The First International English
Language Contest
Ulyanovsk, 2013
Form: 9
the 1st Stage of the Contest
Part I. Reading
Task 1. Read the text below. Match the headings A-H to the paragraphs 1-6. There are two extra headings
that you do not need to use.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Bionic Eyes
Close your eyes and live longer
Eat me, cure me
Eat more fish
Gym Pill
How far can you walk?
Love can help your heart.
New cure for sleeplessness
1)
_________________________________
A short nap after lunch may reduce your chances of suffering a heart attack. In a medical study in
Greece, people who took a half-hour siesta at least three times a week were thirty-seven per cent
less likely to die from heart-related illnesses. For working men, the result was even more dramatic:
a sixty-four per cent reduction. The explanation could be that siestas reduce stress, one of the
most common causes of heart disease.
2)
__________________________________
There is a new treatment for skin conditions: a hot bath with hundreds of tiny toothless fish.
‘Doctor fish’ from Turkey eat dead and diseased cells, treating the symptoms of various illnesses of
the skin. It does not hurt and the only side-effects may be some slight bleeding. Unfortunately, it is
not a permanent cure. The results last only a few months.
3)
__________________________________
A study into the effects of hugging has shown that hugs lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of
heart disease, and generally improve your health. People in loving relationships benefit more from
hugs. And women benefit more than men. During the study, thirty-eight American couples had to
talk about a happy time, watch a romantic movie, and hug for twenty seconds.
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Form: 9
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4)
__________________________________
Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the UK. In response to this, the British Government is to
give 45000 free pedometers to thousands of overweight children to help them become fitter. It is
hoped that pedometers, which count the steps your take, will encourage the children to take more
exercise and lose weight. In trials, the average number of steps taken by children rose from 8355
to 13939 per day.
5)
___________________________________
A new drug that turns on a gene which burns body fat could lead to a new medicine that imitates
physical exercise, allowing you to become thinner without effort. Mice on the drug lost weight
even though they did no exercise and ate a high-fat diet. The aim is to create a medicine for people
suffering from obesity, rather than a pill which lets you eat too much while staying thin.
6)
___________________________________
Millions of blind people could regain their sight thanks to a new invention being tested in the USA.
A tiny camera which sits on a pair of glasses sends optical information to electrodes in the eye.
This happens in real time, allowing patients to distinguish lights, shapes and movements. It could
be available within two years.
Task 2. Read the following text. Some phrases have been removed from the text.
Match the phrases A-G to the gaps 1-6. There’s one extra phrase that you do not need to use.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
giving up his life of crime
becoming a mechanic
thinking that he was going to die
leaving the car unlocked in front of the garage
because its brakes needed changing
things always seem to go wrong
get a proper job
BAD LUCK FOR A CAR THIEF
Some people are born lucky. For others, 1) ____________. Take the story of Ben, a car thief
from Kingston. He had never had much luck and he was wondering whether he should 2)
__________. He liked cars and thought that he might enjoy working as a car mechanic.
One day, he was watching a mechanic in a garage and was just about to cross the road and
ask about work when something happened. The mechanic went to the toilet 3)
_____________! Ben saw that the keys were inside. He ran across the road, got in,
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switched on the engine and drove away smiling. He realized that he hadn’t really been
serious about 4) ___________, because it was the only way of life for him.
The first time he realized that something was wrong was at a set of red traffic lights. He put
his foot on the brake to stop the car, but nothing happened. He tried again, but the car did
not slow down even a bit. He suddenly realized what was wrong. The car had been at the
garage 5) ___________. The mechanic had taken the old ones out but he hadn’t put the
new ones in yet! Ben closed his eyes, 6) __________. He felt the impact of the collision with
another car. When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was unhurt. He was just starting
to think that he was lucky after all when he saw the car he had crashed into. It was a police
car with two angry policemen inside! Ben got arrested for stealing a car and fined for
causing a traffic accident. In the future he will think twice before he breaks the law again!
Task 3. Read the following text. For questions 1-5 choose the correct answer A-D.
MY SECRET DIARY
Last night I dreamt…
… of the future. There was a map of the world, but the countries looked different. The land
had shrunk and the sea had grown. Britain was smaller, and so was France. And Holland had
disappeared.
In my dream I could fly, and I saw that the land that had been green was now brown. The
snow had melted long ago from the black mountain tops. A drought had left the earth dry
and thirsty. The forest had become a desert.
Near a village, there was a man, thin and silent, trying to grow plants in the dead soil. The
heat was tremendous. I could hardly breathe. Then suddenly, a tornado came. Raindrops
hit my face, the air was humid and heavy. A flood rushed down the valley towards the man
and his village.
The storm carried me across an angry ocean and I came to a strange city without streets.
Canals ran between high buildings. There was a statue of a giant woman, a torch above her
head, water up to her knees.
Needing to rest, I flew into a building, a library. A woman was reading. ‘You want to know
what happened’, she said. I nodded. Her voice was dry and quiet like dead leaves.
‘You knew about global warming, you knew it was real. You knew about the greenhouse
effect and acid rain and what air pollution was doing to the environment. But you didn’t
care’.
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‘Some people tried. They warned you what would happen if you didn’t protect your planet.
They said, ‘stop burning petrol, save energy, consume less, recycle, use solar energy, use
wind power…’ But you wouldn’t change your lifestyle: your car exhaust fumes, your cheap
flights, your polluting factories, your carbon dioxide’.
‘And the climate changed and the temperatures rose, and the glaciers and the polar ice
caps melted. Seas covered your islands and coastal towns. There were hurricanes and
floods and forest fires. Innumerable species died out. First polar bears became extinct, and
then bees. And now you are alone with the rats and the cockroaches. And there are too
many refugees, and not enough food or water, and you’re just fighting for survival’.
She touched my face with her warm dry fingers and I woke from my dream.
But it wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare.
Questions
1) The writer dreamt of a world where
A the shape of the continents had changed.
B some countries had lost their independence.
C there had been a war.
D Britain did not exist any more.
2) Flying above the earth, the writer saw the effects of
A floods.
B hurricanes.
C an increasingly hot climate.
D a volcanic eruption.
3) She saw the devastating effect of the change on
A industry.
B agriculture.
C travel.
D animals.
4) The city had been
A burnt.
B destroyed by a tornado.
C destroyed by a nuclear bomb.
D flooded.
5) The woman told the writer
A to stop burning petrol.
B to change her lifestyle.
C that the situation was also her fault.
D that worse things were going to happen.
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Part II. Use of English
Task 1. Read the following text. Use the words in brackets to form one word for each gap 1-9.
SUBWAY MUSIC IN WASHINGTON DC
Most of us who live in a city know what it means to spend 30 minutes in the subway 1)
______________ (rush) through corridors and then trying to get into terribly 2)
______________ (crowd) trains. Well, this guy and this morning were 3)
________________ (difference). He stopped at one of the entrances to the station and
played six 4) _____________ (beauty) Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. Three minutes
after he started, a man noticed him and stopped for a few seconds. A minute later the 5)
___________________ (music) received his first one dollar tip. The person who was most 6)
___________________ (interest) was a 3-year-old boy, who really wanted to listen. His
mother didn’t let him stay very long, either.
In the 45 minutes, 1097 people passed by and only six stopped. The 7) _________________
(violin) collected 32 dollars. When he finished playing, nobody noticed and nobody knew
that he was Joshua Bell, one of the best soloists in the world. He was playing a violin worth
3.5 million dollars and had played in a concert two days before where people paid an
average of 100 dollars for their seats.
The aim of this real-life experiment was twofold. Can we notice beauty in an everyday place
and at a rather 8) __________________ (usual) hour? Do we recognize genius in an 9)
___________________ (expect) situation? And the most troubling question of all: if we
miss Joshua Bell playing Bach just because we are not in Carnegie Hall, how many other
things do we miss?
Task 2. Read the text. For gaps 1-10 choose the correct option A-D
YORKSVILLE
I grew up in a small town called Yorksville, just outside of Boston. It is one of those average
places you sometimes see in the movies: a bit dull but quiet and peaceful at the same time.
I clearly remember the people 1) _____ lived in my street – the nicest folks you can
imagine.
I had a lot of friends there and I enjoyed 2) _____ with them after school. With my best
friend Tom, we would read comics all the time and secretly listen 3) ____ CDs from my
dad’s collection.
I was never much of an athlete. I mean, I tried to 4) _____ some exercise at least once a
week to keep fit. I started jogging but I was too lazy and gave it up in the end. Besides,
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Yorksville 5) ______ be very windy in winter, and jogging in this kind of weather is no
pleasure at all, believe me.
We 6) ______living in a small flat when my brother was born. We all needed more space, so
my parents decided to move to 7) ____ detached house. My father found a great place in
the suburbs, and decided to buy it even 8) ____ it was in poor condition. He renovated the
house with the help of his friends and made it look as good as new. I remember very well
the day we moved in because I had broken 9) _____ with Amy, my girlfriend, the day
before.
My parents still live there – the town has got bigger and it is quite busy right now. A few
modern housing estates have been built over the years and a new shopping mall 10)
_____opened last month, so Yorksville is no longer the quiet town it used to be.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
who
playing
on
make
should
had
Ø
though
down
had
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
what
play
Ø
making
can
was
the
despite
up
been
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
which
to play
to
do
must
were
a
however
away
was
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
whom
to playing
from
doing
ought to
been
an
but
round
is
Task 3. Complete the gaps using the correct form of the verb.
Leonardo 1) _______________ (be born) in 1452 and 2) _______________ (die) in 1519.
This was during the time that we now 3) _______________ (call) the Renaissance. The word
‘Renaissance’ 4) _______ (be) French and 5) _______________ (mean) ‘rebirth’.
Renaissance 6)______ first ________ (use) to describe this time in history, and especially
Italian history, in the nineteenth century. But the idea of the Renaissance began in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
I first 7) __________ (meet) Milo in June, in the summer of 2008. My younger brother, Tom,
8) ______________ (stay) with me at the time. He was fourteen and 9) ____________
(study) for a special exam. But Tom 10)_____________ (not like) studying, and he spent
most of his time out on his bicycle or fishing with friends.
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Part III. Functional Language
Task 1. Match sentences 1-10 with responses A-K
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
Sorry I’m late. I got stuck in traffic.
Bye, Mum! I’m off to school now.
Have you heard that Jenny’s going out with Pete?
How long did it take you to do the homework?
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of this weather.
Who was that I saw you with last night?
I’m tired. I’m taking next week off.
Let’s go for a run in the park!
Can we get together this afternoon at 3.00?
What a gorgeous coat! Was it expensive?
That sounds like a good idea. The break will do you good.
So am I. I can’t stand all this rain.
Never mind. You’re here now. Come in and sit down.
Ages! How about you?
Yes, it cost a fortune!
Really? I don’t know what she sees in him!
I’m sorry. I can’t make it then. What about a bit later?
Take care, my love. Have a nice day!
Me? Run? You must be joking!
Mind your own business!
1) _____ 2) _____ 3) _____ 4) _____ 5) _____ 6) _____ 7) _____ 8) _____ 9) _____ 10) _____
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