Test 13

Test 13

Task 1

Read the text below. Match choices (A—Ж) to (1—5). There are three choices you do not nеed to use.

MAKE THE MOST OF FARMERS’ MARKETS

Shopping at farmers' markets is the easiest way to eat locally. You know where the food comes from: after all, the grower is right there and you can ask them.

1. 1. If you know a bit of what to expect when you get to the farmers' market, making decisions at each stall is much easier. Learn what grows in your area and when, and talk to the growers about what will be coming to market in upcoming weeks.

1. 2. For the best selection, go to the farmers' market early. The best goods go first. Popular but limited items may even sell out before the day is done. It's as simple as that. For the best deals, go to the farmers' market late. Farmers and other vendors usually prefer to discount products instead of loading them back up and schlepping them home.

1. 3. Some farmers' market vendors offer bags, but they tend to be thin and flimsy plastic ones that groan under the pressure of any substantial produce purchase. Make sure everything gets home from the farmers' market without crashing onto the sidewalk or spilling onto the floor of your car by bringing your own sturdy canvas or nylon bags. A backpack can make the hauling easier, especially for weighty or bulky items. Although vendors will make change, purchases will go easier and faster if you have exact (or close to exact) change. At some farmers' markets «small change» means dimes and nickels. In larger urban areas many products at farmers' markets are sold in dollar or fifty-cent increments.

1. 4. The best deals at the farmers' market are had when you buy in bulk. You'll enjoy the best flavours and the best prices when you buy lots of whatever is at its harvest peak. How to use it all up? Try new recipes with favourite vegetables or learn the lost art of preserving food. Freezing, canning, and drying are just some of the ways you can save seasonal tastes you find at the farmers' market for later in the year.

1. 5. If you find a vegetable that's new to you at the farmers' market and want to give it a try, ask the farmer how to prepare it. For the best tips specifically ask how they themselves like to eat it.

Task 2

Read the text below. For questions (6-10) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

THE LEGEND OF ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON

St. George travelled for many months by land and sea until he came to Libya. Here he met a poor hermit who told him that everyone in that land was in great distress, for a dragon had long ravaged the country for long.

“Every day”, said the old man, “he demands the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden and now all the young girls have been killed. The king's daughter alone remains, and unless we can find a knight who can slay the dragon she will be sacrificed tomorrow. The king of Egypt will give his daughter in marriage to the champion who overcomes this terrible monster”.

When St. George heard this story, he was determined to try and save the princess, so he rested that night in the hermit's hut, and at daybreak set out to the valley where the dragon lived. When he drew near, he saw a little procession of women, headed by a beautiful girl dressed in pure Arabian silk. The princess Sabra was being led by her attendants to the place of death. The knight spurred his horse and overtook the ladies. He comforted them with brave words and persuaded the princess to return to the palace. Then he entered the valley. As soon as the dragon saw him, it rushed from its cave, roaring with a sound louder than thunder. Its head was immense and its tail was fifty feet long. But St. George was not afraid. He struck the monster with his spear, hoping he would wound it.

The dragon's scales were so hard that the spear broke into a thousand pieces and St George fell from his horse. Fortunately, he rolled under an enchanted orange tree against which poison could not prevail, so that the venomous dragon was unable to hurt him. Within a few minutes he had recovered his strength and was able to fight again.

He hit the beast with his sword but the dragon poured poison on him and his armour split in two. Once more he refreshed himself from the orange tree and then, with his sword in his hand, he rushed at the dragon and pierced it under the wing where there were no scales, so that it fell dead at his feet.

1. 6. St George was told a sad story when he stopped to rest...   [A, B, C, D]

   A at the Egyptian King's Palace.

   B on the banks of the sea.

   C under a shadowy tree.

   D in the Arabian Desert.

2. 7. A person who ...   [A, B, C, D] will be able to marry the princess.

   A kills the warriors

   B overtakes the women

   C fights the monster

   D presents the nicest sacrifice

3. 8. The knight met the dragon ...   [A, B, C, D]

   A in the forest.

   B at sea.

   C in the cave.

   D in the lowland.

4. 9. The dragon died ...   [A, B, C, D]

   A after drinking some poison.

   B being slain with a sword.

   C being wounded with a pike.

   D when the knight struck his head.

5. 10. What helped St George to recover his strength?   [A, B, C, D]

   A The comforting story of the hermit.

   B A sound louder than thunder.

   C The cheerful voices of the ladies.

   D The refreshing sap of a tree.

Task 3

Read the text below. Match choices (A—Ж) to (11—16). There are two choices you do not nеed to use.

VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND SUPPLEMENTS

There appear to be a lot of bottles in the supplement area of any store. Every magazine is filled with ads for pills that will change your life, prime-time television has advertisements for a pill for any part of your body and mind, and the Internet has everything for sale.

11. Supplements are a multibillion-dollar business. The hard questions are: what do we need, how much do we need, and are the ads telling the whole truth? Here is some background information that may help answer the questions. In 1994 Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Act which states that if something is called a dietary supplement, the FDA does not have to test it and no one monitors what is really in the supplement. There has been a lot of abuse since then. Claims are made that may not be true, which leaves the consumer at a strong disadvantage. For some strange reason many Americans feel that if something is sold over the counter, or if it says «all natural», that it is safe. Nothing could be further from the truth.

12. Many people think, “If a little bit is good, more is better”. This thinking can lead to health consequences. So how does one dig through all of the advertising and decide what will enhance their health, what is a waste of money, and what will do no harm? Multivitamins do not fix a lousy diet. Megadose vitamins can be harmful because of having too much of some nutrients. The best bet for a multivitamin mineral tablet is a store brand. High price does not give better quality (about 20 cents a day is the most you should pay). Look for a tablet that provides 100% of RDA for most nutrients. You cannot get enough vitamin E or calcium in a multivitamin. If you are over age 50, be sure that the tablet has at least 25 mcg of B12. Too much iron is a problem that may be worse than too little iron, so vitamins for mature adults should have no iron.

13. Beyond the multivitamin a person may want to supplement vitamin E to get 100-400 IU a day. And, of course, a person wants to supplement the diet to receive a total of 1000-1500 mg calcium depending on age. The only nutrients that have good clinical studies on their benefits are vitamin E, calcium, folate and vitamin D. The folate and vitamin D are in most multivitamins, so vitamin E and calcium are the only supplements needed beyond the multi unless you have been diagnosed through testing by a bona fide physician with a deficiency of a nutrient. Hair analysis, looking in the eyes, etc, are not legitimate tests for deficiency. You need blood tests. In a recent study, one group was given supplements and another group ate better. At the end of the study those taking the multivitamin had little to no change in nutritional status while those on the balanced diet improved their nutritional status. More studies need to be done to confirm this finding.

14.In the past few years there has been a significant increase in the number of herbal supplements on the shelf. Some people are using them indiscriminately without realizing that they may have interactions with prescription drugs. Also, studies have been conducted that show that a lot of the herbal supplements do not have enough of the herb in it to be of any value. Remember, there is no governing agency that the manufacturers must answer to. No one is testing for purity or for contents. Herbs have been used in Europe for a long time, but their products are tested for purity and content. Many herbs are considered medicine in European countries.

15. Many people take better care of their automobile than they do of their body. They would not dump anything that a friend recommended into the vehicle, but they will do it to their body. We own nothing more precious than our body and keeping it fit and healthy should be our primary concern. Do not live to regret what you did to yourself. Before taking anything, research it carefully looking for valid research by independent researchers from major universities. Do not take something based only on the testimony of somebody else. You would not ask a neighbour to set your broken arm. Do not use them for nutrition information. Talk to the experts in the field, registered dietitians.

16. The good news is that the average person is unlikely to take so much of a nutrient that he or she will run into trouble. But it’s always wise to consult your doctor before you start using a supplement regularly. And that’s definitely true if you’re using any supplement in high doses or for prolonged periods of time.

Task 4

Read the text below. Choose from (A-Ж) the one which best fits each space (17-22). There are two choices you do not need to use.

MEET YOUR MYSTERIOUS RELATIVE

Her scientific name is Ardipithecus ramidus, and scientists call her Ardi for short. She is ancient — her bones are 4.4 million years old — and is making scientists think about the distant past in a whole new way.

Ardi is an example of an extinct species that may help scientists understand how human beings evolved the way we did. She is a hominid, (17) _______ . It’s not clear whether Ardi was a direct ancestor of humans.

Scientists have just published more than a dozen studies on Ardi’s species — and this is just the first wave. Ardi’s skeleton is so surprising that “no one could have imagined it without direct fossil evidence”, says Tim White, an anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley, (18) _______ .

Ardi first started to show up in 1992, when scientists found her fossilized teeth in Ethiopia. In 1994, her hand bone was found. For three years after that, scientists worked to remove more of her skeleton, (19) _______. She was believed to be female because she had a relatively small skull and small canine teeth. Between 1981 and 2004, scientists removed other skeletons of other individuals of the same species from the same area. They also removed fossils of other animals and of plants.

White says Ardipithecus looks different from any living primate, so it’s hard to get an idea of Ardi’s appearance by looking at modern primates (20) _______ .

Some scientists have believed that the common ancestor of people and apes resembled a chimpanzee, but Ardi shows that idea may not be true. Ardi’s partial skeleton that scientists have found shows that she could walk upright and easily climb trees and move along branches — traits more easily identified in monkeys or apes. It also shows (21) ______.

“It now seems that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans was much less chimplike than previously thought,” says Alan Walker, (22) ______ .

In Ardi’s teeth, Lovejoy sees the beginning of an evolutionary process that led to human beings. “This is one of the most revealing hominid fossils that I could have imagined,” he says.

Task 5

Read the text below. For questions (23-32) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, or D).

Apartment and Community Smoking Bans Debated

Owners of some apartment buildings are making new rules that prevent people from smoking in their apartments. The apartment owners say the new rules will protect people from smoke that (23) _______   [A, B, C, D] under doors, through cracks, and through heat and air conditioning vents. “People in apartment buildings share walls and ceilings - and air,” they say. “Apartment (24) _______   [A, B, C, D] have the right to breathe clean air.”

Banning smoking in apartments could save building owners money too. Landlords say it can cost thousands of dollars to clean carpets and paint apartments (25) _______   [A, B, C, D] smokers have lived. Going smoke-free can lower the risk of fire and (26) _______   [A, B, C, D] insurance costs too.

“Many people are willing to pay more to live in an apartment building (27) _______   [A, B, C, D] is smoke-free,” added one building owner.

In many communities, some apartment buildings are smoke-free (28) _______   [A, B, C, D] others are not. But one community in California has taken the smoking ban a step farther. In Belmont, California, smoking is (29) _______   [A, B, C, D] the law in any apartment that shares a floor or ceiling with another apartment. People who break the law might face a $100 (30) _______   [A, B, C, D].

Some people think smoking bans and the Belmont law have gone too far. “The government should focus (31) _______   [A, B, C, D] improving our schools and fighting crime instead of sticking their nose into our homes,” they say.

It’s one thing to ban smoking in some apartments, people say. Smokers in those buildings can find another place to live. But banning smoking in all apartments in a community is not right, they add. Even many non-smokers agree. “If they ban smoking in all apartments, then it won't be long (32) _______   [A, B, C, D] they take away other freedoms.”

Task 6

Read the texts below. For questions (33-42) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, or D).

FOUNTAIN PEN MAKES A COMEBACK IN SCOTLAND

Students at one elementary school in Scotland are learning to write in an old-fashioned way. They (33) _______   [A, B, C, D] to write using fountain pens. They use fountain pens to do much of their schoolwork.

When your parents were in school, they probably (34) _______   [A, B, C, D] a few hours each week learning to write (35) _______   [A, B, C, D] . But some teachers say there is little time to teach cursive handwriting today. They must spend more time teaching (36) _______   [A, B, C, D] and maths and getting students ready for tests. Besides, many students use computers to do their class work and homework. They don't write letters; they send e-mails instead.

Students who learn cursive can write (37) _______   [A, B, C, D] than those who print. They do a better job of getting their ideas on paper too. They write more, and students who write more also write better. Kids with good handwriting often feel proud of themselves too.

CARTS GIVE MOBILITY TO DISABLED DOGS

Sometimes animals have disabilities that prevent them from walking. A new (38) _______   [A, B, C, D] — a cart with wheels — has given back mobility to some of those animals.

Three of those carts are being used to help three special Chihuahua puppies (39) _______   [A, B, C, D]. The puppies — Venus, Carmen, and Pablo — were born last spring without front legs. But now they have been fitted at a New York animal shelter with (40) _______   [A, B, C, D] carts. Straps hold the carts in place on the puppies' bodies, and soft padding makes them comfortable for the dogs to wear. Now the puppies can «walk» like other dogs. Shelter workers say the puppies are now «equipped with front-wheel drive».

The puppies use the carts for about ten minutes at a time. As time (41) _______   [A, B, C, D] , they will be able to stay in them longer. When they are not wearing their carts, they get around by hopping on their back legs. Hopping like that can cause stress to their backs, so the carts offer a welcome rest for the puppies' backs.

Venus, Pablo, and Carmen got more than their mobility at the New York shelter. In addition, a worker there (42) _______   [A, B, C, D] all three dogs and given them a good home.

The carts that the three puppies wear were made by a company in Massachusetts. The company was started when its owner built a cart for his own dog. People saw the cart and asked the man to build carts for their pets, too.