Variant 17

1 Read the text and mark () the following statements «True» or «False».

The Tale Of Two Pebbles

Many years ago in a small Indian village a poor farmer had borrowed

a large sum of money from a village moneylender. The moneylender was

old and ugly, and he promised to forget the farmer’s debt if he could

marry his beautiful daughter Myra.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified and didn’t want

to agree. ≪Let Providence decide the matter!≫ the cunning moneylender

suggested. ≪I’ll put a black pebble and a white pebble into a money

bag. Then Myra should pick one pebble from the bag. If she picks the

black pebble, she will become my wife and I’ll forgive you the debt. If

she picks the white pebble she doesn’t need to get married and the debt

will still be forgiven.≫

They were standing on a pebble path and the moneylender bent over

to pick up two pebbles. But Myra noticed that he had picked up two

black pebbles and put them into the bag. ≪Now pick a pebble from the

bag!≫ he said.

Myra put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without

looking at it, she let it fall onto the path where it became lost among

all the other pebbles.

≪Oh, how clumsy of me!≫ she said. ≪But never mind, if you look

into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble

I picked.≫

True False

1 The characters of the story lived in a small town.

2 The farmer didn’t have money to return his

debt.

3 The moneylender was not a pleasant person.

4 The moneylender wanted to marry Myra and get

his money back.

5 The farmer tried to convince his daughter to

marry the moneylender.

6 According to the moneylender’s offer,

Providence had to help decide the matter.

7 Myra wished to pick a white pebble.

8 The moneylender wanted to cheat the farmer

and his daughter.

9 The farmer noticed that the moneylender had

put two black pebbles into the bag.

10 Myra let the pebble fall and did it on purpose.

38 Variant 17

2 Complete the text with the words from the table.

Exploration of (1) sorts is rooted in the notion of

(2) risks. Risk underlies any (3) into the unknown, whether

it is a ship captain’s voyage into uncharted seas, a scientist’s research

on dangerous diseases, or an entrepreneur’s investment in a new venture.

But what exactly pushed Christopher Columbus to embark on a voyage

(4) the Atlantic, or Edward Jenner to test his (5) for an

early smallpox vaccine on a child, or Henry Ford to bet that automobiles

could replace horses?

Some of the motivations for taking risks are obvious — (6)

reward, fame, political gain, saving lives. Many people willingly expose

themselves to varying degrees of risk in their pursuit of such goals. But

as the danger increases, the (7) of people willing to go forward

shrinks, until the only ones (8) remain are the extreme risk-takers,

those willing to endanger their reputation, fortune and life. This

is the (9) of risk: what makes some humans willing to jeopardize

so much and continue to do (10) even in the face of dire

consequences?

(From «The Mystery of Risk»,

National Geographic, Peter Gwin, June 2013)

A B C D

1 every all each most

2 taking making asking having

3 trip voyage travelling journey

4 in on across through

5 theory science concept idea

6 famous important financial political

7 number circle crowd group

8 what which when who

9 mystery task danger answer

10 as if so or

3 Comment on the following issues.

Imagine that an English-speaking friend is coming to stay with you

for the first time for a week in July. Describe:

• the type of weather he/she can expect and clothes he/she should take;

• what you’re planning to do together when he/she comes.

Орієнтовні зразки екзаменаційних завдань для державної підсумкової атестації 39

VARIANT 18

1 Read the text and mark () the following statements «True» or «False».

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind.

She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there

for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry

her boyfriend. It was close to Christmas, and she secretly dreamed to

herself that it would be the perfect time to get married.

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages

came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her, ≪Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?≫

The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight

of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn’t expected that. The thought

of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Besides he was not as handsome as some other strong, muscular, pretty

guys she could now see all around her.

So she said she wouldn’t marry him.

Her boyfriend left her in tears and days later wrote a note to her

saying, ≪Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were

yours, they were mine.≫

True False

1 The story took place in summer.

2 The girl in the story didn’t feel positive about

herself.

3 Nobody loved the girl.

4 The girl told her boyfriend that Christmas

would be the perfect time to get married.

5 The girl promised to marry the boy as soon as

she could see.

6 The girl didn’t know who donated the pair of

eyes to her.

7 When she saw her boyfriend, she was

disappointed as he was not tall enough.

8 She didn’t want to marry the boy.

9 The boy was crying when he left her.

10 From his letter she found out who had given

his eyes to her.

40 Variant 18

2 Complete the text with the words from the box.

heart American River waters founded

buildings culture politicians sandy nicknames

Chicago: the City That Works

Chicago, Illinois was (1) in 1833, near a canal between

the Great Lakes and the Mississippi (2) .

It boasts the United States’ tallest building and one of the world’s

largest office (3) . With the elevated trains, the city looks,

feels, and in fact is, big.

Chicago is the home of the blues and the truth of jazz, the

(4) of comedy and the idea of the skyscraper.

As the hub of the Midwest, Chicago is easy to find — its picturesque

skyline calls across the (5) of Lake Michigan, a first impression

that soon reveals world-class museums of art and science, miles of

(6) beaches, huge parks and perhaps the finest downtown

collection of modern architecture in the world.

Chicago is a stronghold of the Democratic Party and has been home

to many influential (7) , including the current President of

the United States, Barack Obama.

The city’s popular (8) is found in novels, plays, movies

and songs. Chicago has numerous (9) , the best-known