Тренажёр ЕГЭ Английский язык

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа.

   A lot of authors speak about how true success is overcoming the fear of being unsuccessful. But that is easier said than done. We all face situations where we fail and it feels like everything is going wrong. That coveted job interview that does not result in a call back, that amazing person who doesn’t reciprocate romantic interest, that close friend who is not keen on hanging out anymore feature in all of our lives. Somewhere these experiences chip away at one’s sense of self, slowly eroding our self-worth.
  Carrie Fisher, who had immortalised Princess Leia in Star Wars, had said it beautifully, “take your broken heart and make it into art”. That is exactly what 18-year-old Londoner Claudia did. She had received a rejection letter from Oxford, like many other students, in response to her application for a Classics course. However, she was not dejected by it. By the time her mother got home from work, Claudia had cut up the letter and transformed it into a beautiful piece of art.
  When her mum posted Claudia’s art on Twitter, it touched a chord among thousands and went viral in a matter of days, having been liked and retweeted more than two hundred thousand times.
  Claudia explained her motivations in such a way: “I just thought I had this letter, it’s not often that you get a letter dedicated to you from Oxford. So, I thought it would be funny if I made it into something.” The letter is pretty much summarised in the phrases stuck into the painting: delivering the news, apologising, wishing her well.
  She created the painting very quickly, explaining, “I suppose some of my feelings about the letter went into the artwork. Obviously I didn’t know it would go viral as I painted it for myself – but I think the message that it’s associated with now is that Oxbridge doesn’t determine your worth as a person, and I love that.” A lot of people are saying Oxford should now take Claudia on an art course but that’s not really how it works.
   She is joining another premier institution – Durham university – soon, leaving behind her brief disappointment from Oxford as she embarks on the new phase of her life. However, there are life lessons that this young girl can teach us on how to cope with rejection.
  It always feels a bit hurtful to be rejected, but when you can turn your disappointment into art, it helps you to move on. After all, closed doors hide open ones. It’s impossible that things go well all the time. Even for those who seemsuper successful, there are still low points and adverse situations they have had to tackle. But brooding over what did not work out will only lead to missing out newer opportunities. Success and failure can truly be understood only in retrospect. What seems like heart-breaking rejection might turn out to be the start of the best thing ever to happen to you in another five years.
  Letting go is important but what is even more important is letting go beautifully. As the proverb goes – “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved,how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you”.
  Failure is a part of life. You can call it whatever you want–a setback, an emotional let down, a breakup, a loss, but part of the reason why the experience is so painful is because at some level you feel you failed. The solution here is being open to the bigger lessons of life. After all, learning a new way to see situations can be the very key to your next success.

According to the article, disappointing experiences could result in
1) a deserved success.
2) a broken heart.
3) a lack of confidence.
4) coping with one’s fears.

An 11-year-old boy taps furiously on a laptop, blasting enemies as he goes through a maze. They wipe him out before he can reach the end – game over. Frustrated, he opens the game’s programming window, changes the gravity setting, and this time beats the baddies. Victory!
   This could be the future of American education, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Quest to Learn school opened last September in Manhattan, welcoming the first class of sixth-graders who will learn almost entirely through videogame-inspired activities, an educational strategy designed to keep kids engaged and prepare them for high-tech careers.
   Ever since Pong, videogames have outperformed teachers in one key way: They command attention for hours. “Games are exceptionally good at engaging kids,” says Quest’s main designer Katie Salen, a game designer and technology professor at the New School University. “They drop kids into complex problems where they fail and fail, but they try again and again.” She knew, though, that when kids face tough problems in school, they sometimes just give up, which is partly why only a third of eighth-graders earn ‘proficient’ math scores on national assessment tests.
    With this in mind, three years ago Salen started the Institute of Play, a nonprofit collaboration of game designers and learning experts who create games to teach school material. After successful tests in city classrooms, the group worked with the New York City Department of Education to open Quest to Learn.
    This year’s 72-student class is split into four groups that rotate through five courses during the day: Codeworlds (math/English), Being, Space and Place (social studies/English), The Way Things Work (math/science), Sports for the Mind (game design), and wellness (health/PE). Instead of slogging through problem sets, students learn collaboratively in group projects that require an understanding of subjects in the New York State curriculum. The school’s model draws on 30 years of research showing that people learn best when they’re in a social context that puts new knowledge to use. Kids learn more by, say, pretending to be Spartan spies gathering intel on Athens than by memorizing facts about ancient Greece.
    Most sixth-graders don’t expect to ever need to identify integers, but at Quest, it’s the key to a code-breaking game. In another class, when creatures called Troggles needed help moving heavy objects the class made a video instructing how long a ramp they should build to minimize the force they needed to apply. “They’re picking concepts up as well as, if not better than, at other schools,” says Quest’s math and science teacher Ameer Mourad. Beyond make-believe, Quest is the first middle school to teach videogame design. Salen says building games teaches students about complex systems, which will prepare them for growing fields such as bioinformatics.
     The plan is for this class to attend Quest through high school, adding more sixth-graders every year. Although students must pass the annual standardized tests that all public students do to keep a school open, educators so far are impressed.
    Salen has pilot studies to back up that risk; however, she won’t know if the school prepares kids for real-world success until the first class graduates. But Quest has already proved itself in one area: The kids love it. “It’s fun,” says student Nadine Clements. Her least favourite part of school? “Dismissal.”

1) learn to play videogames professionally.
2) learn who videogames were designed by.
3) play videogames instead of learning.
4) learn through videogame-based tasks.

    Within the first few weeks of living in Russia, I lost about 10 pounds (4.5 Kilos). It did not take me long to gain all of it back, when I returned home … now I am on a diet (typical American cycle). No, this article is not going to talk about why Americans are so obese, but I merely wanted to use my scenario as an illustration for what I rediscovered about American food when I came home. It’s a contradictory statement, but American food is probably some of the best food in the world, as well as some of the worst food in the world. How can this be, you ask? Don’t worry, I will elaborate on this in full detail.
    First of all, let me clear up one misconception about Americans and our cuisine. We do not only eat food from McDonald’s and Burger King. In fact, the last time I was in a McDonald’s was in Russia. Yes, we have a lot of fast food and chain restaurants to accommodate our busy lifestyles, but a lot of Americans (myself included), choose not to poison our bodies by eating at them on a regular basis. Fast food restaurants are one example of why American cuisine is some of the worst in the world, not only because they sell unhealthy food, but also because, here in the States, they are driven by the livestock and corn industries – powerful lobbies that are poisoning our foods and wreaking havoc on the environment.
    You see, the biggest difference between American cuisine and Russian food can be summed up in one simple truth: we don’t make anything from scratch. Everything we eat or cook at home comes in packages, and they are loaded with ingredients whose names I cannot even pronounce. Fortunately, many Americans are beginning to catch on to the fact that the food industry and science have been poisoning our food for years and many of us are becoming vegetarian, eating organic and avoiding foods with GMO’s. The market is finally beginning to shift to accommodate a healthier diet.
    So then how is American food some of the best food in the world? It’s simple really. We are one of those countries that has been blessed with a diverse ethnic population and we get the benefit of adopting all of their cuisines. Russia also has this advantage, but there still remains a distinct “Russian” cuisine. Nothing we eat is truly “American” (okay, maybe hamburgers and Coca Cola). We’ve got every cuisine you could possibly imagine and we get to experiment with them all and see how they will taste with a new American twist – in fact, we’ve coined this cuisine American Nouveau.
    We’ve also developed very strong regional cuisines. America is big and food varies as you travel from state to state. I grew up in Maine, a coastal state known for its lobster. The southern states are known for having heavy, fattening foods that taste delicious. Louisiana has a heritage of French and Creole cuisine that is out-of-this-world and loaded with flavor. The New York tri-state area is a smorgasbord of ethnic and reinvented cuisines – it is the culinary capital of our country. Texans like barbeque, Chicago cuisine has a lot of Polish influence, and California produces amazing seafood. In a small nutshell, real American cuisine has strong regional and cultural ties and is always open to experimentation.
    American cuisine vs. Russian cuisine … sorry, but I’m going to root for my own country on this one, mostly because we have a larger variety. Nevertheless, I will always have a place in my heart for Russian cuisine, as it was all a part of the cultural learning experience.

The author speaks about her losing and gaining weight to show that
1) a lot of Americans need to go on a diet.
2) obesity is a serious problem in the USA.
3) American food is too fattening.
4) she has changed her opinion of American food.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа.

Today was a rice day, fifty pound sacks of white rice in trucks bearing an elephant logo. The same happy elephant appeared on the bags, its head raised to the sky, the trunk curved like an S. ‘Elephant,’ Todd said. He said it because a labourer was staring at it intently, which meant he wasn’t working. ‘That’s right,’ the man said. ‘I couldn’t remember the word.’ He was the only other human at the loading dock this morning. The man didn’t have a name, just a number, like the rest of the robots.

That could be me, Todd thought as he watched him work side by side with his silent mechanical counterparts, lifting, carrying, and dropping bags of rice from the back of the truck to the warehouse. A bad car accident, a bad fall from a ladder, and that could be me. Or a bad memrip.

At lunch, Todd thought of things he could sell. Everything he owned of any value, he could touch: his grandfather’s watch, his grandmother’s wedding ring, a gold necklace be longing to some forgotten relative. His car, too, but that was out of the question as he needed it to work. He got up from his chair and scanned the floor below, the robots still working away, a sea of metallic shoulders rising and falling in unison, strangely beautiful in a way. Over by the forklift sat 8831, his eyes as blank as the piece of bread he was eating.

Two weeks from today was Todd’s thirtieth wedding anniversary, and even if he were to pawn the watch, the ring, and the necklace, he knew he wouldn’t even come close to having enough for Paris. That’s where Sue had wanted to go for as long as he could re member. They didn’t have the money to honeymoon there, but that was okay because back then, there had been plenty of time. They were young, both healthy and working, so they would save a little here and there and in a couple of years, they would be walking up to the Eiffel Tower at night arm in arm, find themselves underneath the arch and look up at the beacon that shines on this city of lights.

But then came two sons and three recessions and a second mortgage. A hysterectomy for her, a double bypass for him, and now here he was, nine years short of retirement, supervising a team of robots and a retarded man, thinking about folks who could sell things they couldn’t touch, like stocks and bonds and whatever else he couldn’t even fathom, people with money who would pay to experience another’s most cherished moments.

Silly. That would be Sue’s word for it if this were a story she’d overheard. For a trip, what a silly thing to do. But it was more than a trip. It was their life together. There was life and there was death, and it seemed to Todd that if he waited any longer, there wouldn’t be any difference between the two.

He opened the filing cabinet and rifled through the folders. Name: Lopez, Manny. Age: 46. Tax Status: Married. In all the years he’d been here, only a handful of human workers had come and gone. All of them were handicapped in some way; they came through the city welfare program, and 8831 was no exception.

Manny’s wife picked up on the second ring. Todd told her who he was, and after he assured her that her husband was not hurt, he was fine, he was a great worker, he asked her what he wanted to know. She listened without interrupting him; then there was a lengthy silence.

‘Why?’ she asked.

‘Does it matter?’

‘I can report you.’

‘I know.’ More silence.

‘He did it because he loved me. Loved,’ she said, hardening. ‘Not loves.’

‘I heard you.’

Then she hung up, and for the rest of the day, Todd replayed the conversation in his mind. Should he have lied to her, made up some story about a sick mother, a dying child? He wasn’t good at talking, especially on the phone. People thought he was unfriendly, hostile. A woman once told him his voice sounded like broken stones rattling in a cage.

The horn blared at five, time for the two humans to go home and the robots to be reconditioned and put in standby.

(Adapted from ‘Paris, at Night’ by Sung J. Woo)

That morning, at the loading docks

1) there were only robots.

2) there was only one human.

3) there were two people.

4) there were a handful of people.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа.

                                                                                                            Why I write my journal

    Before I started writing my bullet journal, I kept asking: "Is it a to-do list, a planner, or a diary?" This was my main question, and I was very annoyed when they told me it was all of these things. But it is all of these things!

    I like bullet journaling because it's a great way to track my day-to-day activities, as wel as my long-term goals. Planners and to-do lists typically only focus on what you're doing in the future, and diaries typically focus on what you did that day. But all of these things give us a complete picture of who we are. Before I started bullet journaling, the idea of keeping my diary, my personal to-do list, and my work tasks in the same place seemed absurd. But now I understand both how to organise that, and also why it makes sense.

    I'm amazed at how many things I left out of my old diaries — I basically just wrote about boys I had crushes on and nothing else. I didn't write nearly enough about my friends, cool things I was reading, or simply what my daily routine was like. Bullet journaling helps you record al of the things that are going on in your life, and makes it easy to keep track of the things you want to do in the future.

    It also gives me a space to literally record anything else that doesn't fall into any of these categories - I have used my journals to take notes in class when I forgot my subject notebook, in meetings, in info sessions. I've used it to plan essays and presentations. I even used it as an art journal, where I would draw or just stick random things onto the pages.

    However, many might think that journaling is too time-consuming. "How do you keep up with it?", - this is the question that I get every time I show someone my journals. Yes, it can be time-consuming - i f you make it to be. Like the general consensus, I realised quickly that setting up the planner layout at the beginning of every month was too time-consuming, and resorted to use the journal to record all of my random thoughts and ideas before they float away into nothingness. I used it as a combination of a diary, planner, and to-do-lists — where I could write whatever's in my mind and whatever's necessary. Pay attention to the key word: necessary. Don't feel pressured to keep up with a structure and to set aside a time to journal when you don't actually have the time. The journal is yours and it's meant to help you!

    The only reason why I've kept up with it for so long is that I've forgotten how to function as well as I do now without one. I honestly need it to sort out all the projects I'm involved in, and to keep myself sane. It's a productivity tool as well as therapy. But I don't always "keep up" with my journal. If I've set aside a page to track my spending, and suddenly I don't feel like that's useful anymore, I'll just abandon it. It's your journal, your rules.

    Personally, I write literally everything. I've shamelessly recommended journaling to many people over the past year and many people have told me that they are too scared to write. Some mention that they don't know how to make their pages look pretty. I always say the same thing: it really doesn't need to be pretty for it to be useful. I try to make mine nice to look at because I wanted to be creative with it. It was one of my goals when I started a journal. But if you aren't into aesthetics, feel free to use a pen and a blank journal.

    You also don't have to write that much. Why force yourself to write pages and pages if you have nothing to say? Just write down things that you find interesting, and things that you need to write down - like... a grocery list, or, the homework problems given in class. And if you make amistake, just turn over to a new page and start over. After all, that's the beauty of a blank journal.

Before the author started bullet journaling she thought it was.
1) annoying. 
2) uninteresting.

3) sensible.
4) unreasonable.

Have you ever tasted saltwater? I guess you have and if so, you will agree with me that it’s not very refreshing. In fact, drinking more than a few cups worth can kill you.

According to the United States Geological Survey, whose mission is to collect and disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely information that is needed to understand the nation’s water resources, about ninety-seven percent of the water on our planet is saltwater; the rest is stored in lakes, rivers, glaciers and aquifers underground. Moreover, only about one-third of the world’s potential fresh water can be used for human needs. As pollution increases, the amount of usable water decreases.

Water is the most precious and taken-for-granted resource we have on Earth. It is also one of the most threatened resources. Increased population and possible climate change will put more and more strain on supplies of this vital resource as time goes on. What could we do in this situation? Though it may seem like science fiction, the solution could lie in outer space.

I’m not saying we’re going to be teleporting to a spring on the other side of the galaxy or colonizing another planet just to have longer showers – it’s much more mundane than that. What we could achieve realistically in this century is the successful use of the solar system’s rare metals and water, barring the invention of the matrix.

You may be surprised to learn that the metal in your keys, coins, cell phone, computer, car and everywhere else, originally came to this planet from space. When Earth formed, the heavy metals sank to the center and formed a solid core. The lighter elements formed the mantle and the crust we live on. Asteroids and comets that struck the Earth brought water and metals to the surface.

There are thousands of asteroids orbiting near Earth. Most asteroids are made of rock, but some are composed of metal, mostly nickel and iron. Probes could be sent out to these to identify useful ones. Then larger probes could push them towards the Earth where they can be handled in orbit.

In order to fuel ships and probes, we simply need to find a source of water, such as a comet or the surface of the moon. We collect the water and pass an electric current through it from a solar panel. The water separates into oxygen and hydrogen, which in liquid form is a powerful rocket fuel.

Is this really possible? We may soon find out. Private company SpaceX has already started delivering equipment to the International Space Station (ISS).The ISS is proof that countries once at each other’s throats, like America and Russia, can work together and pull off multi-billion dollar projects.

Recently, a company called Planetary Resources Inc. made the news forgetting big names like Google and Microsoft to invest in exploring asteroids for material gain. Although it will take many decades, it is wise to put the gears in motion now.

We’ve already landed probes on the surface of asteroids and taken samples from them. We can put something as large as the ISS, which weighs just short of 500 tons, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in orbit.

We can make a half-million-mile round-trip to get rocks from the moon. We can do all of these things already. They just need to be applied and developed in a smart way.

What problem is raised in the article?

1. Cooperation in space.

2. Threats of climate change.

3. Danger of drinking salt water.

4. Lack of water supplies on Earth.