I. Определите, верны ( True) или неверны ( False) следу ющие утверждения.

1. Amy likes animals more than her father does.

2. Amy had a lot of friends when she was in her teens.

3. James Mitford was very upset when his daughter decided to become an actress.

4. James Mitford is a big television watcher.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. Why didn't Amy talk to her father for days once?

2. What job did Amy take up after she left the theatre group?

3. What was Amy's husband when they got married?

4. Why does James think that his daughter is happy with her husband?

Ml. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. James and his daughter were the closest when she was a teenager.

2. James used to take his daughter to pop music concerts.

№6

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

Amy Mitford: I don't really know my father. He isn't easy to get on with. He's quite self-centred, and a little bit vain, I think, and in some ways quite unapproachable. The public must think he's very easy-going, but at home he keeps himself to himself.

He can't have been at home much when I was a child, because I don't remember much about him. He's always been slightly out of touch with family life. His work always came first, and he was always off somewhere acting or rehearsing. He loves being asked for his autograph, he loves to be recognized. He has won several awards, and he's very " proud of that. He was given the Member of the British Empire, and we had to go to Buckingham Palace to get the medal. It was incredibly boring — there were hundreds of other people getting the same thing, and you had to sit there for hours. He shows off his awards to whoever comes to the house.

I went to public school, and because of my total lack of interest and non-attendance I was asked to leave. I didn't want to go there in the first place. I was taken away from all my friends. He must have been very pleased to get me into the school, but in the end it was a complete waste of money. I let him down quite badly, I suppose. I tried several jobs but I couldn't settle down in them. They just weren't challenging enough. Then I realized that what I really wanted to do was live in the country and look after animals, so that's what I now do.

As a family, we're not that close, either emotionally or geographically. We don't see much of each other these days. My father and I are totally different, like chalk and cheese. My interests have always been the country, but he's into books, music and above all, opera, which I hate. If they do come to see us, they're in completely the wrong clothes for the country — mink coats, nice little leather shoes, not exactly ideal for long walks across the fields.

He was totally opposed to me getting married. He was hoping we would break up. Gerald's too humble, I suppose. He must have wanted me to marry someone famous, but I didn't, and that's all there is to it. We don't want children, but my father keeps on and on talking about wanting grandchildren. You can't make someone have children just because you want grandchildren.

I never watch him on television. I'm not that interested, and anyway he usually forgets to tell me when he's on.

Test № 6

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) следую­щие утверждения.

1. Amy is very proud of her father's awards.

2. Amy had always dreamt of going to public school.

3. Amy is fond of animals most of all.

4. Amy's parents are not used to country life.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What does Amy think of her father as a person?

2. Why doesn't Amy remember much about her father?

3. Why does Amy feel guilty about her father sometimes?

4. Why was Amy's father against her getting married?

III. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. Amy's father always tells her when he's on TV.

2. Amy's interests have always been music and above all, opera.

№7

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

Nowadays the number of crimes involving violence is growing in Sweden as well as many other countries. The main cause of this development is undoubtedly the use of drags especially in larger cities. The higher rate of unemployment and growing racism are significant reasons too. Meaningless murders and assaults' are the frightening results. One can, as a consequence, see how people not only in countries like the United States, but also in countries like Sweden, arm themselves with weapons for protection, but violence breeds violence.

It is often claimed that an efficient way to lower the number of acts ol violence is to have more severe sentences². However, people who commit these crimes often have serious social and psychological problems. Many of them may therefore be indifferent to how severe the sentences are. Besides, these criminals do not think that they will ever get caught. Because of these reasons I doubt that acts of violence in Sweden would decrease if our government was to make the sentences for this type of crime more severe. A common measure to reduce the acts of violence is to increase the num­ber of policemen patrolling the streets. Although this is a good way of preventing acts of violence, it will not actually stop people from becoming criminals.

I am convinced that it is impossible to erase³ the violence related criminality completely, but there is a way in which I think it can be reduced considerably. Children should be informed about crimes related to violence and drugs. This information should be given in kindergarten as well as in elementary school Furthermore, it should especially reach those children who live in areas with high crime rates. The information should take the form of a discussion, not a lecture, led by some expert, preferably a local police officer.

Hopefully, the children would then at an early age already have some understanding of these problems that would be valuable to them for the rest of their lives. Although the costs for such a project would be considerable, the benefits would be great. It would certainly prevent many from becoming violent criminals in the future.

¹ assault —нападение

² sentence — приговор, наказание

³ to erase — уничтожать, ликвидировать

Test № 7

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) следу­ющие утверждения.

1. The author doesn' t know the reasons for the growth of violence related crimes.

2. The acts of violence cannot be reduced by violence.

3. Many criminals don't care about the possible punishment.

4. The author thinks that the real problem is the high cost of increasing the number of policemen in the streets.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What do many people in different countries do to protect themselves?

2. What is often regarded as an efficient way to lower the rate of violence in a state?

3. What can erase violence related crimes completely?

4. Why is educating people important?

III. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. Information about acts of violence should be given in kindergarten as well as in high school and colleges.

2. The information should take the form of a discussion preferably led by the headmaster.

№8

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

My Great Aunt's name is Mary Grieve. She is my grandmother's aunt. I do not know her very well having always lived a long way away, but she has always been a woman I have respected for many different reasons.

She is now over eighty years old and was born in Scotland in 1912. She had one brother called Tom. Her family was wealthy for those times and luckily for Mary, her father believed in educating both his children. He did not send her to one of the typical schools for daughters of the rich where they only learnt skills preparing them for marriage. She was obviously intelligent and when she left school she went to Oxford University.

In the 1930's there were very few women at University. However

Mary is not a quiet, submissive woman, in fact she has always been very

determined and prepared to be different. At this time it was assumed

that woman of her class would spend a few years enjoying her freedom

, and then settle down and get married. Mary did not do this.

After graduating from the university, she got a job in journalism. Newspapers were increasingly popular and to sell them to a wider audience some papers realised that appealing to women was important. She not only worked for newspapers but also wrote articles and books later in her life.

After the Second World War, she got a job with one of the new women's magazines that were to become more and more popular. After many years of hard work and struggling in a male dominated profession she eventually reached the top and became the editor of the magazine.

Mary never married as her work was very important to her and a job and marriage did not mix in Britain in the 1950's.

She is now old in years and confined to a wheelchair. However she is still full of enthusiasm about life. Her personal courage, her enthusiasm and interest in life, as well as the example she has set for all women working in our still male dominated society, makes Mary a woman I feel privileged to have known.

Test № 8

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) следую­щие утверждения.

1. The story was written in the 1980s.

2. Mary got an education typical of the women of her class.

3. Mary stayed in her profession all her life.

4. There have always been more male magazine-editors in Britain than female.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. Why doesn't the narrator know her Great Aunt very well?

2. What kind of job did Mary get after graduating from the university?

3. Why did Mary never marry?

4. What always impressed the narrator in her Great Aunt?

III. Исправьте предложения в соответствии с содержани­ем текста.

1. Women magazines began to be popular in Britain in the 1930s.

2. Mary is now old in years and has lost interest in life.

№9

Прочитайте текст два раза и выполните следующие задания.

The setting is every child's dream. A huge, rambling, 300-year-old house, warmed by log fires, overrun by pets, and set in acres of natural playground. And no school.

That is what makes the Kirkbride household so rare. James, 18, Tamara, 15, Tigger, 14, and Hoppy, 10, have spent the last four years doing what other children only enjoy at weekends and holidays.

They get up when they feel like it, breakfast at leisure, and spend the rest of the day doing what they want. They walk, swim, fish, paint, read, play musical instruments, cook or sit around and chat.

There has been no attempt at having any lessons since John and Melinda Kirkbride took their children out of the local school — James five years ago and the others a year later. Hoppy had been there only six days. «We did start with a sort of curriculum when we took James out», says John, 46, a large forceful man. «But we soon realised we were repeating the mistakes of the system.»

«From the beginning, we both felt that packing our children off to school was wrong», says Melinda, a German-bom former actress. «Seeing their unhappiness made us re-examine our own school years, and remember how destructive they were.» John, formerly a TV producer, began a teachers' training course in Norwich, «to see if I could reform from within.» He soon found he couldn't and, after completing the course and teaching for four months, he removed himself and his children, from the system.

If the personalities of the children were the only criteria, the experiment would be an undoubted success. They are intelligent, confident, capable and considerate. All, including the two boys, cook and sew. Chores are shared without arguments. Their friendliness to each other, and to the many guests who visit the house, is natural and unforced.

«Teach is a swear word in this house,» says John. «It destroys the

child's own natural talent and creativity. Now learning—that's a different

matter. All our children learn when and if they want to learn something.

They look it up in books or they go and ask someone who knows, they

. use their initiative — which is more than any school could teach them.»

Test № 9

I. Определите, верны (True) или неверны (False) следую щие утверждения.                                                                '

1. The Kirkbride household is typical of the east coast of Britain.

2. None of Melinda and John's children have ever attended school.

3. John and his wife do not accept the traditional school system.

4. The parents don't make any of their children learn anything.

II. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. How many children do the Kirkbrides have?

2. What kind of house do the Kirkbrides live in?

3. What is the Kirkbrides children's daily routine?

4. What are the children's personalities like?