1. there has been a gradual in people’s attitudes to the environment over the last two decades or so. a) adaptation b) shift c) variation 2. hemingway’s novel “the old man and the sea” was as a masterpiece when it was first published. a) hurled b) hailed c) hauled 3. when i was thinking of moving to a new town, i settling in the capital because the cost of living there is too high. a) wrote out b) rolled out c) ruled out 4. he is 63; he’s just up for retirement. a) coming b) getting c) turning 5. poker is played by two or ten players, using a standard of 52 cards. a) suit b) pack c) shuffle 6. i’ve been trying for some time to tell her, , to be more considerate but she just doesn’t seem to get the message. a) in a roundabout way b) way around c) own way 7. the penny farthing was the of the modern bicycle. a) precedent b) prerequisite c) precursor 8. after intensive training, basil was able to reach speeds 1 kph. a) to extremes b) in excess of c) over the top 9. arnold was so hungry that he the whole packet of biscuits down in two minutes flat. a) foxed b) wolfed c) pigged 10. my son’s academic performance has undergone a complete since he transferred to the new school. a) alteration b) change c) transformation 11. we were disappointed by the turnout at the meeting. a) bleak b) poor c) heavy 12. i can’t stand the way she’s always , i wish she’d be more positive. a) moaning b) whispering c) stuttering 13. plumbers really get up my . they are always promising to come at a certain time and nine times out of ten they don’t turn up when they’ve promised. a) anger b) fuss c) nose 14. if you carry on shouting like that, you’ll your voice. a) break b) strain c) fade away 15. the two-hour left him exhausted. a) outbreak b) checkout c) workout 16. walking a brisk pace can be a wonderful alternative the two-hour ordeal at the gym. a) in, to b) at, for c) at, to 17. noise must be to a minimum at all times. a) kept b) permitted c) forbidden 18. he’s hoping to put his feet because discipline had broken down. a) around b) up c) on 19. my eldest brother simon is a rather impulsive , he has a to act hastily. a) attitude, sense b) nature, streak c) type, tendency 20. if you take a seat, i’ll be with you a) easily b) hardly c) shortly 21. you have told me you had a dog. it frightened the life out of me when it jumped on me in the middle of the night. a) must b) could c) may 22. i can’t stand polite conversation and pretending myself. a) making, to enjoy b) to make, enjoying c) making, enjoying 23. i give you a hand with the washing-up? a) will b) shall c) would 24. -what after the course? - i’m going back to sweden. a) are you doing b) do you do c) will you do 25. it’s my new vase. you at least apologize for breaking it! a) must b) might c) may

1)  b  2) b 3) c 4) a 5) b 6) a 7) c 8) b 9) c 10) c 11) b 12) a 13) a 14) a 15) c 16) b 17) a 18) b 19) c 20) c 21) b 22) a 23) b 24) a 25) b

The greatest russian poet alexander sergeyevich pushkin was born in moscow on 26 may 1799 and died on 29 january 1837 in st. petersburg. he was not only the poet, but also dramatist, novelist and writer of short stories.величайший поэт александр сергеевич пушкин родился 26 мая 1799 года в москве и умер 29 января 1837 года в санкт-петербурге. он был не только поэтом, но и драматургом, романистом и автором коротких рассказов.the poet’s father came from an aristocratic family; on the mother’s side he had african ancestors. pushkin grew up in a well-educated family. when he was twelve he was sent to school named ‘imperial lyceum of tsarskoye selo’ and soon started to write romantic poems.отец пушкина происходил из аристократической семьи. со стороны матери у пушкина были африканские предки. александр рос в хорошо образованной семье. когда ему исполнилось двенадцать, он был отправлен на обучение в школу, которая называлась «имперским лицеем в царском селе». вскоре после этого он начал писать стихотворения в романтическом направлении.being adult pushkin became politically active person, he supported the decembrist revolt of 1825 and wrote political poems. for that he had to spend in exile six years of his life. being exiled, he wrote about life of simple russian people, about history and traditions of his country.став взрослым, пушкин превратился в политически активную личность, он поддерживал восстание декабристов в 1825 году и писал политические стихотворения. за это он был отправлен в ссылку на шесть лет. находясь в ссылке, он писал о жизни простых людей, об и традициях своей страны.after returning from exile he had to be very careful in his writing and not to say anything bad about the country rulers. but still the works of this period were great.после возвращения из ссылки ему пришлось быть аккуратным в своих произведениях, не допуская ни одного плохого слова о правителях страны. но и при этом условии его работы, относящиеся к периоду после ссылки, были потрясающими.in 1831 he got married and had to spend a lot of his time in society at court. pushkin wrote more and more prose works. in 1837 he was killed in a duel defending his wife’s honor.в 1831 году пушкин женился, ему пришлось проводить много времени в обществе при дворе. он писал все больше работ в прозе. в 1837 году он был убит на дуэли, защищая честь своей жены.the most famous works of alexander pushkin are ‘yevgeny onegin’, ‘boris godunov’, ‘the captain’s daughter’, ‘the queen of spades’, ‘ruslan and ludmila’ and many others.наиболее известные работы александра пушкина – «евгений онегин», «борис годунов», «капитанская дочка», «пиковая », «руслан и людмила» и многие другие.pushkin started the great tradition of russian literature. he wrote his works the way no one else had done before – using the current language, russian language as it was spoken instead of using style of old church books. his style had enormous influence on other russian writers, some of his poems and stories were set to music by russian composers.пушкин начал абсолютно новую традицию в . он писал свои произведения так, как не делал никто до него – используя разговорный язык, язык такой, как он был в быту, вместо использования стиля старых церковных книг. его стиль оказал огромное влияние на других авторов, некоторые его поэмы положены на музыку композиторов.