1. What is the main idea of the text?

2. How did fire ants get into the USA?

3. Why have fire ants done a lot of damage?

4. Where do fire ants live?

5. What do you think about the text?

БИЛЕТ 18

1 Вопрос

DESERT

Desert is generally thought of as a hot, barren region that receives little rainfall. Rainfall is scarce in all desert regions, but deserts are not barren wastelands. Deserts have a wide variety of land formations and soil substances, and most of them have at least one permanent stream. Deserts cannot support the abundant plant and animal life found in humid climates. Scientists do not agree on a single definition for deserts. Some classify a desert as any region that receives an average of less than 10 inches of rain annually. Other scientists use the type of soil or vegetation to determine whether a region is a desert. Still others consider all these factors. They define a desert as a region that can support little vegetation because of both insufficient rainfall and dry soil. Most deserts are in warm climates, but some regions near the North and South Poles are also considered deserts. These areas are so cold that moisture freezes there and can't stimulate plant growth. Deserts do not support large numbers of people. People who do live in a desert region must adjust to the hot, dry climate. In North American deserts many Indians and Mexicans live in adobe or mud houses that provide insulation from the heat. Many desert dwellers in Africa and Asia are herders. They live in tents and wrap themselves in long cloth robes for protection against the scorching sun and blowing sand. Air-conditioning and irrigation projects have made life more comfortable for other desert dwellers.

1. What is the main idea of the text?

2. How much rain does the desert receive?

3. How can desert be classified?

4. How many people live in deserts?

5. What do you think about the text?

БИЛЕТ 19

1 Вопрос

DELAWARE INDIANS

Delaware Indians is the English name of a tribe that lived in what are now Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. These Indians called themselves Lenni-Lenape, which means genuine people. Their English name came from the Delaware River, which flowed through their land. The tribe farmed, hunted, and fished. In 1682, the Delaware signed a treaty of friendship with the English colonial leader W.Penn. Despite the treaty, however, Europeans began to take the Indians' land and gradually pushed them westward. During the 1760s, a religious leader known as the Delaware Prophet preached that Indians should abandon the use of firearms, steel, and other European inventions. He told the Indians they could gain the power to expel the Europeans from their land by returning to traditional tribal ways of life. The Delaware Prophet influenced an Ottawa Indian leader named Pontiac, who tried to unite the Delaware and other Indians in an attempt to drive out the intruders. The British defeated Pontiac in 1763. In 1818, the Delaware surrendered all their land east of the Mississippi River to the government.