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Answer sheet 1. Put a, b, c or d

1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Answer sheet 2. Put 1 or 2 words

0	Criminal	swarthy
8	intellectual
9	businessmen

Answer sheet 3. Put a word

0	accustomed
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Лист заданий

PART 2. READING

Конкурс понимания письменного текста

Длительность конкурса 30 минут

45 баллов (1 балл за каждый правильный ответ)

Task 1. Read the article about Buckingham Palace. Each paragraph is marked by a number. The 8 extracts (A-H) are removed from the article. Choose the correct extracts (A-H) to fit the gaps in the paragraphs. Put your answers into Answer sheet 4.

Buckingham Palace

1. Buckingham Palace has served as the official London resi­dence of Britain's sovereigns since 1837 and today is the admin­istrative headquarters of the Monarch.

Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705 on a site which had been in pri­vate ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as " The Queen's House". _____________

2. Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by the Queen, the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are open to visitors every year.

Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms. These include 19 Slate rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. __________

3. The Palace is very much a working building and the center­piece of Britain's constitutional monarchy. It houses the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family. The Palace is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, all of which are organised by the Royal Household. Its State Rooms form the nucleus of the working Palace and are used regularly by the Queen and members of the Royal Family for official and State entertaining. More than 50, 000 people visit the Palace each year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and the Royal Garden Parties. _______

4. _________The Throne Room was sometimes used during Queen Victoria's reign for Court gatherings and as a second dancing room. It is in the Throne Room that the Queen, on very special occasions like Ju­bilees, receives loyal addresses. Another use of the Throne Room has been for formal wedding photographs.

5. George IV's original palace lacked a large room in which to entertain. _____________It is along the East Gallery that the Queen and her State guests process to the Ballroom for the State Banquet normally held on the first day of the visit. Around 150 guests are invited and include members of the Royal Family, the government and other political leaders, High Commissioners and Ambassadors and prominent people who have trade or other associations with the visiting country.

6. _____________ This is a very formal occasion during which the Queen will meet every head of mission accredited to the Court of St. James's. For the diplomats it is perhaps the highlight of the annual diplomatic so­cial calendar. The Ballroom has been used variously as a concert hall for memorial concerts and performances of the arts and it is the regular venue for Investitures of which there are usually 21 a year — nine in spring, two in the summer and ten in the autumn. At Investitures, The Queen (or The Prince of Wales as Her Maj­esty's representative) will meet recipients of British honors and give them their awards, including knighting those who have been awarded knighthoods.

7. From the Ballroom, the West Gallery, with its four tapes­tries, leads into the first of the great rooms that overlook lawn and the formal gardens — setting for the annual Garden Parties introduced by Queen Victoria in 1868. ___________

8. The State Dining Room is one of the principal State Rooms on the West side of the Palace. Many distinguished people have dined in this room including the 24 holders of the Order of Merit as well as presidents and prime ministers. The palace, like Windsor Castle, is owned by the British state. It is not the monarch's personal property. Many of the contents from Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and St. James's Palace are known collectively as the Royal Collection; owned by the Sovereign, they can, on occasions, be viewed by the public at the Queen's Gallery._____________

Thus, Buckingham Palace is a symbol and home of the British monarchy, an art gallery and tourist attraction.

 

A. The Buckingham Palace Garden is the largest private gar­den in London. Here the Queen hosts her annual garden parties each summer, and also holds large functions to celebrate royal milestones, such as jubilees.

B. For those who do receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace, the first step across the threshold is into the Grand Hall and up the curving marble stairs of the Grand Staircase. Portraits are still set in the walls, as they were by Queen Victoria.

C. In measurements, the building is 108 metres long across the front, 120 metres deep (including the central quad­rangle) and 24 metres high.

D. Although Buckingham Palace is furnished and decorated with priceless works of art that form part of the Royal Collection, one of the major art collections in the world today, it is not an art gallery and nor is it a museum.

E. Queen Victoria improved that shortcoming. At 36.6m long, 18m wide and 13.5m high, the Ballroom is the larg­est multi-purpose room in Buckingham Palace. It was opened in 1856 with a ball to celebrate the end of the Crimean War.

F. Unlike the palace and the castle, the gallery is open con­tinually and displays a changing selection of items from the collection.

G. Today, it is used by the Queen for State banquets and other formal occasions such as the annual Diplomatic Reception attended by 1, 500 guests.

H. During the 19th century it was enlarged, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British mon­arch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

Task 2. The extracts from the two stories ( A and B ) are got mixed up. Sort out the two stories and put the extracts in the correct order. Put your answers into Answer sheet 5.

1. Now people in most countries have become aware of the damage which modern living is doing to the environment, and many of them are concerning themselves with the conservation of the environment for future generations. Thus, both politicians and scientists are now looking at the issues of energy-saving and waste disposal with a view to making them more environmentally-friendly. Simple things such as packaging can be a way of " going green".

2. The high standard of living, which the people of many countries now enjoy, has resulted in a huge increase in waste material. This could have a terrible effect on the ecology of the planet. There is no doubt that urgent action must be taken to save our environment from possible disaster. So, we have much to solve in future.

3. Of course, parking space is not always available. Some firms provide car parks or garages, where at least some of their employees can leave their cars. Most people, however, have to rely on public car parks, often multi-storey ones, or else try to park in the street. Since this is usually highly restricted, with many parking meters in evidence, parking is a source of frustration to many motorists.

4. As far as packaging is concerned, it is vital that it is either recyclable or biodegradable. For example, instead of throwing out newspapers and glass bottles with their household rubbish, people in several countries are being encouraged to put these in special containers to allow the material to be recycled. Some household waste, such as vegetable peelings, is naturally biodegradable and so decomposes gradually until it disappears.

5. Just as much of a problem is industrial waste, since the effluent from factories often contains chemicals which can lead to the pollution of water supplies. Waste from factories has to be monitored carefully in order to avoid this.

6. The authorities in more and more cities are trying to keep cars out of the city centre. With this aim, they have pedestrianized large areas and introduced park-and-ride schemes so that people will leave their cars at the city boundary and complete their journey by bus.

7. Man-made goods are not so easily disposed of. Goods and packaging made of plastic create waste material that is particularly difficult to get rid of. This means that huge landfill sites have to be dug out so as to bury the plastic waste underground, possibly causing problems for future generations.

8. A large number of the vehicles which clog our cities are private cars. Motorists are very reluctant to leave their precious cars behind and go to work on public transport, despite the constant traffic jams. They regard buses, trams and trains as being for other people, while they themselves like to drive from door to door. Thus, our roads are chock-a-block with traffic.

9. Many of the problems which face governments nowadays are international ones. Take traffic, for example. All the major cities of the world are having to try to find ways of dealing with too many vehicles and the congested roads which they cause.

10. People who are otherwise quite law-abiding are apt to take a bit of a risk when it comes to traffic offences. Thus, they ignore both signs that say 'NO PARKING' and lines painted down the edge of the road which indicate parking restrictions. Should they be away from their cars for longer than the amount of time allowed by the parking meter, they are not worried—until they see that the traffic warden has left a parking ticket on their windscreen, and realize that they will have to pay a fine.

11. Still, there are fears that ever-increasing traffic will cause gridlock in cities, particularly at rush hours. With so many tailbacks and bottle-necks on so many roads, motoring is no longer a pleasure. Why, then, do so many of us persist in using our cars? The answer is yet to be found.

 

Task 3. Read texts A and B again. Write whether each of the sentences below ( 20-29 ) is True ( T ) or False ( F ). Put your answers into Answer sheet 6.

20.The environment suffers when there is heavy packaging of the things we buy.

21.Politicians and scientists are not giving any attention to the problems of the environment.

22.Newspapers and glass bottles can be recycled.

23.It is difficult to get rid of plastic goods.

24.Rich countries take care to cut down on waste.

25.Traffic problems are the worst in western countries.

26.One reason for traffic jams is that not enough people take public transport.

27.Quite often there is insufficient parking space in the city.

28.People will only park in the areas set aside for parking.

29.The authorities have no ideas about how to cut down traffic in the city centre.

 

Task 4. Read texts A and B again. Match each word ( 30-37 ) in Column A with its meaning ( a-h ) in Column B. Put your answers into Answer sheet 7.

Column A	Column В
30.Congested 31.Motorists 32.Precious 33.Possible 34.Rely on 35.Law-abiding 36.Authorities 37.Persist	a. Valuable b. Overcrowded c. Depend on d. The departments in charge e. Continue f. Can be done g. Drivers h. Obedient to the law

Task 5. Read texts A and B again. Match each word ( 38-45 ) in Column A with its opposite meaning ( a-h ) in Column B. Put your answers into Answer sheet 8.

Column A	Column В
38.major 39.large 40.constant 41.restricted 42.ignore 43.longer 44.worried 45.introduced	a. shorter b. not concerned c. ended d. unlimited e. small f. attend to g. minor h. infrequent

 

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