1.What is the main idea of the text?

2. What was the weather like in Nome?

3. What else made people worry that winter?

4. The sick children were saved, weren’t they?

5. What do you think about the story?

БИЛЕТ 9

1 Вопрос

TRAPPED

It was December 1984. A large herd of hungry white whales were chasing codfish. The whales chased the codfish from the sea into the Senyavin Strait. An angry east wind blew up. The water of the strait began to freeze. Only small pools of open water remained. The whales were trapped! A hunter spotted the whales and saw that they were in trouble. White whales can break through thin ice, but this ice was too thick. The hunter knew that whales must come to the water's surface to breathe, There was not enough room for thousands of ten-foot whales to breathe. Soon helicopters were on the scene. They dropped frozen fish to feed the whales. But the whales still couldn't breathe. They were beginning to die. A special ship was sent for to ram through the ice. The captain had to get the whales to follow the ship out to sea. Several days passed, and the whales didn't leave. Finally someone remembered that porpoises like music. Whales are related to porpoises. So, the crew of the ship played all kinds of music on the deck. Slowly they began to follow the ship. After a while the whales got used to the ship. By February, the white whales were safely in the sea once more.

1.What is the main idea of the text?

2. What did the hunter see?

3. Why couldn’t white whales break through ice?

4. How did the captain manage to save white whale?

5. What do you think about the story?

БИЛЕТ 10

1 Вопрос

WARNING OF RSI RISK IN COMPUTER GAMES

A doctor warned parents yesterday of the dangers of "nintendonitis" after treating a schoolboy who suffered an arm injury because he spent too much time playing computer games. Dr Diana Macgregor believes the 11-year-old could be the first reported case of computer-induced REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY (RSI) in a child. His mother took him to hospital after a teacher expressed concern that he was experiencing pain while writing on his return to school following the Christmas holidays last year. He was examined at hospital and no swelling, bruising or reddening of the skin was found, and there was no bone or soft tissue tenderness. It emerged that he had been given a computer as a Christmas present and had been using his dominant left hand to manipulate the controls. Dr Macgregor said: "The child reluctantly agreed to stop using his computer for a week and his symptoms disappeared". Dr Macgregor suggested that "hand care" should be taught in school to young computer game enthusiasts. In America RSI was reaching "epidemic proportions". Schools had already introduced hand care instruction.

1.What is the main idea of the text?

2. Why was the child taken to hospital?

3. Where did the boy get a computer?

4. When did his symptoms vanish?

5. What do you think about this problem?

БИЛЕТ 11

1 Вопрос

A LESSON IN HONESTY

A thief who dropped a winning lottery ticket at the scene of his crime has been given a lesson in honesty. His victim, who picked up the ticket, then claimed the $25,000 prize, managed to trace him, and handed over the cash. The robbery happened when maths professor was changing a tire on an Italian motorway. Another motorist, who stopped "to help" stole a suitcase from his car and drove off. The professor found the dropped ticket and stuffed it in his pocket before driving home. Next day, he saw the lottery results on TV and, uncrumpling the ticket, realised it was a winner. Then began a battle with his conscience. Eventually, he decided he could not keep the money despite having been robbed. Не advertised in newspapers and on radio. Professor Sabbatucci received hundreds of calls. But there was one voice he recognised — and he arranged to meet the man in a park. The robber, a 35-year-old unemployed father of two, gave back the suitcase and burst into tears. He could not believe what was happening. "Why didn't you keep the money?" he asked. The professor replied: "I couldn't because it's not mine". Then he walked off, spurning the thief's offer of a reward.