Английский язык
Олимпиада РГГУ для школьников 2009-2010 уч. года
Английский язык
ВАРИАНТ 1
TASK 1. For questions 1-11, choose the right answer.
1) The new school claims to ___ students all the English they need in a few months.
A) explain B) instruct C) learn D) teach
2) I never ___ a chance of improving my English if I can help it.
A) avoid B) lose C) miss D) waste
3) Will you ___ me how to make that sound?
A) learn B) practice C) show D) train
4) Franek thought that the other students would think he was English, but his accent gave him ___.
A) away B) in C) out D) up
5) ____ that he only started learning it one year ago, his English is excellent.
A) Accounting B) Considering C) Imagining D) Wondering
6) We were the ____ students in the class who could speak Russian.
A) alone B) one C) only D) single
7) Your pronunciation would improve if you _____ with a tape recorder.
A) exercised B) practiced C) repeated D) trained
8) The students _____ ever use the language laboratory.
A) almost B) hardly C) nearly D) practically
9) Priscilla asked for ____ lessons at home as she thought she would learn English more quickly that way.
A) particular B) peculiar C) personal D) private
10) Learners of English as a foreign language often fail to _____ between unfamiliar sounds in that language.
A) differ B) distinguish C) separate D) solve
11) Jonathan was surprised that Sonia’s English was so ____ as she had never been to England.
A) definite B) fluent C) liquid D) national
TASK 2. For questions 12-19, choose the best synonym.
12) That student is discourteous, he GRUMBLES no matter how you try to please him.
A) complaints B) giggles C) scolds D) sneers
13) Vivian REVISED his paper carefully, following the professor’s suggestions.
A) copied B) corrected C) retyped D) reviewed
14) “Roget’s Thesaurus”, a collection of English words and phrases arranged by the ideas they express RATHER THAN in alphabetical order.
A) as well as B) instead of C) restricted D) unless
15) Habits can be CONSCIOUSLY strengthened, as when a student of the guitar practices and memorizes different fingerprints.
A) conveniently B) deliberately C) lastingly D) robustly
16) My supply of confidence slowly DWINDLES as the day of the exam approaches.
A) diminishes B) emerges C) grows D) revives
17) Defined most BROADLY, folklore includes all the customs, beliefs and traditions that people have handed down from generation to generation.
A) dryly B) fancifully C) liberally D) quaintly
18) Salt has been a respected COMMODITY for much of recorded time.
A) article of trade B) flavouring C) conservative D) remedy for illness
19) The president requested from the parliament an APPROPRIATION to build a spacecraft.
A) funding B) guidance C) power D) property
TASK 3. For questions 20-27, match up the English sayings and their Russian counterparts (a-h).
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20. Mud enough, some of it will stick.
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a. Волков бояться – в лес не ходить.
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21. As snug as a bug in a rug.
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b. Каши маслом не испортишь.
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22. Bind the back before it be full.
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c. Остатки сладки.
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23. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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d. Клевета - как уголь: не обожжет, так замарает.
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24. One good turn deserves another.
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e. Знай во всем меру.
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25. The nearer the bone, the sweeter the flesh.
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f. Тепло, светло, и мухи не кусают.
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26. He that is warm thinks all so.
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g. Долг платежом красен.
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27. Plenty is no plague.
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h. Сытый голодного не разумеет.
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TASK 4. For questions 28-37, choose the best adjective from the box below.
Use each adjective once only.
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thick slender delicate corpulent obese
wide emaciated skinny fatted narrow
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28) This department-store sells clothes for ____ gentlemen.
29) Why are you so _____-skulled?
30) They crossed the ______ocean.
31) Upon the return of the prodigal son the father killed the ______ calf.
32) “You are ______ “, said the doctor.
33) She was _____ - she hadn’t eaten for a week.
34) That was a ____ escape!
35) Her ______ wrists were very aristocratic-looking.
36) This is a very _____ situation we’re in.
37) After a year in swimming school the girl was fit and _____.
TASK 5. For questions 38-46, choose the best collocation with the verb RUN from the box
below, using the correct form instead of the words in italics. Use each verb once only.
There are two extra collocations that you won’t need to use.
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run away run over run at run in run across run out
run by run through run after run on run up
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38) He always seeks the society of his elders.
39) The water is leaking out of the old tank.
40) They have wasted all their money in a few months.
41) He was killed by a passing car.
42) Hearing their mother’s steps on the stairs the children fled from the pantry.
43) The mad bull attacked his victim in the village street.
44) Let’s add up these figures.
45) The man was taken into custody just when he was going to leave his house.
46) She talked so rapidly and incessantly that nobody could utter a word.
READING
TASK 6
A. For questions 47 - 54, read the passage and then decide what evidence there is or there is no in the text.
SOME time ago I discovered that one of the chairs in my front hall had a broken leg. I didn’t foresee any
great difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique shops in Pimlico Road which is three
minutes’ walk from my flat, so I set forth one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop
confidently expecting a friendly reception, with a kindly man saying, ‘What a charming chair, yes that’s quite
a simple job, when would you want it back?’
I was quite wrong. The man I approached wouldn’t look at it. I wasn’t too concerned; after all, it was only
the first try and there are many more shops on both sides of the road.
The reaction at the second shop, though slightly politer, was just the same, and at the third and the fourth –
so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with some confidence because I had concocted a plan. I placed the chair gently
on the floor so as not to disturb the damaged leg and said ‘Would you like to buy a chair?’ The rather
fierce proprietor looked it over carefully and said, ‘Yes, not a bad little chair, how much do you want for it?’ ‘£20,’
I said. ‘OK,’ he said, ‘I’ll give you £20.’ ‘It’s got a slightly broken leg,’ I said. ‘Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.’
Everything was going to plan and I was getting excited. ‘What will you do with it?’ I asked. ‘Oh, it will be very saleable
once the repair is done, I like the bit of gold green velvet on the top, I shall leave that, yes, very saleable.’ ‘I’ll buy
it,’ I said. ‘What d’ye mean? You’ve just sold it to me,’ he said. ‘Yes I know but I’ve changed my mind; as a matter
of fact it is just what I’m looking for – I’ve got a pair to it at home, I’ll give you 27 quid for it.’ ‘You must be crazy,’ he said;
then suddenly the penny dropped and he smiled and said, ‘I know what you want, you want me to mend your chair.’ ‘You’re
plumb right,’ I said.
‘And what would you have done if I had walked in and said “Would you mend this chair for me?” ‘I wouldn’t have done it,’
he said, ‘We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much of a nuisance, but I’ll mend this for you, shall we say
a fiver?’ He was a very nice man and thought the whole episode rather funny.
(The Observer)
47) Mr. Hornby carried the broken chair to Pimlico Road because he didn’t have a car.
a) True b) No evidence
48) Many antique shops often do furniture repairs.
a) True b) No evidence
49) Mr. Hornby felt that the first shop proprietor was rather rude.
a) True b) No evidence
50) He decided that he had approached the shops in the wrong order.
a) True b) No evidence
51) In the fifth shop, he tried at first to disguise the fact that the chair was broken.
a) True b) No evidence
52) The proprietor thought he could sell the chair for more than £20.
a) True b) No evidence
53) Once he was in the shop, Mr. Hornby suddenly decided not to sell the chair.
a) True b) No evidence
54) The man only offered to mend the chair because he was amused by Mr. Hornby’s approach.
a) True b) No evidence
B. For questions 55 - 63, read the passage again and choose the best answer for the words in italics.
55) ‘I set forth one morning…’: This is likely to mean
a) left home
b) made plans
c) made it known
56) ‘…after all, it was only…’: Here, this means
a) despite
b) nevertheless
c) because
57) ‘… I had concocted a plan.’: This probably means
a) thought of
b) forgotten
c) changed
58) ‘Everything was going to plan…’: This means that the plan was
a) not successful
b) impractical
c) working as intended
59) ‘…the bit of old green velvet…’: This is a kind of
a) wood
b) cloth
c) metal
60) ‘I’ve got a pair to it…’: This means that he’s got
a) two more chairs like it
b) one more chair like it at home
61) ‘…then suddenly the penny dropped…’: This means
a) the proprietor understood Mr. Hornby’s plan
b) the proprietor changed his mind,
c) the proprietor accepted some money
62) ‘You’re plumb right…’: This probably means
a) almost right
b) quite right
c) quite wrong
63) ‘…too much of a nuisance…’: This means
a) repairs cause too much trouble
b) Mr. Hornby’s chair is too badly damaged
c) the repair will cause Mr. Hornby too much trouble
TRANSFER ALL YOUR ANSWERS TO YOUR ANSWER SHEET
WRITING
TASK 7.
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Write notes in answer to the question “Should school prepare you for a working life?”
Choose only three positive arguments and three negative ones. Join the notes together in connected sentences, using link words.
You should write not more than 100-150 words.
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POSITIVE ARGUMENTS
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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NEGATIVE ARGUMENTS
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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