the Papal Index of Forbidden Books (1663). The basic conflict visible here is that dividing Scholasticism from the emerging Scientific Revolution.

Interpretations of «Cartesian dualism» have differed significantly. The empirical aspect of Descartes, as reflected, e.g., in his attempts to understand the brain and nervous system, has been considered to qualify assumptions and misunderstandings about his dualism. In particular, the latter day attack by Gilbert Ryle on «the ghost in the machine» (mind in the body) is reassessed in such reflections as:

A close reading of the texts suggests that Descartes did not endorse the [traditional Scholastic] understanding of substances, and its implicit category mistake, on which Ryle’s version of Cartesian dualism depends. (Clarke 2003:2)

6.  Problems  with  Calvinist  Theologians

The non-Scholastic orientation of Descartes was memorably opposed by the Dutch Calvinist minister Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676), who became the first professor of theology at Utrecht University (and subsequently the dean or rector). The sequence of events is complex (Clarke 2006:218ff).

Descartes was sensitive to requests for advice from his supporter Henricus Regius (a professor of medicine at Utrecht). The latter found himself in opposition with Voetius, who defended certain Scholastic doctrines on behalf of Calvinist theologians against adherents of the «new philosophy.» Descartes counselled that Regius should adopt a conciliatory tactic, one of praising his opponent at every opportunity, while emphasising the status of Voetius as «Magnificent Rector.» Various other refinements of this tactic were also advocated.

Regius proved stubborn in this situation. Despite the danger of losing his chair at Utrecht, Regius ignored the unanimous advice of his friends not to make any public reply to the influential Voetius. Instead he published a confronting pamphlet in February 1642. Voetius reacted strongly, deeming this a libel, and exhorting the university senate to take action against the heretical pamphlet. The senate passed a verdict that Regius should restrict his teaching to medicine and traditional authors. A delegation was sent to the city magistrates, who issued a condemnation of the «new philosophy» and confiscated remaining copies of the contested pamphlet.

Descartes was now drawn into the dispute, critically referring to Voetius (without mentioning his name) in the Letter to Father Dinet, a document which appeared as an appendix to the second edition (1642) of the Meditations. Jacques Dinet was a Jesuit. Descartes here attempted a reconcilation with the confronting theological organisation (an endeavour which transpired to be difficult). Meanwhile, when Voetius learned about this letter that same year (via a translation from Latin into Dutch by an opponent of his), he requested one of his supporters to compose a reply to Descartes. The acquaintance was Martinus Schoock (1614-1669), a former colleague who had since gained a chair of philosophy at Groningen.

In 1643, Professor Schoock published a lengthy personal attack on Descartes. The title was deceptive, i.e., The Admirable Method of the New Philosophy of René Descartes. The contents included an accusation that the subject was a liar; his philosophy was depicted as leading to atheism. The habit of Descartes, in frequently changing residence, was attributed to the consequences of an immoral life. Another insinuation amounted to the philosopher being «a shrewd manipulator of credulous followers whose primary interest is to found a new ‘sect’ and to control its members by the authority of his word» (Clarke 2006:236).

Descartes countered in the Open Letter to Voetius (1643), defending freedom of thought. However, this letter «repays him [Voetius] in the same currency of personal attack that had marred the whole discussion from the beginning» (ibid:239). Against this drawback should be set a relevant recognition of Descartes: «The most worrying feature of Schoock’s long book was the suggestion that he [Descartes] was some kind of cryptic atheist, and that he deserved the same fate as Vanini» (ibid:240).

Soon after, and that same year, Voetius caused the French philosopher to be summoned by the municipal council of Utrecht; Descartes was expected to answer the charge of libel against Voetius. Descartes, who was not living in Utrecht, complained at the nature of the summons. He took advice to contact the French ambassador to the Hague, and via this prestige channel, to request the Prince of Orange to intervene on his behalf. Descartes was successful in this recourse; the Utrecht magistrates accordingly closed the case (ibid:242-3).

Two years later, Schoock acknowledged that the incentive to write The Admirable Method had come from Voetius, and that he had only undertaken the disputed work because he was asked to do so by Voetius, who had suggested the charge of atheism. Schoock also conceded that the tone of the attack did not befit a scholarly debate, while emphasising that he had never meant to compare Descartes to Vanini.

This revealing situation eventually resulted in a lawsuit launched by Voetius against Schoock, «whose testimony at Groningen had publicly exposed the extent to which Voetius had inspired The Admirable Method » (ibid:244). In 1647, the persistent Voetius published a new version of this controversy in his Theological Disputations, «addressing accusatory questions to Descartes about his alleged atheism» (ibid).

Descartes responded with his Apologetic Letter to the Magistrates of Utrecht (1648), in which he complained, e.g., about an accusation to the effect that he had been sent by the Jesuits to create trouble in The Netherlands. He repeated his charge that Voetius must have been the real author of The Admirable Method, the content of which had been disowned by Schoock. The latter was temporarily arrested as a consequence of the activity of Voetius.

Voetius «seems to have spent all his spare time conducting campaigns against Catholics, Jesuit spies, heretics, and Cartesians.» (Gaukroger 1995:479)

Descartes had a disagreement with his erratic supporter Regius when the latter composed the controversial treatise Physical Foundations (1646). This work presented the ideas of Descartes without the legitimating (and protective) metaphysical context. Regius again ignored the advice of Descartes; the correspondence between them apparently ceased (Clarke 2006:312ff).

There was a sequel to the Utrecht problem at Leiden University, where Descartes gained both friends and enemies. Objections from two Calvinist theologians at Leiden developed into a public controversy during 1647. Descartes countered that his writings did not contain the themes that were censored. Jacobus Revius (1586-1658) was one of the opponents. He mentioned the dire word Pelagianism, in a context of stigma. The French philosopher sent a letter of complaint to the university, to the effect that he had wrongfully been accused of blasphemy and Pelagianism.

The real source of Descartes’ concern was his fear of a Calvinist inquisition, of being denounced to a synod of Calvinist theologians who would almost certainly support the charges brought against him, and of being handed over subsequently to the magistrates or a civil court. (Clarke 2006:347)

The curators of Leiden University convened in February 1648. They confirmed their decision of the previous year that only Aristotelian philosophy could be taught in their precincts. Both Revius and the Cartesian exponent Adriaan Heereboord (1614-1661) were reprimanded. The curators took no action against Descartes (ibid:343ff). However, nobody could teach his philosophy at Leiden, where the professors were forbidden to mention his name.

7.   Principia  Philosophiae

Meanwhile, in 1644 Descartes published his Latin work Principia Philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy), dedicated to his correspondent Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, an unusually intellectual aristocrat. That text restates his metaphysics and outlines his version of physics and other sciences. The physics is mechanistic, having disadvantages by comparison with later models; yet at the time of Descartes, the mechanistic rationale was an advance. The Principles influenced such scientists as Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton. However, the book also gained criticism in terms of a physics rooted in metaphysics.

Recent research describes Descartes as being in more affinity with the natural philosophy of Francis Bacon than was formerly supposed. The World and Principles of Philosophy reveal the French thinker as a practitioner of mathematics, mechanics, optics, anatomy, physiology, and also «psycho-physiology» (see further Gaukroger 2000). The spotlight generally awarded to the Meditations has tended to obscure the scientific dimensions of Descartes in other works.

Both of them [Bacon and Descartes] see natural philosophy as the core of the philosophical enterprise, by contrast, on the one hand, with Renaissance humanist philosophers, who saw moral and political philosophy in this role, and, on the other, with late Scholastic philosophers, who saw metaphysics as the core enterprise. (Gaukroger 2002:vii)

However, Descartes exhibited rather more metaphysics than Bacon, which introduces a complexity.

His achievement was wide-ranging: he completely reformulated metaphysics by exploring its epistemological credentials in a wholly novel and indeed unprecedented fashion; he led the way in seventeenth century cosmology up until Newton; he was one of the founders of modern geometrical optics; his contribution to mathematics was second to none in the seventeenth century; and he not only discovered reflex action, but developed a mechanistic approach to physiology which set the parameters for much thinking about physiology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (Gaukroger 2002:1)

The Principles of Philosophy was published in four parts, with two other envisaged parts that have since been reconstructed. This mature work borrowed from the format of Late Scholastic textbooks, while pushing the argument into different significations. The Principles commenced with a concern to establish the metaphysical foundations of natural philosophy, and ended by proposing a link between that philosophy and morality.

Descartes completely reshapes the relation between metaphysics and natural philosophy, and develops the first mechanist physical cosmology, the first non-mythological theory of the formation of the Earth, the first mechanist physiology and embryology, the first mechanist account of animal sentience, an account of the nature of mental functioning that goes beyond anything devised to that time and which has largely shaped discussion of the mind since, and an account of human passions that demonstrates the need for a unified conception of the person. (Gaukroger 2002:4)

Another aspect of this philosopher scientist’s activity is frequently missing in well known textbooks. This is a less glorifying factor open to strong criticism. The deducible role of a vivisectionist (however marginally) is repugnant to many readers. Descartes was remote from any theme of the animal mind, more recently emerging in varied studies.

8.   The  Vivisection  Issue

Descartes has the generalised reputation of a deductivist, a loose association. He was a mechanist who believed that he had evolved a due rationalism. Descartes was a crude empiricist in his preoccupation with observation. «He even arranged for the slaughter of a pregnant cow so that he could examine the foetus at an early stage of its development» (Clarke 2006:332). Such tendencies did not assist his insensitive approach to the question of animal consciousness. Strong accusations have been lodged against his version of animal existence. The disputed theme that «animals are machines» can be found in his Passions of the Soul (1649).

Professor John Cottingham, a Descartes specialist, acknowledged some extreme assertions of Descartes while defending him against the notorious charge of affirming: “Animals are totally without feeling.” In a late period letter of 1649, to the Cambridge Platonist Henry More (1614-87), Descartes states that he denied thought (cogitatio) to animals, but not sensation (sensus). “I deny sensation to no animal” (Cottingham 1978:557). The French philosopher here refers to “their [meaning animals] natural impulses of anger, fear, hunger and so on” (ibid:556).

Cf. Clarke 2006:386, who interprets: “He [Descartes] could appreciate the reasons for thinking that they [animals] have sensations that are similar to ours, but there was one outstanding reason for resisting the idea that they have genuine thoughts.” The reason specified was the absence of animal speech. Of the human situation, Descartes added: “All the motions of our limbs which accompany our emotions are caused, not by the soul, but exclusively by the machinery of the body” (ibid:387). The mechanistic view tended to be parsimonious.

The Cartesian claim that animals were more splendid versions of artificial automata, «which move without thought» (Letter to More, February 1649), for example, was seen by More as providing hostages to atheists. In the scholastic tradition the ability to move oneself was seen as evidence of the presence of a soul, and therefore of life. Descartes, pointing out that clocks and other automata are capable of moving themselves, denied this traditional view and held the soul to be responsible only for thinking; movement was exclusively a feature of bodies. In the Cartesian system, consequently, plants and animals were living creatures without souls. (John Henry, «Henry More,» Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

The forthright Cottingham felt obliged to remind:

Strict dualism makes nonsense of Descartes’ commonsense attribution of feelings like hunger to the animals; but then Descartes is unable to extract from dualism any clear account of the awkwardly undeniable experience of human hunger. (Cottingham 1978:559)

The same scholar believed that Descartes was guilty of “a certain fuzziness” in his thinking about consciousness. Cottingham concluded: “Descartes may not have been completely consistent, but at least he was not altogether beastly to the beasts” (ibid).

Another commentator emerged with the parallel judgment:

Descartes’ took animals to have no souls, no thoughts, or experiences, and to be in fact automata. This is quite certainly his view, even though there are passages in which he expresses skepticism or takes a milder tone. (Williams 1978:282)

A closely argued analysis of various contentions, including the well known Cottingham theme, arrived at the conclusion that Descartes was consistent and  “thought animals to be unfeeling brutes” (David Sztybel, Did Descartes believe that nonhuman animals cannot feel?)

A strong accusation is expressed by Professor Bernard E.  Rollin, noted for his support of animal victims worldwide. He points out that, in contrast to Descartes, the medieval theologian Aquinas, plus John Locke and David Hume, expressed a degree of scruple about the animal plight (Rollin 2018).  

For Descartes, animals were simply machines of the sort contrived by clever watchmakers at the period he was writing. Lacking language, unlike other humans, animals could not be said to be capable of thought, feeling, or any of the subjective experiences we take for granted in human mentation. With this assertion, Descartes believed he had assured the special place for humans stipulated in Catholic theology, while at the same time paving the way for scientific experimentation on animals regardless of how much putative pain it engendered. (Seventeenth century reports documenting in lurid detail the “vivisection” occurring at the Port Royal Abbey evidence the extent to which Descartes’ followers put his theories into practice). (Rollin 2018)

A visitor in the 1650s, to the Port Royal School at Paris, reports that pupils were dissecting dogs who were nailed alive to wooden planks by their four paws. The purpose was apparently to inspect the circulation of the blood, a subject of controversy. Hammering in the nails inevitably caused pain to the victims, an ordeal dismissed by the experimenters. “Their [animal] cries when hammered were nothing but the noises of some small springs that were being deranged” (Gombay 2007:ix). The justifying associations of mere clockwork fit the Cartesian theory of animals as automata. The molesters made fun of persons who pitied the creatures feeling pain. The cruel situation was reported by Nicolas Fontaine (1625-1709), who employed a testimony of his niece. Fontaine included the details in his Memoires pour servir a l’histoire de Port-Royal, published in 1736 (Delforges 1985:97).

The Port Royal School (or Petites Ecoles, Little Schools) existed for only twenty-three years (1637-60). Few sources are available. About a hundred names of pupils survive. The programme of study for these boys is elusive. This expensive boarding school, of Jansenist auspices, was connected to the Port Royal Abbey (formerly a Cistercian convent), which became a centre of the Jansenist movement (Delforges 1985). The School was closed in 1660 by the dominating French clergy keen to suppress rivals.

The influential book Logique de Port-Royal, or Port Royal Logic (1662), was authored by Antoine Arnauld (1612-95) and Pierre Nicole (1625-95), both of whom were closely associated with the Abbey and School. These two prominent Jansenists (especially Arnauld) were strongly influenced by Cartesian ideas, which they promoted in their book (Martin 2019). The Logic achieved five editions during their lifetimes (Buroker 1996). In 1650, Nicole retired as a solitaire to the Abbey when Jansenism came under official attack; he assisted in the production of books, and was for some years a master at the Port Royal School for boys (James 1972). Arnauld had also corresponded with Descartes during the 1640s. However, the Sorbonne theologian was not able to meet Descartes, being in hiding as a consequence of Jansenist sympathies.

The Port Royal School withdrew, in a situation of dire friction, from the Jesuit teaching system. Jesuits regarded Jansenists as heretical, to the extent that Arnauld was forced into hiding again in 1656, the year he was expelled from the Sorbonne. The vivisection activity of the 1650s is evocative of Cartesian influence. The Port Royal Logic reflects a strong Cartesian factor in Jansenist ranks, while the Port Royal School was founded by a group including Arnauld and Nicole.  

A systematic approach to theories of Descartes occurred after his death. His followers, meaning the Cartesians, are criticised by some as the brutal precursors of laboratory practices. Descartes cannot escape all the implications. He is known to have undertaken some anatomical dissection, making daily visits to a butcher in Amsterdam, acquiring animal parts to dissect at home, in addition to his «solitary meditations» (Rodis-Lewis 1998:85). Descartes is associated with the tradition of Vesalius, a sixteenth century anatomist.

A basic problem is that much of the subject’s life is obscure; biographical lore was substituted for the blanks. Much of what we know about his life comes from the biography La Vie de Monsieur Descartes (1691) by Adrien Baillet. Some writers have claimed to explode the myths surrounding Descartes. At Amsterdam in the early 1630s, he assisted in the dissection of human corpses; the location was an amphitheatre reserved for this purpose (Watson 2002:15). The same writer emphasises that Descartes described the dissection of a dog’s heart. The French empiricist is classified by some commentators as a pioneer of vivisection.

In a letter dated February 1638, Descartes describes vivisection on a living rabbit, something he had observed several times before, and which he had just performed himself. «I opened the chest of a live rabbit and removed the ribs to expose the heart» (Cottingham et al, Philosophical Writings of Descartes Vol. 3, pp. 79ff). This barbarous activity is not commendable The realistic indications are that at least a few of his dissections applied to living animals. His attitude to animals was certainly weighted by a belief that they were automatons.

In the mid-1640s, Descartes himself «opens up the possibility for the first time that there may be different degrees of thought and that animals may enjoy some less perfect form of thinking» (Clarke 2006:336). An English royalist, namely William Cavendish (the Marquess of Newcastle), read the Principles of Philosophy and sent a letter to Descartes in 1646. The subject here was the apparent capacity of animals to think. The reply indicates that the rigid thinking of Descartes about animals was influenced by his aversion to sceptical views of Michel de Montaigne and Pierre Charron, who had both extolled the ingenuity and thinking ability of animals (ibid:332ff).

Descartes had preferred to argue, in his Discourse on Method, that the distinctive character of human language means that animals do not think, equating to the assumption that only humans have an immortal soul. According to Descartes: «There is nothing which leads feeble minds more readily astray from the straight path of virtue than to imagine that the soul of animals is of the same nature as our own, and that, consequently, we have nothing to fear or to hope for after this life» (Sutcliffe 1968:76).

9.   Supporters  and  Critics

«In the 1640s, he [Descartes] thought himself at war with the Jesuits» (Ariew 1999:155). Descartes had early reacted against the doctrines of influential Jesuit thinkers like Francisco Suarez. Along with the Jesuits Toledo and Fonseca, Suarez is classified as «Late Scholastic» in current analysis. Descartes became familiar with the writings of these Late Scholastics during his schooling at La Fleche, an acquaintance resulting in his «discreet incredulity» (Secada 2000:29-30).

The reactionary Descartes «saw himself as presenting a new philosophy, both natural and metaphysical, to take the place of Aristotle’s and St. Thomas Aquinas’s» (ibid:1). Aquinas was undeniably a partisan of Aristotle; at the same time, he accommodated the Greek philosopher to a Christian theological setting in medieval Scholasticism.

In 1649, Descartes published in French the Passions de l’ame (Passions of the Soul). The context for this reveals a different complexion to the «dualism» so strongly associated with his exegesis:

Descartes became increasingly interested in the interaction between mind and body, prompted by the acute questions put to him in a long correspondence with Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia…. In his replies to Elizabeth, Descartes explores the paradox that while philosophical reason teaches us that mind and body are distinct, our everyday human experience shows us they are united. It is that human experience, and its characteristic modes of awareness, the emotions and passions (such as fear, anger, and love), that forms the subject of Descartes’ last work, the Passions of the Soul. (Cottingham 2000:104-5)

By this time, the overall situation was critical. In 1647-8, the conflict with Voetius was accompanied by a prohibition against teaching the philosophy of Descartes at the University of Leiden (section six above). The opposition must have worried the philosopher. However, at Paris he was awarded a generous royal pension «in recognition of his contribution to philosophy and as financial support for the experiments required to complete his research» (Clarke 2006:360).

On the positive side also, Queen Christina of Sweden was now in correspondence with him. She invited Descartes to join her court at Stockholm in early 1649. That correspondence had commenced via the French diplomat Chanut, a contact of Descartes. The philosopher evidently felt hesitation about moving to Stockholm. The conflict in his mind was apparently the cause of his sending very different letters to Chanut and the Queen (via Chanut) about the royal invitation. These discrepant letters «show Descartes at his dissembling best» (ibid:384). The philosopher was basically worried as to whether the royal interest amounted to «a temporary curiosity.»

Descartes eventually accepted Queen Christina’s invitation, arriving in Sweden in September 1649. The Queen was serious about learning philosophy. The tuition entailed Descartes rising at five in the morning, an early hour to which he was quite unaccustomed. Some commentators state that he caught pneumonia. As a consequence, he died at Stockholm in February 1650.

A recent theory has suggested that Descartes did not die from natural causes. Instead, a Catholic priest reputedly administered to him a communion wafer coated with arsenic. The villain in this version of events is Jacques Viogue, a Catholic missionary who is said to have feared that the radical ideas of Descartes would upset an anticipated conversion to Roman Catholicism in Sweden.

Descartes died in relative obscurity. By 1667, some French «Cartesians» had begun to publish his works, and to develop a more systematic Cartesian philosophy, in the face of orthodox religious disapproval. «Descartes had many followers who took his ideas (as they understood them) as dogma…. Late seventeenth century Europe was flooded with paraphrases of and commentaries on Descartes’ writings» (D. Garber, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, online). The hostile campaign of Voetius did not succeed for long. Utrecht became the most Cartesian of the Dutch universities.

There were also independent thinkers influenced by Descartes, notably Malebranche and Spinoza. The first published book of Spinoza was a commentary on the Principles of Descartes. «Although he [Spinoza] later moved well outside the Cartesian camp, Descartes’ doctrines helped to structure his mature thought» (ibid).

Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715) was a Parisian who rejected Scholasticism after attending the Sorbonne. He was ordained an Augustinian priest in 1664; reputedly in the same year, he discovered the posthumously published book by Descartes entitled Traité de l’Homme (Treatise on Man). This contribution tackles physiology. Malebranche subsequently attempted to synthesise St. Augustine and Descartes; he was also known for his occasionalism, a doctrine meaning that God is the only real cause. Malebranche composed the widely read work Recherche de la vérité or The Search after Truth, appearing in 1674/5 (Lennon and Olscamp 1997). See further Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

As a consequence of Recherche, Malebranche «quickly became the most influential Cartesian philosopher, and indeed before Locke the most influential philosopher of any kind in his era, eclipsing even Descartes» (Gaukroger 1995:476). Malebranche was the channel by means of which many later philosophers assimilated Descartes. During the eighteenth century, there evolved a theme of Descartes as the founder of modern philosophy, although not without disagreements and distortions.

Meanwhile, there were critiques of Cartesian philosophy, including those expressed by the panpsychist Spinoza, the materialist Thomas Hobbes, the polymathic rationalist Leibniz, and the «commonsense empiricist» John Locke. In his Ethics, Spinoza rejected the theory of Descartes concerning the pineal gland. The heretical Jew also radically altered the Cartesian perspective on substance, applying a «pantheist» context decoding to a substantial distance between himself and others like Malebranche.

A very hostile critique came from the Roman Catholic camp associated with the Jesuits, who attacked the developing Cartesianism during the 1660s. The Cartesians countered with both satirical and learned writings. In 1662, Catholics at Louvain expressed a condemnation, which may have been instigated by Jesuits. This event is thought to have resulted in the censorship of Descartes at Rome the following year.

The official condemnations of Cartesianism of the late seventeenth century were unusually frequent and ferocious. Only the condemnations of Aristotelianism in the thirteenth century seem to have been as frequent. (Ariew 1999:156)

Kevin  R. D. Shepherd

July 2010 (modified December 2012 and July 2015; last modified March 2021)

UPDATE

Descartes lived in a Europe dominated by religious division and the brutal Thirty Years War (1618-48). This was the most destructive conflict in Europe prior to the twentieth century. Estimates of the death toll vary from 4.5 to over 8 million. The Austrian Habsburg dynasty, of the “Holy Roman Empire,” enlisted Catholic supporters to fight Protestant states. Peasants suffered misery in the crossfire created by upper class politics. Massacres and plundering soldiers were accompanied by disease and starvation. Many territories were reduced to a wasteland. France was drawn into the deadly struggle from 1635. An unknown mercy was the absence of chemical weapons.

Since that time, the Western world has increasingly taken pride in technology and modernity, an attitude spreading globally. Today, modernity is dying, not merely via COVID-19 virus infection spread by aeroplanes.

The overpowering invasion of chemicals, including the indelible PFAS variety, is globally affecting humans and other species.  PFAS refers to over 4,500 industrial chemicals that are found extensively in consumer products. These chemicals are speedily interactive, contaminating water everywhere. Because of their extreme persistence, the predatory «forever chemicals» create a contamination that will last decades, or even centuries.

In more specific terms, pervasive industrial chemicals can disrupt hormones, a phenomenon now strongly implicated in the impairment of human reproductive capacity. Phthalates (now in everyone) are used to make plastics soft and flexible. These chemicals are now viewed as a plague because they lower testosterone, thus diminishing sperm count. In countries like America, crucial regulation is hindered by the agenda of chemical industry giants who contaminate water supply and other life assets. This adverse situation requires “sweeping modifications to the kinds and volumes of chemicals that are manufactured and pumped into the environment” (Swan 2021:4).

In the political comic strip of Britain and other countries, ecological issues are restricted to electric cars, planting trees, and a theoretical timeline evasive of reality. The planet is now suffering a far worse condition than in the seventeenth century.

Kevin R. D. Shepherd

March 2021

Bibliography

Ariew, Roger, Descartes and the Last Scholastics (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1999).

———Descartes Among the Scholastics (Leiden: Brill, 2011).

Ariew, Roger, ed., Rene Descartes: Philosophical Essays and Correspondence (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2000).

Ariew, Roger, John Cottingham, and Tom Sorell, eds., Descartes’ Meditations: Background Source Materials (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Ariew, Roger and Donald Cress, ed. and trans., Descartes: Meditations, Objections, and Replies (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006).

Broughton, Janet, Descartes’s Method of Doubt (Princeton University Press, 2002).

Broughton, Janet, and Carriero, John, eds., A Companion to Descartes (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).

Buroker, Jill V., ed., Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole: Logic or the Art of Thinking (Cambridge University Press, 1996).

Clarke, Desmond M., Descartes’ Philosophy of Science (Manchester University Press, 1982).

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Clarke, Desmond M., Descartes: A Biography (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Cottingham, John, “A Brute to the Brutes?: Descartes’ Treatment of Animals,” Philosophy (1978) 53:551-559.

———«Descartes» (93-134), in Ray Monk and Frederic Raphael, eds., The Great Philosophers (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2000)

———Cartesian Reflections (Oxford University Press, 2008).

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Copyright © 2021 Kevin R. D. Shepherd. All Rights Reserved. Page uploaded June 2010, last modified March 2021.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 1-7. В каждом задании выберите один из четырех вариантов ответа.

In a certain city there lived a physician who sold yellow paint. This was of so singular a virtue that whoso was painted with it from head to heel was set free from the dangers of life, and the bondage of sin, and the fear of death for ever. So the physician said in his prospectus; and so said all the citizens in the city; and there was nothing more urgent in men’s hearts than to be properly painted themselves, and nothing they took more delight in than to see others painted.

There was in the same city a young man of a very good family but of a somewhat reckless life, who had reached the age of manhood, and would have nothing to say to the paint. ‘Tomorrow was soon enough,’ said he; and when the morrow came he would still put it off. He might have continued to do until his death; only, he had a friend of about his own age and much of his own manners; and this youth, taking a walk in the public street, with not one fleck of paint upon his body, was suddenly run down by a water-cart and cut off in the heyday of his nakedness. This shook the other to the soul; so that I never beheld a man more earnest to be painted; and on the very same evening, in the presence of all his family, to appropriate music, and himself weeping aloud, he received three complete coats and a touch of varnish on the top. The physi­cian (who was himself affected even to tears) protested he had never done a job so thorough.

Some two months afterwards, the young man was carried on a stretcher to the physi­cian’s house. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ he cried, as soon as the door was opened. ‘I was to be set free from all the dangers of life; and here have I been run down by that self-same water-cart, and my leg is broken.’ ‘Dear me!’ said the physician. ‘This is very sad. But I perceive I must explain to you the action of my paint. A broken bone is a mighty small affair at the worst of it; and it belongs to a class of accident to which my paint is quite inapplicable. Sin, my dear young friend, sin is the sole calamity that a wise man should apprehend; it is against sin that I have fitted you out; and when you come to be tempted, you will give me news of my paint.’

‘Oh!’ said the young man, ‘I did not understand that, and it seems rather disap­pointing. But I have no doubt all is for the best; and in the meanwhile, I shall be obliged to you if you will set my leg.’ ‘That is none of my business,’ said the physician; ‘but if your bearers carry you round the corner to the surgeon’s, I feel sure he will afford re­lief.’

Some three years later, the young man came running to the physician’s house in a great perturbation. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ he cried. ‘Here was I to be set free from the bondage of sin; and I have just committed forgery, arson and murder.’ ‘Dear me,’ said the physician. ‘This is very serious. Off with your clothes at once.’ And as soon as the young man had stripped, he examined him from head to foot. ‘No,’ he cried with great relief, ‘there is not a flake broken. Cheer up, my young friend, your paint is as good as new.’

‘Good God!’ cried the young man, ‘and what then can be the use of it?’ ‘Why,’ said the physician, ‘I perceive I must explain to you the nature of the action of my paint. It does not exactly prevent sin; it extenuates instead the painful consequences. It is not so much for this world, as for the next; it is not against life; in short, it is against death that I have fitted you out. And when you come to die, you will give me news of my paint.’

‘Oh!’ cried the young man, ‘I had not understood that, and it seems a little disap­pointing. But there is no doubt all is for the best: and in the meanwhile, I shall be obliged if you will help me to undo the evil I have brought on innocent persons.’ ‘That is none of my business,’ said the physician; ‘but if you go round the corner to the police office, I feel sure it will afford you relief to give yourself up.’

Six weeks later, the physician was called to the town gaol. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ cried the young man. ‘Here am I literally crusted with your paint; and I have bro­ken my leg, and committed all the crimes in the calendar, and must be hanged tomorrow; and I am in the meanwhile in a fear so extreme that I lack words to picture it.’ ‘Dear me,’ said the physician. ‘This is really amazing. Well, well; perhaps, if you had not been painted, you would have been more frightened still.’

1. The person who sold yellow paint was

a priest

a painter

a scientist

a doctor

2. In paragraph 2 the word ‘reckless’ means

unhappy

meaningless

careless

dangerous

3. The young man agreed to be painted because

his family had convinced him to do it.

he had been run down by a water-cart.

his friend was injured by a water-cart.

his friend had died in an accident.

4. The paint didn’t protect the young man from an injury because

it could only be applied to sins.

a broken leg was a serious accident.

his legs were not painted.

he had committed a terrible sin.

5. The paint didn’t prevent the young man from committing crimes because

some of its flakes were broken.

its aim was to smooth over the effect of the sin.

it could be applied only to dead people.

the consequences could be painful.

6. Six weeks later, the physician was called

to the town hall.

to the town prison.

to the town hospital.

to the town court.

7. The story teaches the readers that

they can be set free from the dangers of life.

they should only use top quality paint.

they should not believe everything they read in the prospectus.

nothing can prevent them from committing crimes.

1. The depiction of the God
2. The hero of modern folklore
3. The god hero of comics
4. Found in many cultures
5. A film about gods
6. A Scandinavian legend
7. The god of Indian tribes
8. Named after the God

A. Polytheistic peoples of many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European cultures, the thunder god is frequently known as the chief or king of the gods, for example, Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology, and Perun in ancient Slavic religion; or Thor, son of Odin, in Norse mythology.

B. The name of Thor takes its origin from the Proto-Germanic masculine noun meaning ‘thunder’. The name of the god is the origin of the weekday name ‘Thursday’. During the Roman Empire period, the Germanic peoples adopted the Roman weekly calendar, but replaced the names of Roman gods with their own. Latin dies Iovis (‘day of Jupiter’) was converted into “Thor’s day”, from which stems modem English ‘Thursday’.

C. Thor is the hammer-wielding god of thunder, lightning, storms, strength, the protection of mankind. Thor is a prominently mentioned god in the recorded history of the Germanic peoples, he was very popular during the Viking Age, where emblems of his hammer, Mjolnir, were worn. In Norse mythology many tales and information about Thor are provided. In these sources, Thor bears at least fifteen names, and is described as fierce eyed, red haired and red bearded god.

D. Thunderbird is a legendary creature in certain native North American peoples’ history and culture. It is considered a supernatural being of power and strength. It is especially important, and frequently depicted, in the art, songs and oral histories of many Pacific Northwest Coast cultures, but is also found in various forms among some peoples of the American Southwest, East Coast of the United States, Great Lakes, and Great Plains.

E. Released in 2015, ‘God of Thunder’ is described as action, adventure and science fiction. Directed by Thomas Shapiro, it has the starring: A1 Burke, Jacqui Holland, Max Aria and others. Defeated on the battlefield by Thor, Loki is brought to Odin for justice. But by using his trickery, Loki escapes to Earth. There he will conquer mankind and raise a large army to use in his quest for domination. Thor is besieged by Loki’s followers, hell-bent on stopping him…at any cost.

F. Thor is a superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, based on the Norse deity of the same name, is the Asgardian god of thunder and possesses the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, which grants him superhuman abilities. He is a member of the superhero team the Avengers. The character has also appeared in television series, clothing, toys, video games, and movies. Thor was placed 14th of “Top 100 Comic Heroes of All Time” and first of “The Top 50 Avengers”.

G. Tales about Thor continued into the modem period, particularly in Scandinavia. Writing in the 19th century, scholar Jacob Grimm recorded various phrases surviving into Germanic languages which refer to the god, such as the Norwegian ‘Thor’s warmth’ for lightning. In Scandinavian folktales there is the belief that lightning frightens away trolls and ettins. In connection, the lack of trolls and ettins in modem Scandinavia is explained as a result of the «accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes».

Task 1 Прочитайте текст и заполните пропуски A–F частями предложений, обозначенными цифрами 1–7. Одна из частей в списке 1–7 лишняя. Занесите цифру, обозначающую соответствующую часть предложения, в таблицу.

Fire Crews Hunt Escaped Hamster

Eight firefighters have been called in to help find an escaped hamster. Two crews used a chocolate-covered camera and a vacuum cleaner A ____ , called Fudgie, at the home of a six-year-old girl in Dunbar, Scotland.

The girl’s mother said: ‘We came down for breakfast and discovered Fudgie had opened the top lid of her cage and had made her way into the kitchen and we think she has gone В ____ .’

The fire crews spent five hours trying to recover the pet after it ran down a hole in the kitchen floor. But, the hamster still refused С ____ .

In the search for Fudgie, the firefighters took the family cooker and gas pipes apart. They also dropped a mini-camera coated with chocolate under the floorboards. They then hoped to take out the hamster using a vacuum cleaner. Despite all their efforts, they failed to find Fudgie.

In the end, the firefighters put another camera down the hole D ____ , connected to the screen of the family home computer, to see if Fudgie appeared. Besides, the girl and her parents regularly dropped food E ____ .

At last, after eight days the hamster returned to her cage safe and sound. She crawled from the hole in the kitchen floor early in the morning. It was the girl’s father who first found Fudgie F ____ .

The girl said that day it was like Christmas morning for her. Her parents added that they too felt extremely happy when Fudgie had finally returned.

1. through a small hole in the floor

2. through the hole for the hamster

3. and locked the runaway hamster

4. to come out of the hole

5. to look after the pet

6. to try and locate the missing hamster

7. and left it under the floorboards

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	1	4	7	2	3

Task 2

Speed of eating is ‘key to obesity’

If you eat very quickly, it may be enough to increase your risk of being overweight, research suggests.

Osaka University scientists looked at the eating habits of 3,000 people. Just about half of them told researchers that they A ______ . Compared with those who did not eat quickly, fast-eating men were 84% more likely to be overweight, and women were 100% more likely to В ______ .

Japanese scientists said that there were a number of reasons why eating fast С ______ . They said it could prevent the work of a signalling system which tells your brain to stop eating because your stomach is full. They said: ‘If you eat quickly you basically fill your stomach before the system has a chance to react, so you D _____ .

The researchers also explained that a mechanism that helps make us fat today, developed with evolution and helped people get more food in the periods when they were short of it. The scientists added that the habit of eating fast could be received from one’s parents genes or E ______ .

They said that, if possible, children should be taught to F ______ , and allowed to stop when they felt full up at mealtimes. ‘The advice of our grandmothers about chewing everything 20 times might be true — if you take a bit more time eating, it could have a positive influence on your weight.

1. just overfill your stomach

2. could be bad for your weight

3. have a habit of eating quickly

4. linked to obesity

5. eat as slowly as possible

6. put on weight

7. learned at a very early age

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	2	1	7	5

Task 3

Hi-Tech Brings Families Together 

Technology is helping families stay in touch like never before, says a report carried out in the US.

Instead of driving people apart, mobile phones and the Internet are A ____ . The research looked at the differences in technology use between families with children and single adults. It found that traditional families have more hi-tech gadgets in their home В ____ . Several mobile phones were found in 89% of families and 66% had a high-speed Internet connection. The research also found that 58% of families have more С ____ .

Many people use their mobile phone to keep in touch and communicate with parents and children. Seventy percent of couples, D ____ , use it every day to chat or say hello. In addition, it was found that 42% of parents contact their children via their mobile every day.

The growing use of mobile phones, computers and the Internet means that families no longer gather round the TV to spend time together. 25% of those who took part in the report said they now spend less time E ____ . Only 58% of 18—29 year olds said they watched TV every day. Instead the research found that 52% of Internet users who live with their families go online F ____ several times a week and 51% of parents browse the web with their children.

Some analysts have worried that new technologies hurt families, but we see that technology allows for new kinds of connectedness built around cell phones and the Internet/ said the report.

1. than any other group

2. watching television

3. in the company of someone else

4. than two computers in the home

5. communicated with their families

6. helping them communicate

7. owning a mobile

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	1	4	7	2	3

Task 4

The Power of ‘Hello’ 

I work at a company where there are hundreds of employees. I know most of them and almost all of them know me. It is all based on one simple principle: I believe every single person deserves to be acknowledged, A ______ .

When I was about 10 years old, I was walking down the street with my mother. She stopped to speak to Mr. Lee. I knew I could see Mr. Lee any time around the neighborhood, В ______ .

After we passed Mr. Lee, my mother said something that has stuck with me from that day until now. She said, ‘You let that be the last time you ever walk by somebody and not open up your mouth to speak, because even a dog can wag its tail С______ . That phrase sounds simple, but it has been a guidepost for me and the foundation of who I am. I started to see that when I spoke to someone, they spoke back. And that felt good. It is not just something I believe in — D ______ . I believe that every person deserves to feel someone acknowledges their presence, no matter how unimportant they may be.

At work, I always used to say ‘hello’ to the founder of the company and ask him how our business was doing. But I was also speaking to the people in the cafe, and asked how their children were doing. I remembered after a few years of passing by the founder, I had the courage to ask him for a meeting. We had a great talk.

At a certain point, I asked him E ______ . He said, ‘If you want to, you can get all the way to this seat.’ I have become vice president, but that has not changed the way I approach people. I speak to everyone I see, no matter where I am. I have learned that speaking to people creates a pathway into their world, F ______ .

1. it has become a way of life.

2. when it passes you on the street.

3. when you see him and talk to him.

4. and it lets them come into mine, too.

5. so I did not pay any attention to him.

6. however small or simple the greeting is.

7. how far he thought I could go in his company.

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	5	2	1	7	4

Task 5

Friendship and Love

 A strong friendship takes a significant amount of time to develop. It will not just magically mature overnight. A friendship involves committing oneself to help another person A ______ . I believe that, nothing can replace a true friend, not material objects, or money, and definitely not a boy.

I met this guy a couple summers ago who I ended up spending almost all of my free time with. His parents did not approve of our dating because of our age difference, В ______ . He had told me the day we met that he had joined the air force and would leave for overseas that coming October. After three months had past, the time came when he had to leave. This left me feeling completely alone.

I turned to my friends for support, but to my surprise, С ______ . I had spent so much time with this guy and so little time with them, that they did not feel sorry for me when he left. For so long they had become the only constant in my life, and I had taken them for granted over something D ______ .

When my boyfriend came back, our relationship changed. I tried to fix all the aspects in my life that had gone so wrong in the previous six months.

This experience taught me that true friendships will only survive if one puts forth effort to make them last. Keeping friends close will guarantee that E ______ . When a relationship falls apart, a friend will always do everything in their power to make everything less painful. As for me, I try to keep my friends as close as I can. I know they will always support me in whatever I do, and to them, I F ______ .

1. but we did anyway.

2. whenever a need arises.

3. they did not really care.

4. whenever they need your help.

5. could not guarantee would even last.

6. am eternally grateful for a second chance.

7. someone will always have a shoulder to cry on.

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	1	3	5	7	6

Task 6

Mobile phones

 On New Year’s Day, 1985, Michael Harrison phoned his father, Sir Ernest, to wish him a happy new year. Sir Ernest was chairman of Racal Electronics, the owner of Vodafone, A ______ .

At the time, mobile phones weighed almost a kilogram, cost several thousand pounds and provided only 20 minutes talktime. The networks themselves were small; Vodafone had just a dozen masts covering London. Nobody had any idea of the huge potential of wireless communication and the dramatic impact В ______ .

Hardly anyone believed there would come a day when mobile phones were so popular С ______ .But in 1999 one mobile phone was sold in the UK every four seconds, and by 2004 there were more mobile phones in the UK than people. The boom was a result of increased competition which pushed prices lower and created innovations in the way that mobiles were sold.

When the government introduced more competition, companies started cutting prices to attract more customers. Cellnet, for example, changed its prices, D ______ . It also introduced local call tariffs.

The way that handsets themselves were marketed was also changing and it was Finland’s Nokia who made E ______ . In the late 1990s Nokia realized that the mobile phone was a fashion item: so it offered interchangeable covers which allowed you to customize and personalize your handset.

The mobile phone industry has spent the later part of the past decade reducing its monthly charge F ______ , which has culminated in the fight between the iPhone and a succession of touch screen rivals.

1. trying to persuade people to do more with their phones than just call and text

2. that there would be more phones in the UK than there are people

3. and relying instead on actual call charges

4. that mobile phones would have over the next quarter century

5. the leap from phones as technology to phones as fashion items

6. and his son was making the first-ever mobile phone call in the UK

7. the move to digital technology, connecting machines to wireless networks

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	4	2	1	5	3

Task 7

London Zoo

 London Zoo is one of the most important zoos in the world. There are over 12,000 animals at London Zoo and A ______ ! Its main concern is to breed threatened animals in captivity. This means we might be able to restock the wild, should disaster ever befall the wild population.

Partula Snail, Red Crowned Crane, Arabian Oryx, Golden Lion Tamarin, Persian Leopard, Asiatic Lion and Sumatran Tiger are just some of the species London Zoo is helping to save.

That is why it is so important that we fight to preserve the habitats that these animals live in, as well as eliminate other dangers В ______ . But we aim to make your day at London Zoo a fun and memorable time, С ______ .

In the Ambika Paul Children’s Zoo, for instance, youngsters can learn a new love and appreciation for animals D ______ . They can also learn how to care for favourite pets in the Pet Care Centre.

Then there are numerous special Highlight events E ______ unforgettable pony rides to feeding times and spectacular animal displays. You will get to meet keepers and ask them what you are interested in about the animals they care for, F ______ .

Whatever you decide, you will have a great day. We have left no stone unturned to make sure you do!

1. such as hunting exotic animals and selling furs

2. as well as the ins and outs of being a keeper at London Zoo

3. which take place every day, from

4. because they see and touch them close up 

5. despite the serious side to our work

6. which demand much time and effort

7. that is not counting every ant in the colony

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	1	5	4	3	2

Task 8

‘Second Stonehenge’ discovered near original

 Archaeologists have discovered evidence of what they believe was a second Stonehenge located a little more than a mile away from the world-famous prehistoric monument.

The new find on the west bank of the river Avon has been called «Bluestonehenge», after the colour of the 25 Welsh stones of A______.

Excavations at the site have suggested there was once a stone circle 10 metres in diameter and surrounded by a henge — a ditch with an external bank, according to the project director, Professor Mike Parker Pearson, of the University of Sheffield.

The stones at the site were removed thousands of years ago but the sizes of the holes in B ______ indicate that this was a circle of bluestones, brought from the Preseli mountains of Wales, 150 miles away.

The standing stones marked the end of the avenue C _____, a 1¾-mile long processional route constructed at the end of the Stone Age. The outer henge around the stones was built about 2400BC but arrowheads found in the stone circle indicate the stones were put up as much as 500 years earlier.

Parker Pearson said his team was waiting for results of radiocarbon dating D _____ whether stones currently in the inner circle of Stonehenge were originally located at the other riverside construction.

Pearson said: «The big, big question is when these stones were erected and when they were removed — and when we get the dating evidence we can answer both those questions.»

He added: «We speculated in the past E ______ at the end of the avenue near the river. But we were completely unprepared to discover that there was an entire stone circle. Another team member, Professor Julian Thomas, said the discovery indicated F______was central to the religious lives of the people who built Stonehenge. «Old theories about Stonehenge that do not explain the evident significance of the river will have to be rethought,» he said. Dr Josh Pollard, project co-director from the University of Bristol, described the discovery as «incredible».

1. which could reveal

2. which they stood

3. which it was once made up

4. that this stretch of the river Avon

5. that there might have been something

6. that it should be considered as integral part

7. that leads from the river Avon to Stonehenge

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	2	7	1	5	4

Task 9

Australia

 Australia was the last great landmass to be discovered by the Europeans. The continent they eventually discovered had already been inhabited for tens of thousands of years.

Australia is an island continent A _____ is the result of gradual changes wrought over millions of years.

B ____, Australia is one of the most stable land masses, and for about 100 million years has been free of the forces that have given rise to huge mountain ranges elsewhere.

From the east coast a narrow, fertile strip merges into the greatly eroded Great Dividing Range, C ____.

The mountains are merely reminders of the mighty range, D ____. Only in the section straddling the New South Wales border with Victoria and in Tasmania, are they high enough to have winter snow.

West of the range of the country becomes increasingly flat and dry. The endless flatness is broken only by salt lakes, occasional mysterious protuberances and some mountains E ____. In places the scant vegetation is sufficient to allow some grazing. However, much of the Australian outback is a barren land of harsh stone deserts and dry lakes.

The extreme north of Australia, the Top End, is a tropical area within the monsoon belt. F ____, it comes in more or less one short, sharp burst. This has prevented the Top End from becoming seriously productive area.

1. that once stood here

2. that is almost continent long

3. whose property is situated to the north of Tasmania

4. whose landscape — much of bleak and inhospitable

5. whose beauty reminds of the MacDonald Ranges

6. Although its annual rainfall looks adequate on paper

7. Although there is still seismic activity in the eastern highland area

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	7	2	1	5	6

Task 10

Scotland Yard

 Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London. To most people, its name immediately brings to mind the picture of a detective — cool, efficient, ready to track down any criminal, or a helmeted police constable — A____ and trusty helper of every traveller from overseas.

Scotland Yard is situated on the Thames Embankment close to the Houses of Parliament and the familiar clock tower of Big Ben, and its jurisdiction extends over 740 square miles with the exception of the ancient City of London, B____.

One of the most successful developments in Scotland Yard’s crime detection and emergency service has been the “999 system”. On receipt of a call the 999 Room operator ascertains by electronic device the position of the nearest available police car, C ____. Almost instantly a message is also sent by teleprinter to the police station concerned so that within seconds of a call for assistance being received, a police car is on its way to the scene. An old-established section of the Metropolitan police is the Mounted Branch, with its strength of about 200 horses stabled at strategic points. These horses are particularly suited to ceremonial occasions, D ____.

An interesting branch of Scotland Yard is the branch of Police Dogs, first used as an experiment in 1939. Now these dogs are an important part of the Force. One dog, for example, can search a warehouse in ten minutes, E ____.

There is also the River Police, or Thames Division, which deals with all crimes occurring within its river boundaries.

There are two other departments of Scotland Yard – the Witness Room (known as the Rogues’ Gallery) where a photographic record of known and suspected criminals is kept, and the Museum, F ____.

1. which is contacted by radio

2. that familiar figure of the London scene

3. for they are accustomed to military bands

4. which possesses its own separate police force

5. which contains murder relics and forgery exhibits

6. that this policeman will bring the criminal to justice

7. whereas the same search would take six men an hour

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	4	1	3	7	5

Task 11

Harry Potter course for university students 

Students of Durham University are being given the chance to sign up to what is thought to be the UK’s first course focusing on the world of Harry Potter. Although every English-speaking person in the world knows about Harry Potter books and films, few have thought of using them as a guide to … modern life.

The Durham University module uses the works of JK Rowling A ______ modern society. “Harry Potter and the Age of Illusion” will be available for study next year. So far about 80 undergraduates have signed В ______ a BA degree in Education Studies. Future educationalists will analyse JK Rowling’s fanfiction from various points of view.

A university spokesman said: “This module places the Harry Potter novels in a wider social and cultural context.” He added that a number of themes would be explored, С ______ the classroom, bullying, friendship and solidarity and the ideals of and good citizenship.

The module was created by the head of the Department of Education at Durham University. He said the idea for the new module had appeared in response D ______ body: “It seeks to place the series in its wider social and cultural context and will explore some fundamental issues E ______ . You just need to read the academic writing which started F ______ that Harry Potter is worthy of serious study.”

1. up for the optional module, part of

2. to emerge four or five years ago to see

3. to examine prejudice, citizenship and bullying in

4. such as the response of the writer

5. including the world of rituals, prejudice and intolerance in

6. to growing demand from the student

7. such as the moral universe of the school

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	1	5	6	7	2

Task 12

Laughing and evolution

 The first hoots of laughter from an ancient ancestor of humans could be heard at least 10 million years ago, according to the results of a new study. Researchers used recordings of apes and babies being tickled A ______ to the last common ancestor that humans shared with the modern great apes, which include chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

The finding challenges the opinion В ______ , suggesting instead that it emerged long before humans split from the evolutionary path that led to our primate cousins, between 10m and 16m years ago.

“In humans, laughing can be the strongest way of expressing how much we are enjoying ourselves, but it can also be used in other contexts, like making fun of someone,” said Marina Davila Ross, a psychologist at Portsmouth University. “I was interested in С ______ .”

Davila Ross travelled to seven zoos around Europe and visited a wildlife reserve in Sabah, Borneo, to record baby and juvenile apes D ______ . Great apes are known to make noises that are similar to laughter when they are excited and while they are playing with each other.

Davila Ross collected recordings of laughter from 21 chimps, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos and added recordings of three babies that were tickled to make them laugh.

To analyze the recordings, the team put them into a computer program. “Our evolutionary tree based on these acoustic recordings alone showed E ______ , but furthest from orangutans, with gorillas somewhere in the middle.” said Davila Ross. “What this shows is strong evidence to suggest F ______ .”

1. whether laughing emerged earlier on than humans did

2. to create the evolutionary tree linking humans and apes

3. that laughter is a uniquely human trait

4. that humans were closest to chimps and bonobos

5. that laughing comes from a common primate ancestor

6. while their caretakers tickled them

7. to trace the origin of laughter back

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	3	1	6	4	5

Task 13

Nenets culture affected by global warming

 For 1,000 years the indigenous Nenets people have migrated along the 450-mile- long Yamal peninsula in northern Russia. In summer they wander northwards, taking their reindeer with them. In winter they return southwards.

But this remote region of north-west Siberia is now being affected by global warming. Traditionally the Nenets travel across the frozen River Ob in November A ___ around Nadym. These days, though, this annual winter migration is delayed. Last year the Nenets, together with many thousands of reindeer, had to wait until late December В ____ .

“Our reindeer were hungry. There wasn’t enough food,” Jakov Japtik, a Nenets reindeer herder, said. “The snow is melting sooner, quicker and faster than before. In spring it’s difficult for the reindeer to pull the sledges. They get tired,” Japtik said.

Herders say that the peninsula’s weather is increasingly unpredictable — with unseasonal snowstorms  С ___, and milder longer autumns. In winter, temperatures used to go down to -50°C. Now they are normally around -30°C, according to Japtik. “Obviously we prefer -30°C. But the changes aren’t good for the reindeer D ___,” he said, setting off on his sledge to round up his reindeer herd.

Even here, in one of the most remote parts of the planet, E __ . Last year the Nenets arrived at a regular summer camping spot and discovered that half of their lake had disappeared. The water had drained away after a landslide. The Nenets report other curious changes — there are fewer mosquitoes and a strange increase in flies. Scientists say there is unmistakable evidence F ___ .

1. when the ice was finally thick enough to cross

2. that the impact on Russia would be disastrous

3. the environment is under pressure

4. and in the end what is good for the reindeer is good for us

5. and set up their camps in the southern forests

6. that Yamal’s ancient permafrost is melting

7. when the reindeer give birth in May

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	1	7	4	3	6

Task 14

Duration of life and its social implications

The world’s population is about to reach a landmark of huge social and economic importance, when the proportion of the global population over 65 outnumbers children under 5 for the first time. A new report by the US census bureau shows A____ , with enormous consequences for both rich and poor nations.

The rate of growth will shoot up in the next couple of years. The В ___ a combination of the high birth rates after the Second World War and more recent improvements in health that are bringing down death rates at older ages. Separate UN forecasts predict that the global population will be more than nine billion by 2050.

The US census bureau was the first to sound the С ___ . Its latest forecasts warn governments and international bodies that this change in population structure will bring widespread challenges at every level of human organization, starting with the structure of the family, which will be transformed as people live longer. This will in turn place new burdens on careers and social services providers, D ___ for health services and pensions systems.

“People are living longer and, in some parts of the world, healthier lives,” the authors conclude. “This represents one of the greatest achievements of the last century but also a significant challenge E ___ population.”

Ageing will put pressure on societies at all levels. One way of measuring that is to look at the older dependency ratio, F ___ that must be supported by them. The ODR is the number of people aged 65 and over for every 100 people aged 20 to 64. It varies widely, from just six in Kenya to 33 in Italy and Japan. The UK has an ODR of 26, and the US has 21.

1. which recently replaced Italy as the world’s oldest major country

2. alarm about these changes

3. a huge shift towards an ageing population

4. change is due to

5. while patterns of work and retirement will have huge implications

6. which shows the balance between working-age people and the older

7. as proportions of older people increase in most countries

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	4	2	5	7	6

Task 15

Elephants sense ‘danger’ clothes

 St Andrews University researchers discovered that elephants could recognise the degree of danger posed by various groups of individuals. The study found that African elephants always reacted with fear A ______ previously worn by men of the Maasai tribe. They are known to demonstrate their courage by В ______ .

The elephants also responded aggressively to red clothing, which defines traditional Maasai dress.

However, the elephants showed a much milder reaction to clothing previously worn by the Kamba people, С ______ and pose little threat.

The researchers first presented elephants with clean, red clothing and with red clothing that had been worn for five days by D ______ .

They revealed that Maasai-smelt clothing motivated elephants to travel significantly faster in the first minute after they moved away.

They then investigated whether elephants could also use the colour of clothing as a cue to classify a potential threat and found the elephants reacted with aggression E ______ . This suggested that they associated the colour red with the Maasai.

The researchers believe the distinction in the elephants’ emotional reaction to smell and colour might be explained by F ______ . They might be able to distinguish among different human groups according to the level of risk they posed.

«We regard this experiment as just a start to investigating precisely how elephants ‘see the world’, and it may be that their abilities will turn out to equal or exceed those of our closer relatives, the monkeys and apes,» researchers added.

1. either a Maasai or a Kamba man

2. who do not hunt elephants

3. when they detected the smell of clothes

4. who carried out the research

5. the amount of risk they sense

6. spearing elephants

7. when they spotted red but not white cloth

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	2	1	7	5

Task 16

Culture and customs

 In less than twenty years, the mobile telephone has gone from being rare, expensive equipment of the business elite to a pervasive, low-cost personal item. In many countries, mobile telephones A ___ ; in the U.S., 50 per cent of children have mobile telephones. In many young adults’ households it has supplanted the land-line telephone. The mobile phone is В ___ , such as North Korea.

Paul Levinson in his 2004 book Cellphone argues that by looking back through history we can find many precursors to the idea of people simultaneously walking and talking on a mobile phone. Mobile phones are the next extension in portable media, that now can be С ___ into one device. Levinson highlights that as the only mammal to use only two out of our four limbs to walk, we are left two hands free D ___ — like talking on a mobile phone.

Levinson writes that “Intelligence and inventiveness, applied to our need to communicate regardless of where we may be, led logically and eventually to telephones that we E ___ .”

Given the high levels of societal mobile telephone service penetration, it is a key means for people F ___ . The SMS feature spawned the «texting» sub-culture. In December 1993, the first person-to-person SMS text message was transmitted in Finland. Currently, texting is the most widely-used data service; 1.8 billion users generated $80 billion of revenue in 2006.

1. to perform other actions

2. outnumber traditional telephones

3. to communicate with each other 

4. combined with the Internet

5. to serve basic needs

6. banned in some countries

7. carry in our pockets

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	6	4	1	7	5

Task 17

My Stage

 My family moved to Rockaway, New Jersey in the summer of 1978. It was there that my dreams of stardom began.

I was nine years old. Heather Lambrix lived next door, and she and I became best friends. I thought she was so lucky A ___ . She took tap and jazz and got to wear cool costumes with bright sequences and makeup and perform on stage. I went to all of her recitals and В ___ .

My living room and sometimes the garage were my stage. I belonged to a cast of four, which consisted of Heather, my two younger sisters, Lisa and Faith, and I. Since I was the oldest and the bossiest, I was the director. Heather came with her own costumes С ___ . We choreographed most of our dance numbers as we went along. Poor Faith … we would throw her around D ___ . She was only about four or five … and so agile. We danced around in our bathing suits to audiocassettes and records from all the Broadway musicals. We’d put a small piece of plywood on the living room carpet, E ___ . And I would imitate her in my sneakers on the linoleum in the hall. I was a dancer in the making.

My dad eventually converted a part of our basement into a small theater. He hung two “spotlights” and a sheet for a curtain. We performed dance numbers to tunes like “One” and “The Music and the Mirror” from A Chorus Line. I sang all the songs from Annie. I loved to sing, F ___. I just loved to sing. So I belted out songs like “Tomorrow”, “Maybe” and “What I Did For Love.” I knew then, this is what I wanted to do with my life.

1. like she was a rag doll

2. whether I was good at it or not

3. wished I, too, could be on stage

4. and I designed the rest

5. and I was star struck

6. so Heather could do her tap routine

7. because she got to go to dance lessons

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	3	4	1	6	2

Task 18

Cat’s punctuality

 Sergeant Podge, a Norwegian Forest Cat, disappears from his owner’s home in a small town in Kent, every night. But what baffles his owner, Liz Bullard, mostly is the fact that the next morning, the 12-year-old cat always pops up in exactly the same place, A ___ . And every morning Ms. Bullard takes her son to school before collecting Sergeant Podge.

She said that the routine had set in earlier this year, when Sergeant Podge disappeared one day. Ms. Bullard spent hours telephoning her neighbours В ___ .

An elderly woman living about one and a half miles away called back to inform Ms. Bullard that she had found a cat matching Sergeant Podge’s description. Ms. Bullard picked him up but within days he vanished from sight again. She rang the elderly woman С ___ .

She said a routine has now become established, where each morning she takes her son to school before driving to collect Sergeant Podge D ___ .

It is thought Sergeant Podge walks across a golf course every night to reach his destination.

Ms. Bullard said: “If it’s raining he may be in the bush but he comes running if I clap my hands.” All she has to do is open the car passenger door from the inside for Sergeant Podge to jump in.

Ms. Bullard also makes the trip at weekends and during school holidays — E ___ .

She does not know why, after 12 years, Sergeant Podge has begun the routine but explained that another woman who lived nearby used to feed him sardines, and that he may be F ___ .

His owner doesn’t mind his wandering off at night as long as she knows where to collect him.

1. on the look-out for more treats

2. from the pavement between 0800 and 0815 GMT

3. to discover Sergeant Podge was back outside her home

4. on a pavement about one and a half miles (2.4km) away

5. to identify if anyone had bumped into him

6. when her son is having a lie-in

7. collected by car every morning

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	5	3	2	6	1

Task 19

Do you speak English?

When I arrived in England I thought I knew English. After I’d been here an hour I realized that I did not understand one word. In the first week I picked up a tolerable working knowledge of the language and the next seven years convinced me gradually but thoroughly that I A ______ , let alone perfectly. This is sad. My only consolation being that nobody speaks English perfectly.

Remember that those five hundred words an average Englishman uses are B ______ . You may learn another five hundred and another five thousand and yet another fifty thousand and still you may come across a further fifty thousand C ______ .

If you live here long enough you will find out to your greatest amazement that the adjective nice is not the only adjective the language possesses, in spite of the fact that D ______ . You can say that the weather is nice, a restaurant is nice, Mr. Soandso is nice, Mrs. Soandso’s clothes are nice, you had a nice time, E ______ .

Then you have to decide on your accent. The easiest way to give the impression of having a good accent or no foreign accent at all is to hold an unlit pipe in your mouth, to mutter between your teeth and finish all your sentences with the question: “isn’t it?” People will not understand much, but they are accustomed to that and they will get a F ______ .

1. whatever it costs

2. most excellent impression

3. you have never heard of before, and nobody else either

4. in the first three years you do not need to learn or use any other adjectives

5. would never know it really well

6. far from being the whole vocabulary of the language

7. and all this

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	6	3	4	7	2

Task 20

Before the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, scientists thought they knew the universe. They were wrong.

The Hubble Space Telescope has changed many scientists’ view of the universe. The telescope is named after American astronomer Edwin Hubble, A ______ .

He established that many galaxies exist and developed the first system for their classifications.

In many ways, Hubble is like any other telescope. It simply gathers light. It is roughly the size of a large school bus. What makes Hubble special is not what it is, B ______ .

Hubble was launched in 1990 from the “Discovery” space shuttle and it is about 350 miles above our planet, C ______ .

It is far from the glare of city lights, it doesn’t have to look through the air, D ______ .

And what a view it is! Hubble is so powerful it could spot a fly on the moon. Yet in an average orbit, it uses the same amount of energy as 28100-watt light bulbs. Hubble pictures require no film. The telescope takes digital images E ______ .

Hubble has snapped photos of storms on Saturn and exploding stars. Hubble doesn’t just focus on our solar system. It also peers into our galaxy and beyond. Many Hubble photos show the stars that make up the Milky Way galaxy. A galaxy is a city of stars.

Hubble cannot take pictures of the sun or other very bright objects, because doing so could “fry” the telescope’s instruments, but it can detect infrared and ultra violet light F ______ .

Some of the sights of our solar system that Hubble has glimpsed may even change the number of planets in it.

1. which is above Earth’s atmosphere.

2. which are transmitted to scientists on Earth.

3. which is invisible to the human eye.

4. who calculated the speed at which galaxies move.

5. so it has a clear view of space.

6. because many stars are in clouds of gas.

7. but where it is.

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	7	1	5	2	3

Task 21

The science of sound, or acoustics, as it is often called, has been made over radically within a comparatively short space of time. Not so long ago the lectures on sound in colleges and high schools dealt chiefly with the vibrations of such things as the air columns in organ pipes. Nowadays, however, thanks chiefly to a number of electronic instruments engineers can study sounds as effectively A ____ . The result has been a new approach to research in sound. Scientists have been able to make far-reaching discoveries in many fields of acoustics B _____ .

Foremost among the instruments that have revolutionized the study of acoustics are electronic sound-level meters also known as sound meters and sound-intensity meters. These are effective devices that first convert sound waves into weak electric signals, then amplify the signals through electronic means C ______ . The intensity of a sound is measured in units called decibels. “Zero” sound is the faintest sound D ______ . The decibel measures the ratio of the intensity of a given sound to the standard “zero” sound. The decibel scale ranges from 0 to 130. An intensity of 130 decibels is perceived not only as a sound, but also E ______ . The normal range of painlessly audible sounds for the average human ear is about 120 decibels. For forms of life other than ourselves, the range can be quite different.

The ordinary sound meter measures the intensity of a given sound, rather than its actual loudness. Under most conditions, however, it is a quite good indicator of loudness. Probably the loudest known noise ever heard by human ears was that of the explosive eruption in August, 1883, of the volcano of Krakatoa in the East Indies. No electronic sound meters, of course, were in existence then, but physicists estimate that the sound at its source must have had an intensity of 190 decibels, F ______ .

1. and finally measure them.

2. since it was heard 3,000 miles away.

3. and they have been able to put many of these discoveries to practical use.

4. that loud sound is of high intensity.

5. as they study mechanical forces.

6. as a painful sensation in the ear.

7. that the unaided human ear can detect.

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	3	1	7	6	2

Task 22

Chocolate 

Chocolate is made from a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seeds of tropical cacao trees. Cacao has been cultivated in A ______ at least 3000 years. For most of this time it was made into a drink called, in translation — “bitter water”. This is because В ______ to be fermented to develop a palatable flavour. After fermentation the beans are dried and roasted and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. These are then ground and liquefied into chocolate liquor. The liquor is then processed into cocoa solids or cocoa butter. Pure chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and butter in different proportions. Much of С ______ with added sugar. Milk chocolate is sweetened chocolate that additionally contains either milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate on the other D ______ is therefore not a true chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine and phenethylamine which have physiological effects on the body. It is similar to serotonin levels in the brain. Scientists claim E ______ , can lower blood pressure. Recently, dark chocolate has also been promoted for its health benefits. But pet owners should remember that the presence of theobromine makes it toxic to cats and dogs. Chocolate is now one F______ , although 16 of the top 20 chocolate consuming countries are in Europe. Also interesting is that 66% of world chocolate is consumed between meals.

1. the chocolate consumed today is made

2. that chocolate, eaten in moderation

3. central and southern America for

4. of the world’s most popular flavours

5. hand contains no cocoa solids and

6. cacao seeds are intensely bitter and have

7. many countries worldwide at

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	1	5	2	4

Task 23

Reality TV

 Reality TV seems to dominate broadcasting these days. But what is it, how did it emerge and why on earth is it so popular? The first question is easily answered. Reality TV A ______ presents unscripted, dramatic or humorous situations or events. It can involve celebrities В ______ of the public. Reality TV has been gradually growing in importance for over 60 years. “Candid Camera” — the show that filmed ordinary people reacting to set ups and pranks — started in 1948. Some people, however, believe it was the Japanese with their awful shows in the 1980s and 90s that brought reality TV to centre stage. Others believe С ______ that is called “Big Brother” was the show that spawned the reality TV age. But why are the shows so popular? Different theories come to life. Some believe that it is D ______ we like to watch horrible behaviour: the same instinct that once inspired the ancient Romans to go and watch gladiators destroy each other at the Coliseum. Others suggest a kind of voyeurism is involved there — an unhealthy curiosity to spy on other people’s lives.

Whatever the real reason — the trend seems to have already peaked. A lot of such shows E ______ or are expected to go in the near future. And the replacement seems to be talents shows — watching competitions in dance, singing and general entertainment. Does it mean that people are changing? It is too early to say. Most agree that these F ______ .

1. due to basic human instinct that

2. is still early to judge

3. are simply the cycles of fashion

4. but more usually the stars are members

5. that the television phenomenon

6. is a type of programme that

7. seem to have disappeared

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	4	5	1	7	3

Task 24

Mikhail Lomonosov and Moscow State University

 Mikhail Lomonosov was one of the intellectual titans of XVIII century. His interests ranged from history, rhetoric, art and poetry A ______ . Alexander Pushkin described him as В ______ , whose lifelong passion was learning.

Lomonosov’s activity is a manifestation of the enormous potential of the Russian scientific community. Peter I reformed Russia, which allowed the country to reach the standard of С ______ many spheres. Great importance was placed on education. St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, founded by Peter I, established a university and a grammar school to educate intellectuals and researchers the country needed; however, these educational establishments could not fulfill the task they took on. It was Michail Lomonosov D ______ of establishing a university in Moscow. An influential courtier and the E ______ Count Shuvalov supported Lomonosov’s plans for a new university and presented them to the Empress.

In 1755, on 25 January-St. Tatiana’s Day according to the Russian Orthodox Church calendar — Elizaveta signed the decree that a university should be founded in Moscow. The opening ceremony took place on 26 April, when Elizaveta’s coronation day was celebrated. Since 1755 25 January and 26 April F ______ Moscow University; the annual conference where students present the results of their research work is traditionally held in April.

1. who suggested in his letter to Count Shuvalov the idea

2. to mechanics, chemistry and mineralogy

3. a person of formidable willpower and keen scientific mind

4. favourite of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, the patron of arts and science

5. the contemporary European powers in

6. are marked by special events and festivities at

7. famous among all educated people

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	3	5	1	4	6

Task 25

Window Shopping

 The day would be spent with my best friends Kath and Kate. We are actually three Catherines (by birth spelt with a C), A______ we are all K’s: Kat (that’s me), Kath and Kate — the 3K Window Shopping gang!

Window shopping is simply wonderful. You can look at any outfit. You can try on В ______ not a single item on sale for which the price is a problem. You will try something on, ponder, pout, twirl, think hard, check yourself in the mirror one last time and finally reflect С ______ right for you! The highlight of this regular adventure however, is generally the 3K chocolate and ice cream break in the Shopping Centre’s top floor cafii Of course we do not believe that we are wasting anyone’s time. We do D ______ as well, but a reliable equation for us is — 3Ks + shopping mall = a good time.

But E ______ out to be especially memorable. One of the stores had a questionnaire lottery with the first prize being a voucher worth £200. We filled in the question forms while in the cafiiand returned to the store by their 2.00pm deadline. Kate won the first prize but we had decided in advance that if any of us won something, we would share equally: All for one К and one for all! At this point our morning of window shopping paid off. We completed F ______ slightly less than 10 minutes: three skirts, three hats and three belts and three very OK, K’s.

1. not like to spend our time

2. that it’s probably not quite

3. that particular day turned

4. our real shopping in

5. sometimes go shopping for real

6. anything you want and there is

7. but when we are together

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	6	2	5	3	4

Task 26

The Hotel

 “Have you stayed with us before sir?” asked the receptionist. His accent sounded middle-European; Czech possibly or Polish. Actually I hadn’t stayed at this particular hotel before A ______ to many others from the same chain that I had stayed at. “No — first time” I replied with unnecessary brevity. The thing is I always feel В ______ rather than treated as an individual. Every word that I was about to hear, I had heard before — delivered no doubt from the depths of a tourism and hospitality course. “Welcome to Newcastle sir. Is this your first visit to our city? Can I trouble you to complete this form? Actually the first two lines and the signature at the bottom will do. Would you like С ______ , Sir? This will automatically unlock room facilities like mini-bar and telephone and any other extras you may require. Can I see your passport sir?” The questions and information D ______ responses were actually required and I handed over my passport, credit card and partly filled out form. I was tempted to write under name and address “Donald Duck, Duck Towers, Disney Street” — E ______ ever read the form again. But being a creature of habit I wrote my real name and address. While my card was being processed I looked across the reception area through the wall height windows to the beautiful River Tyne. A wave of nostalgia came over me. It was good to be back. I found myself thinking about her again and wondering F ______ a voice broke in: “It’s a plastic key card sir. You also need it to activate the lift and when you get to your room, plug it into the switch on the left as you open the door. It will automatically supply electricity to the room. Any help with your baggage? No? Then enjoy your stay”. The accomplished young Pole smiled as he delivered the final command and duly processed, I proceeded to the card activated lift.

1. me to take a print of your credit card

2. points poured out smoothly, no verbal

3. if I would even see her when

4. although it seemed virtually identical

5. so sure was I that nobody would

6. me to help you with your luggage

7. as if I am being processed like a product

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	7	1	2	5	3

5

Task 27

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

 Lindsay Wildlife Museum is a unique natural history and environmental education centre where visitors can listen to the cry of a red-tailed hawk, go eye-to-eye with a grey fox and watch a bald eagle eat lunch. More than fifty species of native California animals are on exhibit here.

 Thousands of school children learn about the natural environment in their classrooms A ____ of the museum. Nature- and science- oriented classes and trips are offered for adults and children. More than 600 volunteers help to feed and care for wild animals, В _____. Volunteers are active in the museum’s work, contributing С ____.

 The museum was founded by a local businessman, Alexander Lindsay. Sandy, as friends knew him, started teaching neighborhood children about nature in the early 1950s. Initially housed in an elementary school, the museum began offering school-aged children summer classes, D ____.

 After nearly a decade of the museum operation, it became apparent E ____. With a new 5,000 square-foot home, the museum could now develop and display a permanent collection of live, native wildlife and natural history objects. People came to the museum for help with wild animals F ___ urban growth. In response, a formal wildlife rehabilitation programme — the first of its kind in the United States of America — began in 1970.

1. that a permanent, year-round site was necessary

2. as well as field trips focused on the natural world

3. many hours of service to wildlife care and fundraising

4. that had been injured or orphaned because of intense

5. that needed public attention and a new building

6. as well as teach children and adults about nature

7. through education programmes and on-site tours

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	6	3	2	1	4

Task 28

America’s fun place on America’s main street

 If any city were considered a part of every citizen in the United States, it would be Washington, DC. To many, the Old Post Office Pavilion serves A ____. If you are in the area, be a part of it all by visiting us — or В ____. Doing so will keep you aware of the latest musical events, great happenings and international dining, to say the least.

Originally built in 1899, the Old Post Office Pavilion embodied the modern spirit С ____. Today, our architecture and spirit of innovation continues to evolve and thrive. And, thanks to forward-thinking people, you can now stroll through the Old Post Office Pavilion and experience both D ____ with international food, eclectic shopping and musical events. All designed to entertain lunch, mid-day and after work audiences all week long.

A highlight of the Old Post Office Pavilion is its 315-foot Clock Tower. Offering a breath-taking view of the city, National Park Service Rangers give free Clock Tower tours every day! Individuals and large tour groups are all welcome. The Old Post Office Clock Tower also proudly houses the official United States Bells of Congress, a gift from England E ____. The Washington Ringing Society sounds the Bells of Congress every Thursday evening and on special occasions.

Visit the Old Post Office Pavilion, right on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol. It is a great opportunity F ____, this is a landmark not to be missed no matter your age.

1. that are offered to the visitors

2. its glamorous past and fun-filled present

3. as a landmark reminder of wonderful experiences

4. by joining our e-community

5. that was sweeping the country

6. celebrating the end of the Revolutionary War

7. to learn more about American history

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	4	5	2	6	7

Task 29

Number of teenagers with Saturday job drops

 The number of teenagers with Saturday jobs has dropped. Young people do not acquire any experience for their CVs — a crucial step towards getting full-time work. The proportion of teenagers combining part-time jobs with school or college has slumped from 40% in the 1990s to around 20% now, according to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), a government agency. Latest figures show that only A ____ in 1997.

The trend is not just recession-related, but the result of an increasing expectation В ____ well as a falling number of Saturday jobs, according to the report. Many of the jobs that young people do, such as bar work, are in long-term decline, and are forecast to decline further over the next decade.

«Recruiters place significant emphasis on experience С ____,» the report says. Word of mouth is the most common way to get a job, D _____ young people are unable to build up informal contacts, it adds.

Ms. Todd, a commissioner at the UKCES, said: «There’s more emphasis on doing well at school, young people are finding less time to do what they would have done a few years ago.» «I think it’s also the changing structure of the labour market. Retail is still a big employer, E ____. As a consequence, we need to think about how we get young people the work experience they need.»

A new initiative to send employees into state schools to talk about their careers was also launched recently. The scheme, Inspiring the Future, is meant to give state schoolchildren access to the kind of careers advice that private schools offer. The deputy prime minister said: «The power of making connections F ____ and can be life-changing.»

1. that it was researching the system of funding education after 16

2. 260,000 teenagers have a Saturday job compared with 435,000

3. but young people are leaving education increasingly less experienced

4. that inspire young people is immeasurable

5. but an increasing shortage of work experience means

6. that young people should stay on at school, as

7. but a lot more of it is being done online

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	6	3	5	7	4

Task 30

Lots of fun in Cardiff

 As you would expect of a capital city, Cardiff offers a huge choice of exciting sport and entertainment throughout the year.

Every March the city celebrates St. David, Wales’ patron saint, with parades and music. August sees the International Festival of Street Entertainment, with the heart of the city A ____. Family fun days in the parks and at the waterfront are part of this sensational summer scene. Brass and military bands are often to be seen on Cardiff s streets. Between May and October the world’s only seagoing paddle steamer cruises from Cardiff’s seaside resort.

In autumn the fun continues with Cardiff s Festival of the Arts В _____. Music is at the centre of the festival, with international stars С ____. Christmas in Cardiff is full of colour and festivities. The truly spectacular Christmas illuminations have earned Cardiff the title of «Christmas City». And there is entertainment for all the family, D ____.

There is always something happening in Cardiff. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera can both be heard here. Cardiff previews many London «West End» shows E _____.

The city’s range of accommodation facilities is truly impressive, F ____. And with a city as compact as Cardiff there are places to stay in all price brackets.

1. from international names to family-run guest houses

2. joining some of Wales’ most talented musicians

3. having their summer holidays in Cardiff

4. that usually attract hundreds of theatre lovers

5. which features music, film, literature and graphics

6. from pantomimes to Christmas tree celebrations

7. beating with dance and theatrical performances

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	5	2	6	4	1

Task 31

Changing image

 For more than 200 years Madame Tussaud’s has been attracting tourists from all over the world and it remains just as popular as it ever was. There are many reasons for this enduring success, but at the heart of it all is good, old-fashioned curiosity.

Madame Tussaud’s original concept has entered a brand new era of interactive entertainment A _____. Today’s visitors are sent on a breathtaking journey in black cabs through hundreds of years of the past. They have a unique chance to see the great legends of history, В _____ of politics.

Much of the figure construction technique follows the traditional pattern, beginning whenever possible with the subject С _____ and personal characteristics. The surprising likeliness of the wax portraits also owes much to many stars D _____, either by providing their stage clothes, or simply giving useful advice.

The museum continues constantly to add figures E ____ popularity. The attraction also continues to expand globally with established international branches in New York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and many other cities. And they all have the same rich mix of interaction, authenticity and local appeal.

The museum provides a stimulating and educational environment for schoolchildren. Its specialists are working together with practicing teachers and educational advisors to create different programmes of activities, F ____.

1. as well as resources on art, technology and drama

2. as well as the idols of popular music and the icons

3. who is sitting to determine exact measurements

4. ranging from special effects to fully animated figures

5. ranging from all kinds of souvenirs to sports equipment

6. that reflect contemporary public opinion and celebrity

7. who are eager to help in any possible way they can

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	2	3	7	6	1

Task 32

Saturday jobs: memories of weekend working

 Research has shown a sharp fall in the number of teenagers who do Saturday jobs. It seems such a shame — my Saturday job as a kitchen porter was something of a rite of passage. I’ll never forget long hours A _____, scouring grease off huge saucepans and griddles. Working atmosphere there helped me grow a thicker skin, develop quicker banter and, most importantly, taught me the value of hard work. It also resulted in a steady supply of cash, В ____. I’m not the only one who has strong memories of weekend work. DJ Trevor Nelson said everyone should be able to have a Saturday job: «It taught me a lot, С ____.»

The link between the type of Saturday job a celebrity performed and their later career is sometimes obvious. Dragon’s Den star and businessman Peter Jones, for example, showed early promise by starting his own business. «I passed my Lawn Tennis Association coaching exam, D ____,» he explains. «At the start I was coaching other kids, E ____, for which I could charge £25-30 an hour. While my friends on milk rounds were getting £35 a week, I was doing five hours on a Saturday and earning four times as much.»

Skier Chemmy Alcott got a job working for the Good Ski Guide, on the advertising side. «It became clear to me what my personal value to companies could be. It led directly to me finding my head sponsor … and it offered me an eight-year contract. That gave me the financial backing F ____.»

As part of its response to the Saturday job statistics, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills said a lack of early work opportunities makes it harder for young people to acquire experience for their СVs.

1. and things would be different if everyone was given the chance

2. which let me know he approved of me

3. and I persuaded my local club to let me use a court on Saturdays

4. which I needed to become a professional skier

5. which I would happily spend as I liked

6. that I spent in the kitchen of a busy country pub in East Sussex

7. but soon I got adults wanting to book lessons

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	5	1	3	7	4

Task 33

Orient Express

 In the early 1860s, trains were the preferred way to travel. They weren’t particularly comfortable, however, until American engineer George Mortimer Pullman decided to make trains more luxurious.

By the late 1860s, trains furnished not only sleeping cars, but kitchen and dining facilities, where A _____. This was innovative for the time, and was aimed to encourage people В _____. The first of these Pullman trains in England ran from London to Brighton and used electricity for illumination.

In 1881, another railway entrepreneur, George Nagelmacker, introduced the use of a restaurant car onboard, and the first Orient Express train service was begun. Running from Paris to Romania the route included Strasbourg, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest.

Thanks to the 12 mile Simplon Tunnel, С _____, the Orient Express expanded, including a route to Istanbul, and the legendary romance of the Orient Express was in full swing.

Everyone in the social register, including royalty, chose to travel on the wheels of that luxury hotel D _____ in wealthy surroundings. Legends, stories, and intrigue surrounded those trips to exotic places, and those famous people E _____.

Unfortunately, during World War II this luxury travel was closed for the most part, and later, after the war, F ____ to start it again. Within the next few years airplane travel became popular, and train passenger service declined.

1. elegant meals were served to passengers

2. to use trains for long distance travel and vacations

3. who rode the train

4. who wrote about it

5. which connected Switzerland and Italy

6. that served dishes and wines

7. there was no money

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	2	5	6	3	7

Task 34

Arizona’s world class cruise

 Spectacular Canyon Lake is situated in the heart of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, giving home to the Dolly Steamboat. The Dolly Steamboat, A ____, now cruises the secluded inner waterways of this beautiful lake. It is worth exploring this favourite destination of President Theodore Roosevelt who declared, «The Apache Trail and surrounding area combines the grandeur of the Alps, the glory of the Rockies, the magnificence of the Grand Canyon and then adds something В ____.» You will marvel as you travel up to the national forest, which provides the most inspiring and beautiful panorama С ____. Every trip brings new discoveries of rock formations, geological history, and the flora and fauna distinct to the deserts of Arizona.

Once aboard the Dolly Steamboat, you may view the majestic desert big horn sheep, bald eagles and a host bird of other wildlife, water fowl, D ____. Experience the unique sound harmony that is created by the waters of Canyon Lake. Stretch out and relax at one of the tables or stand next to the railings on the deck. There is plenty of leg room on the Dolly. You will get a unique chance to listen to the captain E ____.

All the passengers are treated with outstanding service and personal attention to every need. Feel free to ask questions, move about and mingle with the crew. So enjoy an unforgettable vacation cruise and see F ____ ,like a ride on Arizona’s Dolly Steamboat.

1. that nature has ever created in the wild

2. that none of the others have

3. hovering over the magnificent lake

4. who retells the legends of the mysterious past

5. for yourself why there is nothing quite

6. who pays much attention to children’s safety

7. continuing a tradition of cruising since 1925

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	2	1	3	4	5

Task 35

US Congress

 The Congress of the United States of America is an important part of the US federal government.

It is an assembly of elected representatives A ____ but not to select the chief executive of the nation; that individual is elected by the people.

Congress is not a single organization; it is a vast and complex collection of organizations B ____ and through which members of Congress form alliances.

C ____, in which political parties are the only important kind of organization, parties are only one of many important units in Congress.

In fact other organizations have grown in number D ____.

The Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate are organized by party leaders, E ____ within the House and Senate. The party structure is essentially the same in the House as in the Senate, though the titles of various posts are different.

But leadership carries more power in the House than in the Senate because of the House rules. F _____, the House must restrict debate and schedule its business with great care; thus leaders who do the scheduling and who determine how the rules shall be applied usually have substantial influence.

1. as party influence has declined

2. against the spirit of the Constitution

3. being so large (435 members)

4. empowered to make laws

5. unlike the British Parliament

6. by which the business of Congress is carried on

7. who in turn are elected by the full party membership

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	6	5	1	7	3

Task 36

The Trailblazers

 In the early 1800s, the area that would become the western United States was completely undeveloped.

Explorers, hunters, traders, and settlers had to blaze their own trails. A____ to move possessions and supplies became common place.

Manifest Destiny was the belief that Americans had a God-given right to take over the continent. As they moved west, settlers used this policy B_____ to new people and territories.

Trails increased trade opportunities between western and eastern regions, and the U.S. economy prospered C_____ on each other for goods.

To achieve Manifest Destiny, the United States purchased land from other countries or conquered territory D_____ until its borders stretched from coast to coast.

More than one-half million people chose to travel West on trails between 1800 and 1870, E_____.

As new technology spread across the West, however, the use of trails came to an end. The railroads built thousands of miles of tracks, and, F ____, a cheap, relatively safe, and quick way to transport people and supplies to western areas existed.

1. to spread U.S. ideas and government

2. for the first time in history

3. thus replacing them forever

4. as territories became interdependent

5. the use of covered wagons

6. by taking land from Native peoples

7. forming the largest mass migration in history

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	1	4	6	7	2

Task 37

A Young Mayor

 This is a very unusual case, but as you will see, unusual doesn’t mean impossible.

An 18-year-old school girl has become the youngest mayor of a British town in history. Amanda Bracebridge, A_____, won leadership of Clun village council in a dramatic election last night. The tiny village only has 122 voters and Amanda won the election by just two votes from the only other candidate, 69-year-old Fred Gardner of the Conservative party. Amanda, B _____, was an independent candidate. She was surprised by her success, C _____. “My election promise was to make sure D _____,” she told us. She was referring to the plans from a large company to buy up farmland and build flats there. “We live in one of the most beautiful villages in Shropshire and I want to make sure it stays that way.”

Amanda, who is in her last year at nearby Bishop’s Castle High School, E _____ and her exams which she takes in two months. “It’s going to be a pretty busy few months,” she said. “But when the exams are over I will be able to concentrate completely on helping my village”.

Amanda had plans to go to university but is now going to start a year later F _____. “I’ve talked to Leeds University and they say my place will wait for me”. And what is she going to study? Politics? “No, actually, I am going to do sociology and economics”.

1. who is not a member of any political party

2. that our village would be protected from outside interests

3. but it was not a total shock to her

4. being a politics student at the university

5. so she can do her job as mayor properly

6. who is only just old enough to vote herself

7. will have to find time for her work as mayor

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	1	3	2	7	5

Task 38

Is there enough to say?

 They only appeared about ten years ago but already they are everywhere, everyone’s got one. They are the wonder of the modern age — mobile phones, or cell phones, A ____. Apparently, mobile phones are now used by about 2.5 billion people worldwide, and about one billion new mobile phones are sold every year worldwide. Go back to 1997, and only 100 million were sold. As we can see, the mobile phone business B_____.

And the developments keep on coming. Once we could only make phone calls; now mobile phones C_____ and do many other useful things. Once we had to hold our mobile phones in our hand; now we can use throat microphones. What next? We are told that soon, tiny microphones will be implanted into our lips. We’ll be able to dial numbers just by saying them.

But surely we need to ask ourselves: What’s good about this? OK, we can talk to other people almost all the time now — but is that so great? Watch and listen to people when a plane has landed. Anxious D _____, dial a number, and then: “It’s me, I’m here. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Is this communication? Is this what all these years of technology have brought us to?

In the early days of communication there were letters. When they arrived at your house, you knew they had been delivered by a man E _____.

In those days, people would think very hard before they wrote a letter. You had to have a good reason to write — communication was serious. Now it’s not — people phone each other F ____. Once the phone was a way for people far away from each other to talk — now it’s just an excuse to talk.

1. has been developed very quickly

2. not understand why they are doing it for

3. as Americans call them

4. riding halfway across the country on a horse

5. just because they can

6. can also be used to take and send photos

7. fingers immediately switch on the mobile phone

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	1	6	7	4	5

Task 39

Promoting language learning

 The European Union (EU) is committed to supporting the rights of its citizens to personal and professional mobility, and their ability to communicate with each other. It does so by A_____ to promote the teaching and learning of European languages. These programmes have at least one thing in common: they cover cross-border projects involving partners from two, and often three or more, EU countries.

The EU programmes are designed to complement the national education policies of member countries. Each government is responsible for its own national education policy, B_____. What the EU programmes do is to create links between countries and regions via joint projects, C____.

Since 2007 the main programmes have been put under the overall umbrella of the EU’s lifelong learning programme. All languages are eligible for support under this programme: official languages, regional, minority and migrant languages, D____. There are national information centres in each country, E_____.

The cultural programmes of the EU also promote linguistic and cultural diversity in a number of ways. The “Media” programme funds the dubbing and subtitling of European films for F ____. The “Culture” programme builds cross-cultural bridges by supporting the translation of modern authors into other EU languages.

1. and the languages of the EU’s major trading partners

2. which includes language teaching and learning

3. cinemas and television in other EU countries

4. which enhance the impact of language teaching and learning

5. funding a number of educational programmes

6. and encouraging people to learn new languages

7. where details about the application procedures are given

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	2	4	1	7	3

Task 40

Starting your own business

What are the reasons for starting your own business? One of them is because you believe you are the best in that line or because you have a product or service that has never been offered to the market before. Another is that you are a person in a real hurry and cannot suffer the A_____ to reach your goals. Sometimes it is because you have an inheritance B_____ soon after you set up a business or that there already is a cash purse with loose strings and you want to make the best of this bonanza.

If your reasons are any or all of the above, abandon the thought right now and save yourself the disillusionment C____ into the world of commerce.

Start your own business just for the sake of doing a trade, or for D____. Do not burden yourself with lofty notions of superiority when compared to your peers. When setting out to start your own business, be emotional about it, but not impractical; don’t be led by your heart, but be dictated by your mind.

Having covered those parts that are not taught in a business school, let us look at E____ your own business. You should start with a SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats – analyze these for yourself, for partners in your business, if any, and for the business itself.

If the result of the analysis is encouraging, then prepare a business plan. It is like a road map for actions in the near foreseeable future to achieve your business goals. Finally, execute the business plan with precision; tweak it as you go along, only so that it helps to meet the end goal of successfully F_____ the business.

1. the essentials of starting

2. that awaits when you step

3. trials and tribulations of employment

4. establishing and conducting

5. preparing a business plan

6. waiting to be acquired

7. undertaking the commercial activity

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	2	7	1	4

Task 41

Archaeology done underwater

 Nautical archaeology is the science of finding, collecting, preserving, and studying human objects that have become lost or buried under water. It is a fairly modern field of study since it depends on having the technology to be able to remain underwater for some time to do real work. Whether it is conducted in freshwater or in the sea, A____, nautical archaeology is another way of learning more about the human past.

Although some use the words nautical archaeology to mean a specialized branch of underwater archaeology, B____, most consider the term to mean the same as the words underwater archaeology or marine

archaeology. All of these interchangeable terms mean simply C_____.

Once real trade began, it is safe to say D_____ was probably transported over water at some point in time. By studying submerged objects, we can learn more about past human cultures. In fact, studying ancient artifacts is the only way to learn anything about human societies E_____. Being able to examine the actual objects made and used by ancient people not only adds to the written records they left behind, but allows us to get much closer to the reality of what life was like when they lived. Also, if we pay close attention to how the objects were made and used, we begin to get a more realistic picture of F_____.

1. that existed long before the invention of writing

2. that nearly every object made by humans

3. what those people were really like

4. which is concerned only with ships and the history of seafaring

5. that it is the study of archaeology done underwater

6. and whether it finds sunken ships or old cities

7. and what was discovered underwater

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	4	5	2	1	3

Task 42

Visiting the Royal Parks

 London has a well-deserved reputation as one of the greenest cities in Europe, with a huge number of open spaces across the center of the city. Tourists A_____ can always relax in a lovely, quiet London park.

The Royal Parks, such as St James’s, Green Park, the Regent’s Park, Hyde Park, Richmond, Greenwich, Bushy Park and Kensington Gardens, are beautifully maintained and popular with locals and visitors alike. Many are former hunting estates of English monarchs, preserved as open space B______. They are ideal places to relax and sunbathe in summer, enjoy gorgeous flower beds in spring C_____.

The Royal Parks provide fantastic green routes in London D______ and through some of the most attractive areas of the capital. Picnics in the parks are also a popular activity especially during the busy summer months.

Dogs are welcome in all the Royal Parks, although there are some places E_____. These are clearly indicated within each park and are usually ecologically sensitive sites, children’s play areas, restaurants, cafes and some sports areas. Ground nesting birds are particularly sensitive to disturbance by dogs and people. So it is necessary to observe the warning signs F____. In Bushy Park and Richmond Park dogs should be kept away from the deer.

The Royal Parks are for everyone to enjoy.

1. that are displayed during the nesting season

2. while the city has grown up around them

3. and admire the changing leaves as autumn arrives

4. where they are not allowed or should be kept on a lead

5. who are tired of the noise, crowds and excitement of sightseeing

6. who does not know the route to the place of destination

7. that take cyclists away from traffic

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	2	3	7	4	1

Task 43

The Survival of the Welsh Language

 Wales is a small country of just over 3 million people, on the north west seaboard of Europe. Despite many historical incursions of other peoples, particularly the English, it has preserved its ancient Celtic language, A_____. Welsh is habitually spoken by about 10% of the people, half understood by a further 10%, and not spoken at all by the majority in this ‘bilingual’ society.

Up to the First World War most people were Welsh speaking, especially in the mountains of North Wales. The English-speaking areas were along the more fertile coastal plains. On the whole there was an easy tolerance of the two languages, B______.

By 1919 there was a considerable drop in Welsh speakers. This was due to the large flows of capital investment from England into the South Wales coalfield, C_____.

Now, D_____, commerce and everyday business were carried out in English.

In the rural mountain areas 80% to 85% of the population were Welsh speakers, E ____. However, in the coalfield country of Glamorgan 70% spoke English only, and in its neighbour border county the figure was over 90%.

By 1931 the number of people able to speak Welsh in the whole of Wales had fallen to 37% of the population, F ____. It continued to drop and reached its lowest – 18.6% — in the 1990s. But by the start of the 21st century, numbers had begun to increase again and reached 21.7% in 2004!

1. as well as education and the law

2. the only one of a number of allied languages that remain

3. with radio and the English press further speeding the decline

4. many being able to speak Welsh only

5. where Welsh was studied as language and literature in an academic manner

6. apart from the fact that Welsh was not permitted to be used at all in the schools

7. bringing a flood of immigrant labour from all over Britain

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	6	7	1	4	3

Task 44

Secrets of Long Life

 There are places in the world where people live longer than anywhere else. The remote Japanese island of Okinawa is one of these places. While the lifespan in Britain is 77 years for men and 81 for women, Okinawa has a population of about one million, of which 900 are centenarians — A_____ in Britain or the USA. So what is their secret of long life?

«The calendar may say they’re 80, but their body says they’re 60,» says Bradley Willcox, a scientist researching the extraordinary phenomenon. The research has shown hormonal differences between Okinawans and B____ but their longevity has been linked to diet. They eat more tofu and soya than any other people in the world and also enjoy a range of different fruit and vegetables, all rich in anti-oxidants. But the most significant thing isn’t what they eat but how much. The Okinawans C_____ known as ‘hara hachi bu’, which translates as ‘eat until you are only 80 % full’.

Scientists refer to this way of eating as ‘caloric restrictions’. No-one knows exactly why it works, but scientists believe it D_____ that there is the danger of famine. This in turn E_____ and so may lead to better preservation and slower aging.

«It’s a stark contrast with the cultural habits that drive food consumption in F____ » says Mr. Willcox. If we look at high streets and supermarkets in most other countries, you will see that he is right. Restaurants offer all-you-can-eat menus and supersize portions. Supermarkets are full of special offers encouraging us to buy more food than we need.

1. make it a healthy diet

2. other parts of the world

3. four times higher than the average

4. have a cultural tradition

5. sends a signal to the body

6. the rest of the population

7. makes the body protect itself

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	4	5	7	2

Task 45

Beaches of Portugal

 Covering more than 850 km, the Portuguese coast boasts such a large number of fine, white sandy beaches that it is almost impossible to keep count. All bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and all different, their beauty is hard to describe, so there is nothing better A _____.

The most famous are in the Algarve. With three thousand hours of sun per year and warm waters, there are beaches to suit every taste and many dreamlike resorts. The choices are many, from sandy stretches extending as far as the eye can see B ______, the trade image of the region. They are always accompanied by a calm clear sea, C_____.

In Costa da Caparica, the beaches are particularly dear to Lisbonites D _____ for sun and sea bathing. There are deserted beaches here too, of a wild beauty, E ____ nature. In the centre, tourists will find very wide sandy stretches, to which traditional fishing adds a picturesque touch. And further north, the colder waters and the invigorating sea are tempered by the welcoming atmosphere and the clean air of the mountains and the forests.

Despite all their differences, all beaches share one thing – quality. They are safe and offer a wide range of support and recreational services, F ____. And a large number of Portuguese beaches are granted the European blue flag every year, a distinction that is a sign of their excellent conditions.

1. where one can enjoy close contact with

2. which meet every need of their users

3. than to discover them once for oneself

4. who has never been to this wonderful city

5. which is ideal for various water sports

6. to the smaller coves, sheltered by huge cliffs

7. who have different options around the capital

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	5	7	1	2

Task 46

The Joy of Reading

 Have you ever wondered why people read? Why reading is one of the few things A _____ for thousands of years? Even before reading became available to the general public, stories were told around campfires, passed down from generation to generation.

First of all, stories are a good way to escape from your ordinary life, to get immersed in another world, if only for a little time. While reading, you can imagine yourself in different situations B _____, but in the moment that doesn’t matter. Whether you’re suffering from depression or are just bored, reading is a great distraction.

Similarly, another reason people are attracted to stories, is because they are lonely, very often they feel as if they are the only ones in the world C _____. Identifying with a fictional character can make a big difference in helping a person understand D _____.

Other people read because it can be a good way to relax. It can be very nice to sit down and enjoy a good plot unfold, to watch the actions of fictional characters from the side, and to see the consequences of these actions, E ____.

Lastly, people read because it is the easiest way to gain knowledge in a certain area. Instead of finding a teacher, you can just find a book, sit down, and spend a few hours reading. This way you can study wherever you want, whenever you want F _____.

There are countless books in the world, and whoever you are, whatever you’re feeling, there is definitely a book out there, just waiting for you to discover it.

1. try to avoid the boredom of life

2. that has consistently remained part of society

3. that they are not alone

4. going through something difficult

5. without having to bear any responsibility

6. that range from unlikely to impossible

7. at your own pace

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	6	4	3	5	7

Task 47

Peter and Paul Fortress

 The Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, located on small Hare Island, is the historic core of the city. The history of St. Petersburg begins with the history of the fortress.

Since 1700 Russia had been fighting the Northern War against Sweden. By 1703 the lands by the Neva River were conquered. To protect them from the attacks of the Swedes it was necessary to build a strong outpost here. The fortress was founded on Hare Island 16 (27) May, 1703 by joint plan of Peter I and French engineer Joseph-Gaspard Lambert de Guerin. This day is well known A____.

The fortress stretches from west to east with six bastions B____. The Peter’s Gate on the east side, C____, has remained since the time of Peter I. The Peter and Paul Cathedral, D____ emperors and the monument of Russian baroque, was completed after the death of the emperor, in 1733. The weathervane as a golden angel with a cross, E____, is one of the main symbols of the city. On the opposite side of the cathedral, there is the Mint building, constructed in the time of Paul I by architect A. Porto. Coinage was moved to the fortress F____ in the time of Peter I. The Peter and Paul Fortress has never directly participated in any fighting. From the very beginning of its existence it was used as a political prison. Since 1924 the Peter and Paul Fortress has been a part of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.

1. as the day of the birth of St. Petersburg

2. which was designed by D. Trezzini

3. which was the burial place of Russian

4. and reminding of the rich history of the city

5. as the most protected part of the city

6. which is located on the spire of the cathedral

7. that are located at the corners

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	7	2	3	6	5

Task 48

Surviving in a Desert

 A desert is defined as a place that gets less than 250 mm of rain each year. It differs sharply from the climate of a rain forest, A _____.

Arid desert lands cover about one third of the earth’s surface. Most deserts are covered with sand, B _____. There are also usually a lot of rocky areas. This combination of sand and rock means that the soil is not very fertile. C ____, some living things are able to do well in this setting. Many plants have changed and developed in ways D____. These changes have become apparent in a number of ways. Some plants are able to grow very quickly E____. They turn green and produce flowers within just a few days. Other desert plants simply stop growing in very dry weather. They appear to be dead, but when the rain returns, they come back to life and begin growing again.

Desert animals have also developed many characteristics that help them to survive in arid environment. Camels can go for a very long time without drinking. Other animals, such as snakes and rats, find cool places to sleep during the day and come out only at night. The extremely long ears of desert rabbits help them F_____. Changes like these have allowed some animals and plants to grow and develop successfully in a very challenging ecological system: the desert.

There are countless books in the world, and whoever you are, whatever you’re feeling, there is definitely a book out there, just waiting for you to discover it.

1. which is often in the form of hills called sand dunes

2. whenever it rains

3. to find water as far as 25 metres away

4. which can receive up to 10,000 mm of rain annually

5. to better distribute their body heat and stay cool

6. even though the desert environment is very dry and hot

7. that help them to live in the desert

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	1	6	7	2	5

Task 49

Nevsky Prospect

 Nevsky Prospect is the main and most famous street of St. Petersburg. The unique architectural ensemble of Nevsky Prospect was formed during the 18th – early 20th centuries. It starts from the bank of the Neva River, runs through the centre of the city and ends at the Neva River. The whole history of St. Petersburg can be seen in the history of the avenue. Nevsky Prospect is 4.5 km long and 25-60 m wide. The narrowest section is located from the Admiralty to the Moika River, A_____.

After the construction of the Admiralty in 1704 and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in 1710, it was decided to build a road B_____ each other and with the Novgorod Path, which was used by Russian merchants. The construction began on both sides at the same time, the roads were laid through the wood, and in 1760s they were connected into one road, C_____, but with a turn at the Vosstaniya Square. Nevsky Prospect got its name only in 1783. The road was paved with cobble stones, D_____. It was the first street in St. Petersburg with gas lighting. By the early 20th century Nevsky Prospect had become the financial centre of Russia E____ had their offices there.

Nowadays, Nevsky Prospect is the centre of cultural and social life of St. Petersburg. There are museums, theatres, exhibition halls, cinemas, restaurants, cafés, shops F____.

1. and hotels there or nearby the avenue

2. showing the original width of the avenue

3. which was not as straight as it was planned

4. which were built by famous architects and

5. connecting these two important structures with

6. and a few rows of trees were planted along the street

7. as the 40 largest banks of Russia, Europe and America

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	5	3	6	7	1

Task 50

Whales in a Noisy Ocean

Whales use sound in very different ways. Some whales produce songs that travel over vast distances. They also use echolocation, like bats, A _____. But other noise in the ocean creates a problem for the whales.

Since 1987, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has sent their research vessel Song of the Whale around the world B _____. During the travels, the Song of the Whale scientists have developed expertise C ____ to listen to and record the sounds that the animals make. Thishelps them to track, identify, and survey different species.

One of the threats facing whales and other marine animals is noise pollution in the seas, such as noise from drilling, military activities, oil exploration, and coastal construction. This noise can cause great distress to whales and dolphins and can D _____.

It is feared this noise pollution may cause mass strandings, E _____. If the Song of the Whale team can F ____, then hopefully the nature and location of disturbing noise can be changed.

1. in using underwater microphones

2. to locate food and find their way

3. result in injury and even death

4. track and identify their habitats

5. to filter out food from the water

6. to provide a platform for marine research

7. when large numbers come ashore

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	6	1	3	7	4

Task 51

Unique nature of Kamchatka

Kamchatka is a peninsula located in the north-eastern part of Russia. It is surrounded with the Okhotskoye Sea, the Beringovo Sea and the Pacific Ocean. This region has a very unique environment A_____ one is looking for picturesque views, unforgettable travels and unity with nature.

Kamchatka is famous for its volcanoes, B_____. Volcanoes are represented on Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the most eastern city in the northern hemisphere, coat of arms as well. There are more than 300 volcanoes

in Kamchatka, from 28 up to 36 of them are active, or potentially active. Kamchatka volcanoes are included in the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The region is also known C____ — rivers and lakes. Many Kamchatka rivers spring from mountain tops and glaciers, that is why they are very clean, and it is wonderful for those D_____. In general, there are up to 14 thousand rivers and streams, 100 thousand lakes and 414 glaciers in Kamchatka.

Kamchatka is a home to the Valley of Geysers, E_____ geysers in the world, after Icelandic geyser fields. It is not easily accessible, as long as it is too unique to be opened for tourists all the time. The Valley of Geysers’ ecosystem is very vulnerable, F_____ and regulate the visiting. In fact, the larger part of Kamchatka is preserved. There are many nature reserves and nature parks in Kamchatka.

1. which are depicted on most souvenirs there

2. so it is necessary to monitor it all the time

3. who love fishing, including Kamchatka bears

4. which has the second largest concentration of

5. to be a place of many water sources

6. to be a popular nature reserve and health resort

7. that makes it a place to visit when

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
7	1	5	3	4	2

Task 52

The life of Pi

 «The Life of Pi» published in 2001 is the third book by the Canadian author Yann Martel. It has A_____, won several prizes and been translated into forty-one languages.

At the start of the book, we B____ in India. His father owns the city zoo and the family home is in the zoo. When they aren’t at school, Pi and his brother help their father at the zoo and he learns a lot about animals.

When Pi is sixteen, his parents decide to close the zoo and move to Canada. They travel by ship taking the animals with them. On the way, there is C_____. Sadly, Pi’s family and the sailors all die in the storm, but Pi lives and finds himself in a lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan and an enormous tiger. At first, Pi is scared of the animals and jumps into the ocean. Then he remembers there are sharks in the water and decides to climb back into the lifeboat. One by one, the animals in the lifeboat kill and eat each other, till only Pi and the tiger are left alive. Luckily for Pi, there is D_____, but he soon needs to start catching fish. He feeds the tiger to stop it killing and eating him. He also uses a whistle and E_____ and show it that he’s the boss.

Pi and the tiger spend 227 days in the lifeboat. They live through terrible storms and the burning heat of the Pacific sun. They are often hungry and ill. Finally, they arrive at the coast of Mexico, but you will have to F_____ in the end!

1. read the book to find out what happens

2. some food and water on the lifeboat

3. his knowledge of animals to control the tiger

4. received an award for being strong

5. sold seven million copies worldwide

6. learn about Pi’s childhood in Pondicherry

7. a terrible storm and the ship sinks

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	6	7	2	3	1

Task 53

Santa Claus

The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all to his own. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red, but his story A_____ the 3rd century to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 AD in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his kindness, St. Nicholas B_____. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. Over the course of many years, Nicholas’s popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day C_____ his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe.

St. Nicholas first D______ at the end of the 18th century. The name Santa Claus evolved from a Dutch shortened form of Sint Nikolaas. As his popularity grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a jocker with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a huge pair of Flemish trousers.

In the 19th centuries big stores E_____ using images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It F_____ before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at the “real-life” Santa Claus with his famous white beard and red gown.

1. began to advertise Christmas shopping

2. became the subject of many legends

3. began dressing up unemployed men in

4. is celebrated on the anniversary of

5. was only a matter of time

6. stretches all the way back to

7. appeared in American popular culture

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	2	4	7	1	5

Task 54

Welcome to the Smithsonian

When you visit any of the Smithsonian’s 19 museums and galleries or the National zoo, you are entering the largest museum complex in the world. This complex holds about 137 million unique objects in its trust for the American people.

The Smithsonian was established in 1846 with funds given to the United States by James Smithson, an English scientist. The main idea was to increase and spread knowledge for free. And now all Smithsonian institutions are still devoted to public education, A__________ history.

Ten Smithsonian museums and galleries are located in the centre of the U.S. capital. Six other museums and the National zoo are nearby in the Washington metropolitan area, B__________.

The 19th and the newest museum C__________ is the National Museum of African American history and culture. It is now operating in the form of a virtual museum. Its key feature is the memory book, D__________. These diverse memories are linked to each other and to the museum content, E__________.

The Smithsonian complex is home to the world’s foremost research centres in science, the arts and the humanities. Besides the basic research F__________, there are a number of special facilities. Conservation centre at the zoo studies rare and endangered species, environment centre carries out research in ecosystems in the coastal area.

1. that is carried on regularly in each of the museums

2. providing different materials in the arts, science and

3. placing a spotlight on people and events in African American history

4. that has been established within the Smithsonian complex

5. which allows website visitors to upload their own stories or images

6. and visitors can enjoy watching rare exhibits on

7. and two museums are situated in New York City

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	7	4	5	3	1

Task 55

National Gallery of Art

 The National Gallery of Art was created in Washington D.C. for the people of the United States in 1937. It started with the gift of the financier and art collector A__________. His gift also included a building to house the new museum, to be constructed on the National Mall. Opened to the public in 1941, this grand building, B__________, was at the time the largest marble structure in the world.

The newly created National Gallery soon attracted similar gifts from hundreds of other collectors. This tradition of generosity continues to this day with gifts from private donors and artists C__________.

The gallery’s East building contains the collection of modern and contemporary painting, sculpture, D__________. The East and West buildings are connected by an underground tunnel with a moving walkway.

The National Gallery enjoys federal support, E__________, to fulfill its mission to exhibit and interpret great works of European and American art in the nation’s collection. Since its founding, federal funds have fostered the protection and care of the art collection and have supported the gallery’s work, ensuring F__________. Private funding helped to create a renowned collection of works of art and to construct the two landmark buildings. Private support makes possible to arrange a changing programme of special exhibitions.

1. which is now called the West building

2. that the gallery brings daily profit to the country

3. who are willing to share their possessions with the public

4. who presented old master paintings and sculptures to the country

5. as well as partnership with private organizations

6. that the gallery is open daily and free of charge

7. as well as an advanced research centre and an art library

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	1	3	7	5	6

Task 56

Healthy school meals

Children at Southdown Infants School in Bath enjoy tasty homemade meals such as roast turkey with fresh vegetables, chicken, salad and fresh fruit for pudding. Vegetables are A ____________. Instead of crisps, chocolate and sweets, the school canteen serves organic carrots, dried fruit and fresh seasonal fruit in bags for 10p, B ______________.

Southdown’s healthy eating initiative began four years ago with the start of a breakfast club.

Now Ms Culley, the head teacher of the school, says that the teachers very clearly see the link between diet and concentration. “Children’s concentration and behaviour C ______________.” The teachers would also like to give the children the experience of eating together. It turned out that some children weren’t used to that.

Pupils are also encouraged to find out more about where their food comes from by  D ______________.

Parents are also involved and are invited in to try school dinners on special occasions, E _______________.

The efforts of staff, pupils and parents to create a healthy eating environment were recognized earlier this month F ______________ the Best School Dinner award.

Ms Culley said: “We are happy to win this award. Healthy eating is at the centre of everything we do. It’s really rewarding to see so many children enjoy real food.”

1. such as Easter and Christmas

2. visiting a local farm

3. local, fresh and organic where possible

4. provide good quality food

5. definitely improve after a good meal

6. and about 100 bags are sold each day

7. when the school was awarded

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	6	5	2	1	7

Task 57

Walking is not enough to keep fit

Walking may not be enough on its own to produce significant health benefits, research suggests. A team from Canada’s University of Alberta compared a 10,000-step exercise programme with a more traditional fitness regime of moderate intensity. Researchers found improvements A _______ were significantly higher in the second group. They told an American College of Sports Medicine meeting that gentle exercise was B __________. In total 128 people took C _________. The researchers assessed influence on fitness by measuring blood pressure and lung capacity. They found out the 10,000-step programme did help to get people motivated – and was an excellent way to start D _________. But to increase the effectiveness, some intensity must be added to their exercise. “Across your day, while you are achieving those 10,000 steps, take 200 to 400 of them at a faster pace. You’ve got to do more than light exercise and include regular moderate activity, and don’t be shy to have an occasional period of time at an energetic level.” The researchers were concerned there was too much focus E __________, rather than on its intensity.

Professor Stuart Biddle, an expert in exercise science at the University of Loughborough, said it was possible that the current guidelines on how much exercise to take were set too low. “However, you have got to find F ____. The harder you make it, the fewer people will actually do it.” Professor Biddle said there was no doubt that energetic exercise was the way to get fit, but volume rather than intensity might be more useful in tackling issues such as obesity.

1. part in the project

2. taking exercise

3. gave marked health benefits

4. in fitness levels

5. on simply getting people to take exercise

6. not enough to get fit

7. a compromise between physiology and psychology

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	6	1	2	5	7

Task 58

Double-decker Bus

A double-decker bus is a bus that has two levels. While double-decker long-distance buses are in widespread use around the world, A ____. Double-decker buses are popular in some European cities and in some parts of Asia, usually in former British colonies. Many towns around the world have a few that specialize in short sight-seeing tours for tourists because, as William Gladstone observed, «the way to see London is from the top of a ‘bus'».

Double-decker buses are taller than other buses. They are extensively used in the United Kingdom, B _____, removed from normal service in December 2005 — they still operate on heritage routes. Elsewhere in Europe, double-deckers are used throughout the Dublin Bus network in Ireland, where they are making a comeback on Dublin’s outer suburban routes and also the streets of Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. They are a common sight in Berlin, where the BVG makes extensive use of them. Double-decker long-distance coaches are also in widespread use throughout Europe.

Most buses in Hong Kong and about half in Singapore are double-deckers as well. The only areas in North America that C _____ are the western Canadian province of British Columbia and the United States city of Las Vegas. They are currently being tested in Ottawa on the express routes. The city of Davis, California, in the United States uses vintage double-decker buses for public transport. Davis, California is also home to the first vintage double-decker bus converted from diesel gasoline to run on CNG. The city of Victoria, BC, the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, and a couple of others use Dennis Tridents. A few are also used as tour buses, especially in New York. Double-deckers are have also been used in Mumbai since 1937.

In Brazil, D _____, some companies use double-decker buses. Double-deckers are not a good option for use outside the towns (most roads in Brazil are in very poor condition), and E _____.

Double-decker buses are in widespread use in India in many of the major cities. Some double-decker buses F _____, with no roof and shallow sides. These are popular for sightseeing tours.

1. double-deckers are adored by thousands of tourists

2. use double-decker buses for public transport

3. double-decker city buses are less common

4. where perhaps the most famous was the London Routemaster

5. their use is being discouraged by transportation authorities

6. have an open upper deck

7. where buses are sometimes the only interstate transport

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	4	2	7	5	6

Task 59

Natural Links In a Long Chain of Being

I believe we are not alone.

Even if I am on the other side of the world from the farmhouse I live in, I still dream of the ancient vines out the window, and the shed out back that my grandfather’s father built in 1870 with eucalyptus trunks. As long as I can recreate these images, A ____. 

All of us need some grounding in our modern world of constant moving, buying, selling, meeting and leaving. Some find constancy in religion, others in friends or community. But we need some daily signposts that we are not different, not better, B ____. 

For me, this house, farm, these ancient vines are those roots. Although I came into this world alone and will leave alone, I am not alone. 

There are ghosts of dozens of conversations in the hallways, stories I remember about buying new plows that now rust in the barnyard and ruined crops from the same vines C ____. 

All of us are natural links in a long chain of being, and that I need to know what time of day it is, what season is coming, whether the wind is blowing north or from the east, and if the moon is still full tomorrow night, D _____. 

The physical world around us constantly changes, E _____. We must struggle in our brief existence to find some transcendent meaning and so find relief in the knowledge F _____.

You may find that too boring, living with the past as present. I find it refreshing. There is an old answer to every new problem, that wise whispers of the past are with us. If we just listen and remember, we are not alone; we have been here before.

1. I never quite leave home

2. but human nature does not

3. that we are now harvesting

4. but we as well as our heart did not

5. not worse than those who came before us

6. just as the farmers who came before me did

7. that our ancestors have gone through this before

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	5	3	6	2	7

Task 60

The Show Begins

My Uncle Jim took me to all the Broadway shows in New York City, and I was star struck! Actually he wasn’t my real uncle – that’s just what we called him. He was a close friend of my parents. He was a bit stocky with red hair, A _________.

I remember the theaters on Broadway, B __________. The curtains were made of this real heavy, dark red material. There were huge chandelier lights hanging from the ceiling. The walls were dark, paneled wood. The seats were red and cushy C __________.

The orchestra sat at the base of the stage in a pit. I usually went down to the front to see the musicians D __________. They were all crammed into such a tiny space. I played the flute myself and my dad kept encouraging me that if I kept it up, E ___________. But truly, I didn’t want to be tucked away down there. I wanted to be on top, front and center.

Most people dressed rather finely, and certain fragrances took center stage as various women passed by. The sounds of the audience F __________ at their seats were clearly heard while last minute patrons filled in. There was electricity in the air and then the lights would go down and up, and you knew it was time for the show to get started. The lights dimmed. The music began. And you were swept up into a whole new world. I loved it!

1. I could be playing down there someday

2. and set real close together

3. which were so old and posh

4. and he had a beard and moustache

5. I wasn’t that good at music

6. getting ready and warming up

7. laughing and chattering away

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	3	2	6	1	7

Task 61

Scouting moves ahead

The Scout Movement, which is also known as the Boy Scouts has changed massively in more than 100 years, though many people do not realise this.

For many people in Britain the word “scouting” evokes images of boys in short trousers A__________. Many people imagine that the Scout Association and its female counterpart the Guides Association are old-fashioned. They think these associations are for people B__________ than the future, people who just like camping in the rain and washing in cold water.

It’s quite easy to understand why Scouts and Guides have this sort of image. The “Boy Scouts” were founded over 100 years ago by Robert Baden-Powell, a retired English army general; the “Girl Guides” followed three years later. They were organised in an almost military manner. Young people had to learn discipline and how to do things as a group. They C__________ in difficult conditions, learnt to make campfires and, yes, they certainly had to get used to washing in cold water. In those days though, that D__________ many people washed in cold water.

Nevertheless, even at the start, there was much more to scouting than that. Scouts and Guides also learned the value of solidarity. Right from the start, they had to cope with difficult situations, E__________, and play a useful part in society. Baden-Powell’s organisations were inclusive, and never exclusive; any young person could become a Scout or a Guide, regardless of race, background or religion.

Though the Scout and Guide movements began in England, they soon spread to other countries, and within 50 years, scouting F__________ with young people all over the world.

1. who are more interested in the past

2. and girls in blue uniforms

3. that were generally better

4. was not particularly unusual as

5. went on camping expeditions

6. interact with other people

7. had become a popular activity

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	1	5	4	6	7

Task 62

Skip the sun, get a glow the healthy way

Everyone at some point has wanted a “healthy glow,” whether it’s a must-have for summer, or a vacation, the thought of tan skin has crossed the minds of millions. If you are pale, it A__________. There is wild excitement when after a day in the sun your skin is tan, not burnt. Surely everyone is familiar with the famous conversation upon the realization that you got fried at the beach. Your friends reassure you with “Don’t worry it B__________.” It may all seem like fun and games at the time, but alarming new research C__________.

Some tan-seekers do it the old-fashioned way, grab a towel and hit the pool or beach. Recently, millions of young girls D__________ instead. Regardless of how the tan is achieved, any change in skin coloring is evidence of skin cell damage. This can lead to cancer. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, melanoma, or skin cancer, among people aged 18 to 39 has risen dramatically. In the United States the number of skin cancer cases due to tanning, is higher than the number of lung cancer cases due to smoking.

While it is true that being outside and active is great for your body and the sun does provide vitamin D, everyone’s health still needs protecting. However, it’s E__________, limit time spent in direct sunlight, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and wear sunscreen at all times. A fashionable option is the sun hat: both elegant and fun. Big floppy hats may seem ridiculous at first, but F__________.

Another advice is to look into sunless tanners: They are cheap and in no way endanger the lives of users. So, fake it, don’t bake it!

1. takes a lot of time and effort to tan

2. have been turning to tanning beds

3. they are actually quite classy accessories

4. better to avoid indoor tanning

5. have inspired people to get their skin checked

6. will eventually turn into a tan

7. has taken the healthy out of healthy glow

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	6	7	2	4	3

Task 63

Grant-making agency

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government. Established in 1965, it is one of the largest sources of grant funds for humanities projects and programs in the U.S. NEH promotes knowledge of the history, thought, and culture, not only of the United States, A__________.

NEH grants facilitate research and original scholarship, strengthen teaching and learning in the humanities in American schools and colleges, give opportunities for citizens to engage in lifelong learning, B__________.

The Endowment is directed by a chairman, C__________ and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a term of four years. Advising the chairman is the National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 distinguished private citizens D__________ with the advice of the Senate. The National Council members serve six-year terms.

NEH grants are typically awarded to U.S. cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, and public television and radio stations, E__________. Eligibility is limited to U.S. non-profit institutions and to U.S. citizens and foreigners F__________ prior to the time of application. Grants are awarded through a competitive process. The chairman takes into account the advice provided by the review process and, by law, makes all funding decisions.

1. who is appointed by the president

2. but of other countries of the world

3. but in every aspect of social sciences

4. who are also appointed by the president

5. who have been living in the U.S. for three years

6. as well as to individual scholars of the humanities

7. as well as provide access to cultural and educational resources

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	7	1	4	6	5

Task 64

The Bonfire Night

The 5th of November has always had a very special place in my heart. More important than New Year’s Eve, but probably less important than the Olympics ceremonies, the 5th of November every year is A __________ all over the country to go wild!

The night of the 5th is often cold and damp and parents wrap up their children in layers of jumpers, coats, hats, scarves and gloves. They fuss over the littlest B __________ aren’t scared. They comfort their pets and give them a safe place to curl up inside, away from the cacophony about to start outside.

Outside the bonfire is C __________ up your nose. If you’re lucky, there might be some pumpkin soup left over from Halloween to warm you up, because in spite of all the layers and the excitement, you’ll still need warming up until the bonfire gets going!

When it’s absolutely dark and the bonfire is blazing, the children and parents huddle together in groups, staring up at the sky. What are they waiting for? The screech of the first firework deafens them all and D __________. The “oohs” and “aaahs” of the crowd keep perfect time with the “kabooms” of the rockets. With every firework that lights up the sky, parents watch the delight grow on their children’s faces and sigh with relief.

After the grand finale, they make their way home with the noises still echoing in their ears. An extra special treat E __________! Waving them through the chilly air, spelling out names and drawing pictures, even the oldest members of the family remember how to be kids!

This is what the 5th of November means to me. Every year, it F __________ such bright and colourful fireworks and heard such loud bangs. I really hope I never grow out of it!

1. differences in traditions

2. children and hope that they

3. the day for fireworks lovers

4. the explosion lights up the sky

5. feels like the first time I’ve seen

6. waits at home though: sparklers

7. lit and the smell of smoke creeps

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	2	7	4	6	5

Task 65

Earth-sheltered homes

Earth-sheltered or simply underground homes are one of those creations by man, which brings him closer to nature. Unlike the normal traditional houses that A __________, these earth-sheltered homes are built using the shelter of the ground. Earth-sheltered homes can be easily made in hilly areas.

The basic idea behind the construction of such a house is that they are built with the idea of B ________ and each of these homes is built entirely different from each other.

The construction of these homes is usually done according to the shape of the area where the house is built. Their designs C ________ to the nature. The early earth houses which were initially built lacked windows. Modern day earth-sheltered homes though have windows as well as any other facility that the people living there might require.

Some of the major benefits of earth-sheltered homes are that they are naturally insulating. This makes them cool in the summer and cozy and warm in the winter. Another advantage D __________ and are well protected from earthquakes as well as wind-storms. Many earth-sheltered homes are also defended against intruders since there is usually only one entry.

As everything has its pros and cons, earth-sheltered homes also do. The interior decoration of these homes, like placing the furniture or huge paintings, E __________. These homes also have dark spaces inside and for this reason, lots of lighting is essential.

Earth-sheltered homes are one of the greenest housing designs that combines Mother Nature with eco-friendly F __________.

1. are built on the ground

2. are usually very organic

3. is being built facing south

4. being environmentally friendly

5. building materials and lifestyle

6. is that these homes are safe from fire

7. can be difficult due to the construction

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	4	2	6	7	5

Task 66

Australia

Australia is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse nations. Nearly a quarter of the people who live in Australia A __________. They come from the United Kingdom and other European countries, but also from China, Vietnam, North Africa, and the Middle East.

First people arrived in Australia about 50,000 years ago. They B __________ land bridges when sea levels were lower. The next to land in Australia were Dutch explorers. They came in 1606. In 1788 the British began to settle there. Many settlers C __________ as punishment. For a short time, the newcomers lived peacefully with the Aboriginal people.

In 1851, gold was discovered in Australia. A rush to find riches brought D __________ 1859, six separate colonies were created which later became part of the British Commonwealth.

Australian culture is founded on stories of battlers, bushrangers and brave soldiers. Today E __________ its Aboriginal heritage, vibrant mix of cultures, innovative ideas and a thriving ecosystem.

Australia’s ecosystem is an unusual one because of its remote location. As a result, there are F __________ and nowhere else in the world, such as kangaroo and koala.

One of Australia’s most amazing sites rises like an enormous whale’s back from a flat desert called the Red Center. It is a sacred natural formation at the heart of the country and the largest rock in the world!

1. Australia is one of the most

2. were born in other countries

3. Australia also defines itself by

4. many animal species that occur here

5. may have travelled from Asia across

6. thousands of new immigrants, and by

7. were criminals sent to live in Australia

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	5	7	6	3	4

Task 67

Living nature in Madeira

Right in the middle of the Atlantic, the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo are a haven of natural beauty. The exotic colours of the flowers stand out from among the blue sea and the emerald green vegetation. This is an archipelago where the big territory is a protected area and A __________ is located.

The Madeira Natural Park was created in 1982 to preserve this vast natural heritage, a worldwide rarity. The park is classified as a Biogenetic Reserve, B __________, with some rare species such as the mountain orchid, unique in the world, and also some exotic large trees. To visit this park is to discover Nature! The park covers about two-thirds of the island, making Madeira a truly ecological destination.

The springtime temperature, C __________, cries out for open air activities. Visitors can go for a walk in the park, visit the city of Funchal or roam freely around the island. Boat rides are an excellent way of D __________. In such a naturally welcoming environment, balance and well-being are taken for granted. Madeira offers various tourist complexes E __________.

Popular feasts, F __________, are opportunities to appreciate traditional gastronomic flavours and see Madeira partying, especially for the Carnival parades, the Flower festival, the Atlantic festival and, above all, the end-of-year fireworks display.

1. which is felt all year round

2. which take place in Madeira all year round

3. where the largest laurel forest in the world

4. admiring the coastline from a different perspective

5. where one can find a unique range of flora and fauna

6. choosing this holiday destination for its natural beauty

7. that have prime conditions for boating and scuba diving

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	5	1	4	7	2

Task 68

Wild animals in cities

Have you ever seen bears in Vancouver parks, leopards on the streets of Mumbai or wild pigs in gardens in Berlin? Recently, there A __________ on TV about big animals coming into towns and cities. What happens when wild animals come into our cities? Is it dangerous for us and the animals?

Wild animals usually come into cities to look for food. In Cape Town, South Africa, baboons sometimes come into the suburbs. They eat fruit from gardens and go into people’s kitchens and take food from cupboards and fridges! Baboons are B __________ children and fight with pet dogs. Many people do not like them, but the city can be dangerous for baboons too. Sometimes, baboons are C __________ human food can be very bad for their teeth. The city council in Cape Town has a team of Baboon Monitors whose job is to find baboons D ___________ to the countryside. This makes the city safer for people and is healthier for the baboons. However, the main problem is that a lot of baboons will come back to the city to find food again.

In Berlin, Germany, groups of wild pigs have come into the city for hundreds of years, but now the winters are warmer, there are even more pigs than in the past. Pigs eat flowers and plants and dig in gardens and parks in the city. They also E __________ accidents. Some city residents like the pigs and give them food. But the city council is worried about the traffic accidents, so they F __________ have put up fences to stop the pigs coming into the city.

1. cause lots of problems

2. in the city and take them back

3. walk in the street and cause traffic

4. hurt in car accidents and the sugar in

5. strong animals and sometimes they scare

6. have been many reports in newspapers and

7. have told people to stop giving the pigs food and

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	5	4	2	3	7

Task 69

Europe’s best hidden gems

There are incredible destinations in Europe known worldwide, such as Amsterdam and its canals, London and its museums, its shopping and atmosphere, or Paris, the City of Light. Europe also has thousands of hidden treasures. There is a wide selection of the finest unknown destinations in Europe, from Lugano in Switzerland  A __________.

Lugano is an international city, the crossroads and melting pot of European culture. It constitutes one of the most interesting regions to be discovered. Lugano is not only Switzerland’s third most important financial centre,  B __________ old buildings.

The area of Cinque Terre in Italy represents one of the best preserved natural sights of the Mediterranean. Human activity has contributed to creating a unique landscape in which the development of typical stone walls is so extensive C __________. All this, D __________, makes the Cinque Terre an increasingly popular location among Italian and foreign tourists.

Sintra is a jewel set between the mountains and the sea, waiting to be discovered by tourists E __________, luxuriant nature and cosmopolitan cultural offer. Sintra has a wonderful charm that left a deep impression on the soul and work of the writers F __________. Sintra is truly the capital of Romanticism. It is a place to be experienced by everyone!

1. but showed evidence of an early human housing

2. to Cinque Terre in Italy and Sintra in Portugal

3. as to equal that of the famous Great Wall of China

4. but also a town of parks and flowers, villas and

5. who want to be lost in its majestic historical heritage

6. combined with the beauty of a crystal clear sea

7. who pioneered the Romantic spirit in the eighteenth century

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	4	3	6	5	7

Task 70

Beautiful cities of Italy

The political and cultural centre of Italy is the ‘Eternal City’, Rome. Ever since the Roman Empire, as its capital, Rome has become famous as a centre of European culture. The most striking sights of Rome are, of course, the Colosseum and the Forum. Once the Colosseum was able to receive about 50 thousand spectators, A __________ and concert halls. The Pantheon, the old temple of all gods, B __________, is also located in Rome.

The second most important town in Italy is Milan. Milan is the capital of fashion and C __________, exhibitions and conferences. The main attraction of Milan is its Cathedral Square, where the monument to the King Victor Emmanuel II is installed. Theatre fans will not be left disappointed by visiting the Theatre of La Scala.

The most popular city among tourists is Venice. The city is unique because it has more than 120 islands, D __________ and 400 bridges. Venice has been known for more than fifteen hundred years, and for E __________. The main area of the city is Saint Mark’s Square with the Cathedral of San Marco. One of the most beautiful buildings in Venice is the Palace of Doges. The other famous attraction is the Grand Canal F______.

In addition to this, there are such beautiful cities in Italy as Naples, Turin, Florence, Genoa, Pisa and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. All of them are outstanding places to visit.

1. that is the largest in Venice

2. which was built in the early I century

3. that everyone is dreaming about this trip

4. which is comparable with modern stadiums

5. which are сonnected by more than 150 canals

6. the venue for major international festivals

7. that time it produced a lot of attractions

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
4	2	6	5	7	1

Task 71

City of fountains

 Peterhof is a monument of world architecture and palace and park art. Peterhof includes a palace and park ensemble of the 18-19th centuries, A__________. Peterhof is a city of fountains as it contains 173 fountains and 4 cascades B__________. Each year up to 3 million people come here to enjoy the splendour of numerous fountains and the unique parks of Peterhof.

The name Peterhof was first mentioned in 1705. It was a coastal manor, close to which the construction of a grand country residence began. The original plan belonged to Peter the Great. After the brilliant victory of Russian troops over the Swedes, security of St. Petersburg both from the land C__________. Since that time, the construction of the Peterhof residence grew immensely in scope.

According to the plan of Peter the Great, on the one hand, Peterhof was meant to be equal in splendour with the most famous royal residences in Europe, D__________ to access the Baltic Sea. Both were successfully done. The Great Palace was built on a natural hill here, E__________. Following the plan of Peter the Great, F__________, the Grand Cascade with the famous Samson fountain was constructed. This is still one of the most spectacular fountains in the world. In 1990 the palaces and parks of Peterhof were included in the list of the world heritage of UNESCO.

1. and from the sea has been firmly ensured

2. which is a former royal countryside residence

3. who designs many royal residences in Europe

4. and then rebuilt in the baroque style in the 18th century

5. who wanted to decorate the main entrance with waterfalls

6. that are located in the park on the coast of the Gulf of Finland

7. and on the other hand, to become a monument of Russia’s struggle

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	6	1	7	4	5

Task 72

Sights of Sochi

 Sochi is unique among other Russian cities because it has many aspects of a subtropical resort. Apart from the scenic Caucasus Mountains, pebble and sand beaches, the city attracts tourists with its vegetation, numerous parks, monuments, and extravagant architecture. About two million people visit Greater Sochi each summer, A__________. The famous Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, B__________, lies just north from the city.

Popularity of Sochi among tourists is largely explained by the beauty of its surroundings. Walking along the river Agura, everyone will admire the nature around, C__________, and amazing waterfalls. From the bridge over the Agura opens a magnificent view to the lowest Agura waterfall. In the shady Agura gorge tourists will feel the gentle coolness, D__________.

Akhun Mountain the biggest in the region has a beautiful tower on the top. The height of the tower is more than 30 metres, E__________ are stunning. The observation platform on the top of the tower gives a chance to take superb pictures of the city. Every year thousands of people visit this stone tower, F__________ the perfect view of the Black Sea coast and the Caucasus Mountains. It is a truly unforgettable experience. Tourists will enjoy visiting all the sights and the resort itself, full of exotic green and the boundless blue of the Black Sea. 

1. and the views that open from it

2. which is built on the top to give visitors

3. when the subtropical resort is almost empty

4. which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

5. enjoying the sound of birds singing and waterfalls gurgling

6. when the city is home to the annual film festival “Kinotavr”

7. including high cliffs, exotic vegetation, breathtaking canyons

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
6	4	7	5	1	2

Task 73

Saint Petersburg

 A city of palaces and museums, broad avenues and narrow canals, St. Petersburg’s short history is rich in architectural and artistic treasures. Alongside world-famous attractions such as the Hermitage and St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the city has a lot of equally interesting buildings A__________. St. Petersburg is considered to be Russia’s cultural capital. It reflects the country’s extraordinary fate like no other city.

St. Petersburg is a relatively young city, by both Russian and European standards, as B__________. Despite its short life, the city has a rich history. From the early days of Peter the Great to modern times, the city has always bustled with life and intrigue.

Lying across the delta of the Neva River, St. Petersburg, the Venice of the North, is a city C__________, some of which are well-known for their unique history. Bridges are an essential part of the city’s architectural make-up. Among the city’s over 500 bridges, there are numerous technological masterpieces. The centre of the city offers vast areas of green space, D__________.

St. Petersburg is a beautiful and fascinating holiday destination and one E__________. Whether to visit the city in a romantic and snowy Russian winter F__________, visitors will be spellbound by 
St. Petersburg’s culture and beauty. 

1. that is built on hundreds of islands

2. or during the dazzling white nights in summer

3. it was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great

4. or considering a variety of the trip accommodation offers

5. that reveal the mysterious and tragic genius of St. Petersburg

6. of the most intriguing and historically significant cities in Europe

7. including beautiful historic gardens and extensive leisure parks

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
5	3	1	7	6	2

Task 74

State Hermitage Museum

 The Hermitage is St. Petersburg’s most popular visitor attraction, and one of the world’s largest and most prestigious museums. It is a must-see for all first-time travellers to the city. With over 3 million items in its collection, it also rewards repeat visits, A__________ of the riches on offer here, from Impressionist masterpieces to fascinating Oriental treasures. It was estimated B__________ on display for just one minute. So many visitors prefer a guided tour to ensure C__________ highlights. Art-lovers, however, may find it more rewarding to seek out for themselves the works D__________.

The bulk of the Hermitage collection is housed in the Winter Palace, E__________. However, there are a number of other sites that constitute part of the Hermitage, including the recently opened Storage Facility in the north of St. Petersburg. It offers guided tours through some of the museum’s vast stocks. The magnificent General Staff Building opposite the Winter Palace is most famous for its central triumphal arch, F__________ Nevsky Prospekt. The General Staff Building contains a number of unique exhibitions. It includes the Modern European Art, probably the most visited section of the Hermitage with well-known collections of Picasso and Matisse, as well as a wealth of popular Impressionist paintings. 

1. that they are particularly interested in

2. that they have time to catch all the collection’s

3. and new-comers can only hope to get a brief taste

4. which brings pedestrians out on to Palace Square from

5. that one would need eleven years to view each exhibit

6. which was the official residence of the Russian emperors

7. and the exhibition was often visited by military historians

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
3	5	2	1	6	4

Task 75

Letniy Sad

 Letniy Sad (The Summer Garden) is a park ensemble, a monument of landscape art of the 18th century. Letniy Sad is the oldest park in St. Petersburg. The park was founded by Peter I in 1704. The Tsar dreamed of his own Versailles and drew its original plan himself. He planned to create a regular, architectural park with accurate layout and straight paths. Prominent architects and gardeners took part in its creation. The park was supposed to become a place of relaxation, A__________.

Letniy Sad is surrounded by water. Natural boundary of the park from the north and east are the Neva and Fontanka Rivers, B__________.

Peter I brought sculptures from Italy for the park and was very proud of them. In the 18th century there were more than two hundred sculptures, C__________, or moved to suburban royal residences and the Hermitage. Now Letniy Sad is decorated with 90 sculptures – copies made of artificial marble.

In May, 2012 Letniy Sad was opened after reconstruction. The reconstruction work had been going on for about three years, D__________ Letniy Sad as it was in the 18th century. Among the new items in Letniy Sad, there is the Archaeological Museum, E__________ during the restoration of the park. Visitors can take a tour of the park F__________ on Sundays. 

1. and restorers have done everything possible to keep

2. combining the features of urban and suburban estates

3. which are planned to be the centre of scientific research

4. which contains interesting objects found by archaeologists

5. but later many of them were either destroyed in the flood

6. and enjoy the exhibitions and performances of a brass band

7. and from the south and west – the Moika River and the Lebyazhiy Canal

Ответ	A	B	C	D	E	F
2	7	5	1	4	6

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