The 1st round 2016 Kyiv city tasks / Завдання І туру ІІІ (міського) етапу Всеукраїнської учнівської 2016

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

READING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 9TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this Test you will read five texts. Each text is followed by 8 – 15 tasks. You should do the tasks following a text on the basis of what is stated or implied in that text. For each task you will choose the best possible answer and mark your choice on the Answer Sheet.

TEXT 1

Read the text below to decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect. If it is correct, mark T. If it is not correct, mark F.

TV REVIEWS

Brat Camp returns as a brand new group of teenage girls, who are having problems at home, experience life in a camp in the Arizona desert. In this series, their mothers come with them to try to mend their broken relationships with their daughters.

Both mother and daughter receive a form of therapy called Anasazi, an approach that uses peace, love and understanding rather than strict rules and hard work.

Each week the programme concentrates on just one family, following their story from the moment they leave the UK to the time they return.

Will Anasazi’s focus on spiritual health and independence have a positive effect? Can Dr Fred Dodini change the parenting habits of these desperate mothers and the behaviour of their difficult teenage daughters? Watch and find out.

The Arbinger Institute, whose philosophy and material are used as the basis of the Anasazi programme shown in ‘Brat Camp’, run free events. Their best-selling book, ‘The Anatomy of Peace’, tells the story of a family at the camp of Arizona.

The World’s Strictest Parents. The World’s Strictest Parents send British teenagers to different countries around the world to live with strict families. This is an experiment to see if being strict is the right way to bring up a child and to find out whether strict parenting can change the relationship that problem teenagers have with their own parents.

The teenagers, aged between sixteen and nineteen, spend up to two weeks experiencing life with a family from a totally different culture. They can be sent anywhere from Jamaica to Jaipur and are expected to live under the strict rules of their host family, exactly as if they were the family’s own child, and do as the host family’s children do, both at school and at home.

Getting these teenagers to respect the rules isn’t easy. But time away from home gives the teenagers an opportunity to compare their way of life to see the value of having some order and discipline in their lives. From culture shock to self-discovery, these teenagers experience for the first time what it’s like to live with strict parents – and to understand the benefits.

1. This is the first series of Brat Camp.

2. The aim of the series is to help mothers and daughters to get on better.

3. Mothers and daughters are dealt with kindly at the camp.

4. Each programme in the series shows the progress all the mothers and daughters are making.

5. It is possible to receive a copy of ‘The Anatomy of Peace’ for free.

6. In The World’s Strictest Parents, the teenagers are all from the same country.

7. The programme wants to prove that being strict is the best way to be a parent.

8. The teen agers stay with more than one host family.

9. The teen agers attend school while they are staying with the family.

10. During their stay with the host families, the teenagers learn why having rules is important.

Cambridge University Press, 2015

TEXT 2

Read the text below and choose the correct word for each space. For each question, mark the correct letter A, B, C or D.

PLANNING YOUR TIME

Life in the modern world is very busy for almost everybody and we all need to plan our time carefully. Possibly the best way to do this is to write a weekly ‘to-do’ list.

The best time to write your list is (1) …… the weekend. Go somewhere quiet and think about all the things you must do in the (2) …… week. Put them into two groups: first, those you can do any time, such as going to the hairdresser or (3) …… your room. Then think about more (4) …… things, like getting a present for your girlfriend or boyfriend, (5) …… if it’s their birthday on Monday!

Decide which things you will do (6) …… which day of the week. Very long lists are not a good idea; it’s much better to choose just a (7) …… jobs for Monday and a similar number for the other days of the week.

Early each morning, look at your list. You need to have a plan for the day, (8) …… decide what order you will do everything in. When you finish a job, put a line through it. You might not complete all your jobs (9) …… day. If it’s really impossible to finish doing something, you can add it to your list for the next day, but (10) …… sure you do it first!

1 A in B by C for D at
2 A later B another C further D following
3 A placing B putting C tidying D ordering
4 A urgent B quick C sudden D actual
5 A firstly B mainly C generally D especially
6 A of B on C about D over
7 A few B couple C lot D little
8 A since B because C so D though
9 A some B every C both D any
10 A do B take C make D get

Cambridge University Press, 2015

TEXT 3

Read the text and fill in the word that best fits each gap. Use only ONE WORD in each gap.

THE ETIQUETTE OF E-MAIL

Just as telephones created new ways of communicating, e-mail is introducing conventions of its own. E-mail is just text, and (1) …… else. There (2) …… no hand-writing to show personality or perfumed stationary to make the recipient ware that it is a love letter. The speed of the service and the ability to quote a message easily and respond (3) …… it line by line give the feel of a conversation. However, the process of sitting in front of a computer writing and editing a message for spelling or grammatical errors (4) …… many letter-like qualities.

E-mail (5) …… the sender to avoid showing how she feels through things (6) …… tone of voice, facial expressions and body language. It has also (7) …… shown that people are more honest about negative information over e-mail (8) …… over the telephone. In some situations, that can (9) …… good, because you get straight down to business without wasting time on preliminaries. In more volatile situations, however, people often (10) …… e-mail disagreements very much to heart because the fact that they can’t hear the other person’s voice or see their face (11) …… it more difficult to feel sympathetic towards them. (12) …… problem is that when people try to come to an agreement electronically, they find (13) …… more difficult to pay attention to other people’s point of view. In a face-to-face group meeting, people pay attention to the person speaking, and when that person has finished, their very presents in the room remains (14) …… a reminder of their point of view, whereas (15) …… such reminder exists in an e-mail conversation.

TEXT 4

Read the text. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

The operation took place at the hospital in California. Dr Percival, the surgeon, thought it went well, but Kathy would need to rest in bed for three weeks with a bandage over her eyes.

In those weeks Kathy had plenty of time to think about what she had done. There were moments of doubt, almost panic, when she asked herself if she had done the right thing. She thought she had long since put away the foolish hopes for sight she had once held as a girl. Yet here she was, hoping like a girl again. She felt afraid, yes, but also excited at the thought of entering a world that would be totally unfamiliar to her, a world where she could see. It would be like being born a second time.

She wondered what colour would be like. Although it was a word she had often used and heard before, she had never experienced colour. She just could not picture it in her mind, no matter how hard she tried. Kathy gave up trying and waited patiently for the day her bandages would be removed.

The day came. Dr Percival closed all the curtains in Kathy’s room so that the light was low. He turned to her and spoke.

‘Now, Kathy, we have to take thing slowly. Even if thing go well, you won’t have full eyesight to begin with. First of all, let’s see if your eyes are recognising light. We’re going to take the bandage off and hold a light in front of your eye. Are you ready?’

Kathy nodded.

Dr Percival held a small light in front of her eyes as a nurse slowly and carefully removed her bandage. Then Kathy sat up with her eyes still closed. Slowly she opened them stared at the light. Quickly, she turned her face away. ‘Ow! What was that? It felt strange – there’s something there, trying to get into my head!’

Dr Percival told the nurse to replace the bandages and then turned to Kathy. ‘Kathy,’ he said with obvious delight, ‘that “something” is light! You’ve seen light for the first time! Congratulations – you can see!’

Kathy felt confused. ‘But … I thought there would be more to it than this … I mean … I mean … Oh, I don’t know what I mean!’

‘Don’t worry, Kathy,’ he said as he smiled. ‘All you saw then was pure light. It will take time for your eyes to get used to seeing colours and shapes. Your brain has to do a lot of sorting out of new information that it has never had to deal with before. It’s bound to take a little while. The main thing is that you can see!’

‘I can see,’ said Kathy softly. And underneath her bandages she was crying.

Over the next few weeks Kathy was progressively allowed to use her eyes more often. Soon she could tell dark from light, then she could recognise colours and shapes. But, for a while, she found it very difficult to deal with the huge amounts of extra information that her new sense was giving her every day. It was particularly hard to tell the difference between near and far objects. She would reach out for those across the room as if they were near to her, or she would walk into close objects without realising how close they were.

But Dr Percival was patient. Kathy was taken on walks around the hospital gardens, taken for drives in the car, and shown films and television programmes. Her eyes were gently exercised until they worked well.

‘In fact, Kathy,’ Dr Percival told her, ‘your eyes are better than mine are. I need glasses and you don’t!’

What Kathy liked most was seeing the pleasing effects shapes and colours produced. She would see ordinary things as objects of great beauty – the black and white squares on a chess board, the shape of a hand, the colours of a flower. Sounds, for the first time in her life, took second place. Colours and shapes now filled her mind with pleasure beyond her powers to describe.

1. How did Kathy feel during the three weeks after her operation?

A She had the impression she had been born again.

B She was looking forward to new experiences.

C She wished that she had not had the operation.

D She was glad that she was still a young girl.

2. What did Kathy do when the nurse took her bandage off?

A She changed her position in bed.

B She told the doctor she wasn’t ready.

C She looked at the light from the windows.

D She immediately opened her eyes.

3. What was Kathy’s first reaction to seeing the light?

A She felt it was much as she had expected.

B She was disappointed it went out so quickly.

C She found it an uncomfortable experience.

D She was delighted she could see so much.

4. What did Dr Percival say about Kathy’s mental ability to adapt to the changes?

A It definitely won’t happen straight away.

B It has already happened to some extent.

C It doesn’t really matter whether it happens or not.

D There is a chance it may never actually happen.

5. What was Kathy’s biggest problem once she could see?

A She could not understand everything the doctor told her.

B She found it difficult to judge the distance of things.

C She quickly became tired as a result of looking at everything.

D She was unable to distinguish between certain colours.

6. To help improve her eyesight,

A the hospital staff filmed Kathy’s progress.

B Kathy had a second, smaller operation.

C Kathy went outside with the hospital staff.

D the nurse put lighter bandages over Kathy’s eyes.

7. Why did Dr Percival mention his glasses?

A to persuade Kathy to stop wearing her own glasses.

B to suggest that Kathy’s operation had not been entirely necessary.

C to complain that Kathy had received better treatment than him.

D to give Kathy more confidence in her ability to see.

8. How did Kathy’s life change during the text?

A She felt that she was gradually becoming much more confident as a person.

B She began to enjoy what she had previously not even been able to imagine.

C She found that seeing and hearing were now equally important to her.

D She came to realise that there would always be limits to what she could see.

Cambridge University Press, 2015

TEXT 5

You are going to read a magazine article about four people who have become famous in their country. For questions 1-15, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order.

A. Soap actor Rachita Patel began her career in theatre. ‘I was quite happy playing to appreciative audience, no matter how small, and it never occurred to me that one day I might be quite well known. It happened gradually as the series grow in popularity, and I must admit I’d miss being in the public eye if it all suddenly came to an end. I’ve made good friends on this show, though one or two of those I work with clearly believe they’re in a world where nobody can be trusted, that everyone’s talking behind their back. Maybe it’s understandable if they’ve been given a bad time by the press, with reporters pushing cameras and microphones in their face and shouting really nasty personal questions at them. But they’re big stars, and I’m happy as I am. People sometimes recognise me when I’m in the street or at a nightclub, and if they do they might smile or even say something nice, but other times nobody gives me a second glance, and that suits me fine, too.

B. Jake Mackenzie hit the country’s headlines as a teenager when he disappeared while sailing a small boat in the Pacific. After a three-week air and sea search, he was eventually found safe and well on a tiny remote island, and instant fame followed. He became a regular guest on TV chat shows and his agent sold the film rights to his story for a considerable sum. ‘It’d always been my dream to be famous,’ said Jake, ‘though I never imagined it’d happen this way.’ Whatever the reason for it, he’s certainly enjoying it: ‘I’m meeting some big stars, and I’m doing worthwhile things, too. Such as giving survival tips on TV, which one day might help someone in the situation I was in.’ The only disadvantage, he says, is when he’s in hotels or taxis: ‘I have to leave extra-large tips in case they recognise me. If not, the next thing I know is that some tabloid will be calling me “mean”, or worse.’

C. ‘Winning that gold medal,’ says ice-skater Elka Kaminski, ‘changed my life. Being invited on TV shows and interviewed by the press was a dream come true, though back then I was totally inexperienced and I now regret one or two of the comments I made to them. But I learned quickly and although it would be nice to be on the front pages all the time. I’m not going to start doing the crazy things some celebs get up to, like getting themselves arrested, to hit the headlines. Actually, most of the big stars are quite pleasant people, though there are one or two who show off and look down on everyone else. Funnily enough, they tend to be the ones who’ve achieved nothing in particular, they’re just “famous for being famous”. I’d like to think my success in skating might inspire other kids from poor backgrounds like mine, though I was initially uncomfortable with the idea of being a role model. But in the end I got used to the idea and I quite like it now.’

D. Singer Marcos Carvalho still enjoys performing, though he’s convinced he should have remained an unknown in a small town. ‘It’s a pity, I didn’t realise sooner that I’m not the sort of person who’s comfortable with publicity. I mean, the press will always find out every personal detail about you. I know they’re only doing their job, but the reality is there’s no privacy at all. On the other hand, some of the stars I’ve met seem to be under the impression they’re so special they have a right, even a duty, to speak out on any topic no matter how little they may actually know about it. Having said that, I wouldn’t want to put anyone off the idea of making a name for themselves, because I’m sure for the vast majority it’d be tremendously exciting. It also usually means not having to worry about where your next pay cheque is coming from any more.’

Which person

1 sometimes finds that being a celebrity can be expensive?

2 has no intension of behaving badly in order to become more famous?

3 regrets becoming famous?

4 suggests the media can be too aggressive with celebrities?

5 at first found it hard to accept they should set an example for young people?

6 is pleased that their experience enables them to advise other people?

7 says that most people would enjoy being celebrities?

8 says it had never been their ambition to become a celebrity?

9 believes it is impossible for celebrities to keep anything secret from the media?

10 says they would not wish to be any more famous than they already are?

11 suddenly became nationally famous in an unexpected way?

12/13 accuses some celebrities of thinking they are more important than other people?

14 says that some famous people are suspicious of other celebrities?

15 wishes they hadn’t said some things in public?

Cambridge University Press, 2015

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

WRITING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 9TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will select from three writing tasks. Choose the one that you feel you are most capable to write about. You will then begin writing your essay on the pages provided. When you are finished close your papers, lay down your pen and wait for us to collect your test materials.

1. Some people believe that competitive sports are bad for children, and that sports should be played without keeping score. Do you agree with this belief? Do competitive sports cause some children to be popular and others disliked? Do competitive sports encourage cheating or aggressive behavior?

2. Some educators argue that every child in every school should have access to computers. Others believe that the value of computers in the classroom is overrated and that computers may actually interfere with the learning process. Which point of view do you agree with? Why? How important are computers in the classroom? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having computers in schools?

3. Woodrow Wilson once said, “Friendship is the only cement that will hold the world together.” Do you agree? Why or why not? How can this be applied to global politics? How can this be applied to your personal life?

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 9TH FORM STUDENTS

From Istanbul: Memories of a City by Orhan Pamuk

Here we come to the heart of the matter: I've never left Istanbul—never left the houses, streets and neighbourhoods of my childhood. Although I've lived in other districts from time to time, fifty years on I find myself back in the Pamuk Apartments, where my first photographs were taken and where my mother first held me in her arms to show me the world. I know this persistence owes something to my imaginary friend, and to the solace I took from the bond between us. But we live in an age defined by mass migration and creative immigrants, and so I am sometimes hard-pressed to explain why I've stayed not only in the same place, but the same building. My mother's sorrowful voice comes back to me, “Why don't you go outside for a while, why don't you try a change of scene, do some travelling ...?”

Conrad, Nabokov, Naipaul—these are writers known for having managed to migrate between languages, cultures, countries, continents, even civilisations. Their imaginations were fed by exile, a nourishment drawn not through roots but through rootlessness; mine, however, requires that I stay in the same city, on the same street, in the same house, gazing at the same view. Istanbul's fate is my fate: I am attached to this city because it has made me who I am.

Flaubert, who visited Istanbul a hundred and two years before my birth, was struck by the variety of life in its teeming streets; in one of his letters he predicted that in a century's time it would be the capital of the world. The reverse came true: after the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the world almost forgot that Istanbul existed. The city into which I was born was poorer, shabbier, and more isolated than it had ever been in its two-thousand-year history. For me it has always been a city of ruins and of end-of-empire melancholy. I've spent my life either battling with this melancholy, or (like all Istanbullus) making it my own.

At least once in a lifetime, self-reflection leads us to examine the circumstances of our birth. Why were we born in this particular corner of the world, on this particular date? These families into which we were born, these countries and cities to which the lottery of life has assigned us—they expect love from us, and in the end, we do love them, from the bottom of our hearts—but did we perhaps deserve better? I sometimes think myself unlucky to have been born in an aging and impoverished city buried under the ashes of a ruined empire. But a voice inside me always insists this was really a piece of luck. If it were a matter of wealth, then I could certainly count myself fortunate to have been born into an affluent family at a time when the city was at its lowest ebb (though some have ably argued the contrary). Mostly I am disinclined to complain: I've accepted the city into which I was born in the same way I've accepted my body (much as I would have preferred to be more handsome and better built). This is my fate, and there's no sense arguing with it. This book is about fate...

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 9TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will carefully listen to a text read aloud twice. The text is followed by 10 true/false statements and 10 multiple-choice questions. You should do the first 10 tasks following the first reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. The text will be read a second time and you should do tasks 11 through 20 following the second reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text.

TEXT

ISTANBUL: MEMORIES OF A CITY

Listen to an extract from the text ‘ Istanbul: Memories of a City’ by Orhan Pamuk.

On your answer sheet put T if the statement is true, F if it is false.

1. Pamuk first visited Pamuk Apartments late in life when he was old.

2. Part of the reason he stayed was a make-believe friend.

3. He now lives in the same city, but not the same district.

4. Pamuk describes the basis of Conrad and Nabokov’s stories as being rootless.

5. He says that his own stories are much like these other famous authors’.

6. Flaubert correctly predicted that Istanbul would flourish.

7. The Istanbul in which Pamuk was born was the worst that it had ever been.

8. Pamuk says that he has spent his whole life only working against the city.

9. Pamuk knows that he was very unlucky to be born in Istanbul.

10. He realizes that he cannot change who he is.

For questions 11-20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D).

11. Pamuk’s imaginary friend…

A. was one reason he wanted to leave Istanbul.

B. made him happier.

C. has comforted him.

D. made him lose other friends.

12. After fifty years Orhan Pamuk…

A. has always lived in the same district of Istanbul.

B. has learned about all of the other districts.

C. finally saw photographs of his first apartment.

D. moved back into his first apartment.

13. In the text “hard-pressed” means that…

A. he is reluctant.

B. he is having a difficult time.

C. he is sad.

D. he is always eager.

14. Pamuk is creatively connected to Istanbul because…

A. it has made him who he is.

B. it has changed him.

C. he has watched the city change.

D. he has learned about other cultures too.

15. Unlike Conrad and other authors, Pamuk’s work was not inspired by…

A. culture.

B. his city.

C. rootlessness.

D. people.

16. Flaubert visited Istanbul and…

A. hated the number of people there.

B. thought it was shabby and dirty.

C. knew that it would eventually become worse.

D. thought it would become an even more important place.

17. The fall of the Ottoman empire has made Istanbul seem…

A. teeming.

B. sad.

C. wealthier.

D. like a world capital.

18. Pamuk says that we all question, at least once…

A. whether we should love our family.

B. whether we should love our city.

C. why we were born in a particular place.

D. why the world collapses around us.

19. Pamuk is fortunate because…

A. he is a writer.

B. he is wealthier than most people in Istanbul.

C. he was born in a beautiful city.

D. he was born a man.

20. Pamuk has accepted…

A. his city.

B. his family.

C. his career.

D. his poverty.

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 9TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will carefully listen to a text read aloud twice. The text is followed by 10 true/false statements and 10 multiple-choice questions. You should do the first 10 tasks following the first reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. The text will be read a second time and you should do tasks 11 through 20 following the second reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text.

TEXT

ISTANBUL: MEMORIES OF A CITY

Listen to an extract from the text ‘ Istanbul: Memories of a City’ by Orhan Pamuk.

On your answer sheet put T if the statement is true, F if it is false.

1. Pamuk first visited Pamuk Apartments late in life when he was old.

2. Part of the reason he stayed was a make-believe friend.

3. He now lives in the same city, but not the same district.

4. Pamuk describes the basis of Conrad and Nabokov’s stories as being rootless.

5. He says that his own stories are much like these other famous authors’.

6. Flaubert correctly predicted that Istanbul would flourish.

7. The Istanbul in which Pamuk was born was the worst that it had ever been.

8. Pamuk says that he has spent his whole life only working against the city.

9. Pamuk knows that he was very unlucky to be born in Istanbul.

10. He realizes that he cannot change who he is.

For questions 11-20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D).

11. Pamuk’s imaginary friend…

A. was one reason he wanted to leave Istanbul.

B. made him happier.

C. has comforted him.

D. made him lose other friends.

12. After fifty years Orhan Pamuk…

A. has always lived in the same district of Istanbul.

B. has learned about all of the other districts.

C. finally saw photographs of his first apartment.

D. moved back into his first apartment.

13. In the text “hard-pressed” means that…

A. he is reluctant.

B. he is having a difficult time.

C. he is sad.

D. he is always eager.

14. Pamuk is creatively connected to Istanbul because…

A. it has made him who he is.

B. it has changed him.

C. he has watched the city change.

D. he has learned about other cultures too.

15. Unlike Conrad and other authors, Pamuk’s work was not inspired by…

A. culture.

B. his city.

C. rootlessness.

D. people.

16. Flaubert visited Istanbul and…

A. hated the number of people there.

B. thought it was shabby and dirty.

C. knew that it would eventually become worse.

D. thought it would become an even more important place.

17. The fall of the Ottoman empire has made Istanbul seem…

A. teeming.

B. sad.

C. wealthier.

D. like a world capital.

18. Pamuk says that we all question, at least once…

A. whether we should love our family.

B. whether we should love our city.

C. why we were born in a particular place.

D. why the world collapses around us.

19. Pamuk is fortunate because…

A. he is a writer.

B. he is wealthier than most people in Istanbul.

C. he was born in a beautiful city.

D. he was born a man.

20. Pamuk has accepted…

A. his city.

B. his family.

C. his career.

D. his poverty.

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

WRITING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 10TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will select from three writing tasks. Choose the one that you feel you are most capable to write about. You will then begin writing your essay on the pages provided. When you are finished close your papers, lay down your pen and wait for us to collect your test materials.

1. Nearly every nation in the world has its own flag, anthem, and emblem. What purpose do these national symbols serve? Do you identify with any national symbols? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having national symbols?

2. There have been many important inventions throughout the course of human history. Which invention do you think is the most important? Do you think creating new inventions is important for humankind? Conversely, if you could erase one invention from human history, what would it be and why?

3. Different languages are spoken throughout the world everyday. There are many people in the world who can understand or speak more than one language. There are also many people who can speak only their native language. Why do you think some people don’t want to learn another language? Do you think it is important to understand more than just your native language? Explain. How would the world be different if more people were multilingual?

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 10TH FORM STUDENTS

“A Review of the New Museum in My Neighborhood” by Sophie Pollitt-Cohen

One of the best things about living in New York City is all the museums. Just last night I stumbled upon one I'd never been to before. I know a lot about art, so I am confident in my assertion that I had a lot of fun there, and it is probably better than any museum I have ever been to.

The museum was mainly focused on furniture. It was kind of like those colonial rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, except it was more than one room, and it didn't have such low ceilings for short, malnourished colonists. Also, the furniture wasn't from the 17th century. It was more modern, like in the Museum of Modern Art. Except it wasn't fancy or artsy—the attempt was to convey a sense of everyday life, like Colonial Williamsburg, except again, not colonial.

You were allowed to sit on the furniture, which brings me to my first favorite part of the museum—their lax policy about sitting on the furniture. I also enjoyed being able to listen to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler while eating the ham from the Make-Your-Own-Sandwich Room, which was structured much like an ordinary kitchen. That reminds me: my second and third favorite parts were the CD collection and the ham collection.

I believe the curators wanted you to touch the art and eat the art so as to feel as one with the art and allow it to become a part of you. The everyday style of construction—the furniture being in the vernacular, as we say—was an attempt to force the observer to question the very nature of art. It reminded me of a painting I saw at the Met once. It looked like a canvas smeared with moldy Fruit Loops by a drunk baby. I didn't think that could be real art, but actually it was, since Hello, I found it in a museum. Remembering this past experience helped me while in the museum last night, since there were a lot of things that looked like that painting—particularly a bowl of old Fruit Loops on a simple coffee table. Or was it so simple?

Museums can be exhausting when they are crowded. It's like, Hey, Lady from Wherever They Let You Wear Light Colored Jeans in Public, can you move away so I can see the picture, too? I loved how empty this place was. I believe they keep most people out so as to allow you to immerse yourself in the museum's spatiality. Also, I was there at night, when tourists are jetlagged and regular people are kind of tired.

The art was linked thematically, with many variations on the central motif of family life in the modern era. There were photos of the same subjects, and many of the drawings were by the same artist. They were of a unique style, one harkening back to a primitive age. My favorites were “My Family,” “How I Help Cook Chicken Soup,” and an untitled scribble in the medium of magic marker.

Security at museums can be a nightmare, am I right? You can't bring in certain stuff, like cameras or drinks. But I brought my drink in (how I left The Gin Mill still holding my rum and Diet Coke, I haven't a clue) and the one security guard downstairs didn't care. He even knew my name already!

Museums are full of surprises, and this museum certainly did not disappoint. For instance, the final room had— surprise!—two people wearing pajamas. Not sure why they were yelling at me, though. This brings me to another thing museums are full of: mystery.

My final favorite thing about the museum was how close it was to my apartment. It was actually just down the hall. That's the beauty of New York—those hidden gems that only real New Yorkers know how to find. Well, New Yorkers and the doorman who kindly escorted me out and back to my own apartment. I'm pretty sure he was from Poland.

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

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LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 10TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will carefully listen to a text read aloud twice. The text is followed by 10 true/false statements and 10 multiple-choice questions. You should do the first 10 tasks following the first reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. The text will be read a second time and you should do tasks 11 to 20 following the second reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text.

TEXT

Listen to the text “A Review of the New Museum in My Neighborhood” by Sophie Pollitt-Cohen.

On your answer sheet put T if the statement is true, and F if it is false.

Statements 1 to 10

1. Furniture is the primary focus of the museum.

2. Guests are allowed to sit on the museum furniture.

3. The visitor’s only favourite part of the museum is the ham collection.

4. The furniture was not out of the ordinary.

5. The museum was exhausting and crowded.

6. “How I Help Cook Chicken Soup” is a drawing scribbled in pencil.

7. Security at this museum was a nightmare.

8. People are permitted to carry drinks inside this museum.

9. The museum features people shouting in their pajamas.

10. This museum is located down the street from the visitor’s home.

For questions 11-20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D).

11. The author thinks this museum is:

A. very knowledgeable about art

B. fun and colonial

C. no better than others she’s been to

D. maybe the best she’s ever visited

12. The author does not compare this museum to:

A. New York Art Museum

B. Colonial Williamsburg

C. Metropolitan Museum of Art

D. Museum of Modern Art

13. The museum tries to show:

A. furniture styles throughout the century

B. that art is about listening to music from 1980s

C. a sense of everyday life

D. a feeling of connection to art

14. The Make-Your-Own-Sandwich room:

A. had a great CD collection

B. looked like a regular kitchen

C. had a canvas smeared with moldy Fruit Loops

D. was modern and lax

15. How does this author recognize art?

A. whatever is beautiful and modern is art

B. everything can be art

C. art is in the vernacular

D. it’s art if it’s in a museum

16. A main part of the museum’s collection is:

A. photos of the same subjects

B. photos by many different artists

C. photos of the same artist

D. photos in the medium of magic marker

17. What is surprising about security at this museum?

A. the guard let her take a camera

B. the guard knew the author’s name

C. security doesn’t allow drinks

D. security guards were dressed in pajamas and yelled

18. Which of these did the visitor NOT do while inside the museum?

A. eat a ham sandwich

B. ask a lady to move away so she could see the picture

C. listen to a Bonnie Tyler song

D. drink

19. How is this museum better than others, in the author’s opinion?

A. it is crowded

B. you can’t sit on the furniture

C. you can eat and drink

D. other museums let you immerse yourself in the spatiality

20. What might be a good name for this ‘museum’?

A. Museum of Modern Art

B. Inside the New York City Apartment

C. Colonial Furniture Styles

D. 21st Century Foreign Art

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READING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 11TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this Test you will read five texts. Each text is followed by 6 – 15 tasks. You should do the tasks following a text on the basis of what is stated or implied in that text. For each task you will choose the best possible answer and mark your choice on the Answer Sheet.

TEXT 1

You are going to read an article for graduates joining the job market. For questions 1-10, choose the sections (A- D). The sections may be chosen more than once.

GRADUATE JOBS: ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT

A. You should be very conscious of your digital footprint and remember that nothing can ever really be deleted and this includes social media profiles as well as forums and websites. Although it helps if you activate the privacy settings on your social media accounts and control who you allow to see your account, the most foolproof solution is to behave well and treat these networks with a healthy respect. You might not be able to fully prevent some things from showing on search engines, but you can make the most of what shows up first by using public professional networking sites to build a much more professional footprint which you can then add to by getting mentioned for extra-curricular activity. In the job market this can be gold dust, so find opportunities to comment on blogs and articles, provide quotes for journalists and guest blog on things you’re interested in or know a lot about.

B. By all means apply for vacancies on big job boards, but the major drawback is that if you’ve seen a vacancy, so has everybody else. If you've had no joy applying for positions this way, it may well be more productive to start hunting for less visible vacancies instead, because when you do find one, the competition will be a fraction of what you’re up against for widely advertised positions. It’s important to realise that different job-hunting methods work for different industries. If you’re answering ads for junior jobs in media, applying blind is unlikely to reap rewards, but building a network of contacts will. On the other hand, for public-sector jobs all the talking in the world won’t get you through the door: you’ll have to apply through official channels like everybody else. If you’ve only targeted big companies, broaden your search to smaller outfits. They’ll have tighter recruitment budgets and won’t be advertising vacancies or hiring stands at recruitment fairs, so find out how they do recruit and see which small companies are thriving.

C. Strictly speaking, in some countries unpaid internships are illegal which means it's illegal for your employer not to pay you and for you to work for free, as you’re both undermining the national minimum wage law. The problem is that in some countries this law isn’t being enforced, so employers are free to exploit graduates who can afford to work for less than the minimum wage and exclude those who can’t. Because many graduates are desperate for experience, the result is that most internships now pay nothing, even when interns are effectively doing a proper job and working long hours with a wide range of activities for months at a time. Until things change, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether an unpaid internship is a good investment. This will depend on the calibre of the company and what you’ll be doing while you’re there. As there is no guarantee of a paid job at the end of it, you must keep applying for roles elsewhere before your internship ends.

D. It’s normal to feel low just after graduation. For some graduates, it’s because the energy they needed is still flowing but now has no outlet, so they feel anxious. For others, it’s because they’ve realised how much effort they’ve expended, and they feel exhausted. Whatever the reason, pay attention to the words you use. Graduation represents an ending, it’s true, but it also represents new beginnings and it’s more energising to think in those terms. Instead of saying, "I need to start my career,” you should break the task ahead into smaller steps and frame each step in a way that allows you to measure progress. So, for example, instead of expecting to "sort myself out”, ask yourself to “prepare my CV”, “find two referees", and “register with an employment agency”. Put these goals in chronological order and focus on each one in turn until you have achieved it. In the long run you might easily conclude that the most treasured aspect of your university experience wasn’t your academic education or any careers advice, but rather the friends you made, so you should make it a priority to stay in touch with those who mattered most to you during your university career.

In which section does the writer

1 advise graduates to continue job-hunting while already working?

2 explain why some graduates accept a certain type of employment opportunity?

3 make a suggestion for graduates whose job hunting has so far been unsuccessful?

4 mention a variety of ways of obtaining employment?

5 suggest how graduates can create a good impression?

6 mention the need to maintain relationships?

7 recommend a way of thinking positively?

8 explain why some jobs may have fewer applicants?

9 warn graduates that some information may be difficult to hide?

10 describe an employment opportunity he disapproves of?

Cambridge University Press, 2015

TEXT 2

Read the article below and choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO STUDY MEDICINE?

Medicine isn’t quite like other degrees. I spent the first three years studying and attending lectures on anatomy, cell biology and pathology (what happens when the body goes wrong). I found when I got to medical school that I was required to memorise far more than I had had to at secondary school and put in far longer hours, especially around exam time.

As well as the lessons and lectures, I had individual weekly classes with my tutor, who also gave me work to do. [ 1 ] These classes soon became a high point in my week. We used to spend the hour discussing such things as the properties of different medicines or the topic of an essay whose title was Doctors can learn more medicine from treating patients than from studying textbooks. Do you agree? [ 2 ]

In my final year, I studied for an extra degree in Physiological Sciences. I was also able to pursue areas of interest, which in my case included neuroscience, and take supplementary modules in the history of medicine and pharmacology. Most universities now expect you to do some academic research as well. However, I felt incredibly lucky that I had the opportunity to work in laboratories where I rubbed shoulders with Nobel Prize winners. [ 3 ]

As a clinical student, in other words as a student in a hospital, my timetable changed dramatically. I was expected to dress smartly, as I spent every day with patients as a functioning part of a medical team. [4] These included surgery, medicine, dermatology, neurology and many more.

I moved to a London hospital for my clinical training, and had some very memorable experiences, such as delivering my first baby and visiting a prison psychiatric ward. [ 5 ] I was permitted to walk into any ward or any operating theatre and observe, learn, ask questions and speak to patients, whereas practising doctors are all rushed off their feet. Students can often take time to really investigate a patient's condition more deeply, and may even be able to inform the doctors and nurses of some very important detail that has been overlooked and which might lead to the patient being misdiagnosed. [ 6 ] Everyone teaches each other at whatever level, and now I also help secondary-school students who are preparing entrance exams for the top medical schools.

Medicine is a very time-intensive degree. However, being thrown in at the deep end of some of the most challenging situations I have ever been in, and having to deal with patients from all areas of life, continues to inspire me and satisfy me on a daily basis.

A And on other occasions we used to just play chess.

B Now, as a working doctor, who is experienced to do certain jobs by certain times, I appreciate that while I

while I was studying medicine, I had the opportunity to do many things I would not have time for now.

C On average, four weeks was spent rotating around each of different specialties across the three weeks.

D The culture within medicine is that each team member’s input is respected, and the team itself is hugely

valued.

E And although I was expected to work extremely hard, most of the work was enjoyable.

F These well-known people would always be more than happy to answer questions in the corridor, or reply

to an email that requested more information about their subject.

G This usually consisted of writing an essay on a topic related to my studies.

Cambridge University Press, 2015

TEXT 3

For questions 1-15 read the text and then decide which word best fits each space.

HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR FAMILY TREE

Creating a family tree can be an absorbing and rewarding pastime, and who knows where it might (1) …… ? You might discover you have royal (2) …… , a hereditary title and a coat of arms, a forgotten legacy or even an infamous mass murderer in the family. You’ll be creating a(n) (3) …… and valuable resource to share and a fascinating insight into your own life and times for future (4) …… . Before you begin, ask around to see if any of the (5) …… research has already been done. Most families have at least one (6) …… historian whose records may be able to get you off to a good (7) …… . Older family members can give you a first-hand (8) …… of recent family history, though remember to (9) …… some tact and always be sensitive to any skeletons and scandals that you may uncover. Official documents such as old birth, marriage and death certificates are an invaluable (10) …… and family photo albums can provide a(n) (11) …… of information. Postcards and letters also often contain useful historical snippets and even (12) …… photographs of places and buildings can provide additional (13) …… of exploration. Start with an Internet search of your family name. You may come (14) …… a family home page providing a link to long-lost relations or overseas (15) …… of the family.

1 A guide B follow C lead D direct
2 A ancestry B lineage C pedigree D descent
3 A sole B unique C only D single
4 A offspring B generations C ages D progeny
5 A inaugural B beginning C introductory D initial
6 A amateur B beginner C apprentice D unskilled
7 A beginning B initiation C start D outset
8 A way B access C account D entrance
9 A exercise B have C apply D practice
10 A fount B origin C root D source
11 A wealth B abundance C profusion D richness
12 A indistinguishable B obscure C unknown D nameless
13 A courses B passages C avenues D ways
14 A around B to C across D through
15 A branches B portions C sections D parts

TEXT 4

For questions 1-15, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE WORD in each space.

CINEMA IN THE AGE OF TELEVISION

Cinema and television are generally thought (1) …… as distinct, whether as industrial practices or as viewing experiences. (2) …… fact the two have been quite closely interwoven, ever (3) …… television first emerged (4) …… a possible rival to cinema (5) …… an industrial scale. This was particularly true in the United States, (6) …… crossover between radio and cinema interests began in the 1920s, extending to television with the start of commercial television broadcasting in 1939. In European countries, where broadcasting was in the hands of state monopolies, they remained separate for longer, (7) …… since the 1950s there has been a growing convergence at all levels. By the 1980s, with the advent of large-screen television on the one (8) …… and home video on the other, all the distinctions had become blurred.
Before television, in the United States, broadcasting developed as a system of privately owned, commercial stations tied together by two great networks and ineffectively regulated by the federal government. The Hollywood studios were the (9) …… proposed an alternative programming structure which would have supported broadcasting from box-office profits. Paramount and MGM attempted to initiate (10) …… own film-based radio networks in the late 1920s, using film talent under contract to provide entertainment with publicity value in promoting films. (11) …… , a combination of exhibitors' objections, together (12) …… inability to obtain the necessary connecting land lines, blocked these efforts.

In desperation, the studios turned (13) …… station ownership and the advertising agencies and sponsors who produced the bulk of radio programming in the 1930s and 1940s. Hollywood stars and properties figured large in radio's golden (14) …… . Paramount purchased an interest in CBS in 1928, which it was forced to surrender under financial pressure in 1932.

TEXT 5

You are going to read a text about tulips. For questions 1-15, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

TULIPOMANIA

The tulip, Dr Mackay tells us, was introduced from Constantinople to Western Europe, and particularly to Holland, in the middle of the sixteenth century. It became increasingly popular among the rich until, by 1634, “it was deemed a proof of bad taste for any man of fortune to be without a collection of them”. By then, the middle classes had decided that they too could not be seen without tulips, and paid increasingly outrageous prices for them. At a time when you could pick up a suit of clothes for 80 florins, people invested 100,000 florins buying 40 roots. Tulips became so valuable that they had to be sold by the perit, “a small weight less than a grain”. Some tulips were more valuable than others, but none was as prized as the Semper Augustus. In early 1636, there were only two of these in Holland: one went for 12 acres of land; the other for 4,600 florins, a new carriage, two grey horses and a complete set of harness. Newcomers to Holland sometimes paid for their ignorance of the mania. A sailor, arriving at a wealthy merchant‘s house, was offered “a fine red herring” for his breakfast. He was partial to onions and seeing a bulb very like an onion on a counter, he slipped it into his pocket and headed off to the quay to eat his breakfast. He was found, quietly sitting on a coil of rope, finishing off his 3,000-florin Semper Augustus. Up to now, the tulip market still had a semblance of order. However, extraordinary prices had become, it was driven by the pursuit of a relatively rare commodity. In 1636, however, tulip exchanges were set up in the stock markets of several Dutch cities, and the speculators moved in. According to Dr Mackay: “The stock-jobbers, ever on the alert for a new speculation, dealt largely in tulips, making use of all the means they so well knew how to cause fluctuations in prices. By judicious trading as prices decreased and flowed, many people grew rich.”

A golden bait hung temptingly out before the people, and one after the other they rushed to the tulip-markets, like flies around a honey-pot. Everyone imagined that the passion for tulips would last forever... The riches of Europe would be concentrated on the shores of the Zuyder Zee, and poverty banished from the favoured climate of Holland. Everyone, “even chimney-sweeps and old-clothes-women” grew tulips. Lawyers, “tulip-notaries”, appeared to make their bit from the trade. The rich, for their part, were no longer inclined to put such valuable commodities in their garden, preferring to join in the trade, and it was not long before some of them realised that the market had lost all logic. They started to sell, and panic soon spread through the market. Buyers who had agreed to pay so many florins when tulips were delivered in six weeks’ time, refused to pay because the price had fallen in the meantime. As sellers demanded the full amount and buyers refused to pay, debtors were announced by the hundred. Substantial merchants were reduced almost to beggary, “and many a representative of a noble line saw the fortunes of his house ruined.” There was an attempt to bring some order to the market as it crashed around the tulip holders’ ears. They tried to persuade the government, which told them to agree on a plan between themselves. Eventually, after much argument, it was agreed that all contracts made at the height of the mania, before November 1636, would be declared null and void, and that those made after that date should be nullified by the purchaser paying 10 per cent to the vendor.

This displeased both sides, and The Tulipomania collapsed in disorder. “Those who were unlucky enough to have had stores of tulips on hand at the time of the sudden reaction were left to bear their ruin as philosophically as they could,” Dr Mackey says. “Those who had made profits were allowed to keep them; but the commerce of the country suffered a severe shock, from which it took many years to recover.”

1. What does Dr Mackay say about the tulip?

A It originated in western Europe.

B It flourished in Constantinople.

C It triggered an insane craze.

D It was a most unusual plant.

2. According to Dr Mackay, by 1634 the possession of tulips was thought to be

A a sign of bad taste.

B an unnecessary extravagance.

C a status symbol.

D a display of one’s popularity.

3. What does the writer say about the unfortunate sailor who had never been to Holland before?

A He paid 3,000 florins for what he thought was a tulip bulb.

B He was tricked into eating an expensive tulip bulb.

C He stole 3,000 florins from a wealthy merchant’s house.

D He consumed what he thought was an inexpensive onion.

4. What apparently happened throughout 1636?

A New tulip trading venues were created.

B Tulip exchanges led to a decrease in market prices.

C Speculators tried to keep tulip prices steady.

D Dealers tried to find commodities other than tulips to trade in.

5. What reason does the writer give for the eventual collapse of the tulip market?

A The rich undermined confidence in the market for tulips.

B The poor could no longer afford to buy tulips on the open market.

C There was not enough money in circulation to meet the demand of the market.

D Producers could no longer supply enough tulips for the market.

6. In the penultimate paragraph, what does the writer say the merchants eventually agreed to solve

the crisis?

A Contracts made before November 1636 would be honoured.

B Those with unsold supplies would be compensated.

C Those who had made a profit would be taxed.

D Contracts made after November 1636 would be subjects to partial payment.

7. What points is the article intended to illustrate?

A It is often difficult to supply the market with the commodities it demands.

B Commodities in short supply always create excessive pressures on the market.

C Our acquisitive nature can create ridiculous artificial demand for commodities.

D Buying and selling is an art about which little is understood.

Cambridge University Press, 2015

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

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WRITING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 11TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will select from three writing tasks. Choose the one that you feel you are most capable to write about. You will then begin writing your essay on the pages provided. When you are finished close your papers, lay down your pen and wait for us to collect your test materials.

1. Today, our world is confronted with many challenges: poverty, hunger, disease, environmental changes, and many others. In your opinion, what is the most serious problem that society faces today? What has caused this problem? Do you think that this problem can be solved? Explain.

2. Since the beginning of the world, millions of species of animals have died out. Despite our efforts species go extinct everyday, some even before we discover them. Is it important for humanity to make sure more species don’t die out? What would happen to the world if we stopped protecting animals? What would this mean for nature and for humans? What are the benefits of biodiversity?

3. Several pieces of literature and film have discussed the possibility of time travel in which people could go back to another period in history. If you had the ability to travel back in time to an event in Ukraine's history, which would you choose and why? Would you attempt to change the course of events, and, if so, how would you change them?

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 11TH FORM STUDENTS

From “Virtual Classrooms Could Create a Marketplace for Knowledge”

In 1963, the American magazine Popular Mechanics heralded an innovation that seemed bound to change the world: the ‘teacherless classroom.’ The magazine told of a new building at the University of Miami, doughnut-shaped and carved up into 12 rooms. Professors stood in the hole and had their image projected into every room simultaneously. Faculty productivity was said to have soared. What was lost in intimacy would be made up for by feedback buttons on students’ chairs, including one for “I don’t understand.”

Today the idea of a ‘teacherless classroom’ has returned. Thanks to broadening Internet access, advances in multimedia and the market potential of millions of historically underserved learners among the developing world’s youth and the rich world’s adults, modern versions of the doughnut building are flowering globally: systems through which chunks of teaching can be “scaled up,” in business jargon, and beamed to hundreds of thousands worldwide.

The Open Courseware Consortium, started by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has enlisted universities around the world, from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa to the University of Tokyo, to post courses online free, including professor’s notes, videos and exams. The portal iTunes offers lectures from Berkeley and Oxford and elsewhere. The new University of the People, founded by an Israeli entrepreneur, provides tuition-free bachelor-level degrees through what it calls “peer-to-peer teaching”—students learning not from teachers but each other, trading questions and answers online.

Teacherless, or virtual-teacher learning, is described by enthusiasts as a revolution in the making. Until now, they say, education has been a seller’s market. You beg to get into college. Deans decide what you must know. They prevent you from taking better courses elsewhere. They set prices high to subsidize unprofitable activities. Above all, they exclude most humans from their knowledge—the poor, the old, people born in the wrong place, people with time-consuming children and jobs.

Champions of digital learning want to turn teaching into yet another form of content. Allow anyone anywhere to take whatever course they want, whenever, over any medium, they say. Make universities compete on quality, price and convenience. Let students combine credits from various courses into a degree by taking an exit exam. Let them live in Paris, take classes from M.I.T. and transfer them to a German university for a diploma.

It is hard to say whether this technology-tinted vision is friendly or hostile to teachers. A market in instruction will help the best teachers extend their audience far beyond campus. But if you’re a second-rate physicist at a middling university, the sudden availability of free M.I.T. courses could feel threatening. Many teachers will have to re-imagine themselves as coaches, not content creators, focused on motivating and customizing material to students, while piping in others’ superior teaching.

This view is increasingly commonplace among business leaders and free-market champions. But it has triggered vociferous criticism from educators and educational traditionalists. Some of the anxiety about the market approach is territorial, from professors concerned for their jobs. Some of it is about the repercussions of unbundling the university: profitable offerings like introductory courses subsidize less-profitable undertakings; and, if low-cost competitors lure ‘customers’ away from these offerings, the larger project of the university might suffer, from laboratories to free-thinking tenured faculty to the campus environment itself. But there is a further worry that a market in instruction will alter education’s very meaning, will degrade it even as it disperses it more widely.

Education, re-imagined as a consumer product, will become about giving the young what they want now, not what they need or might later want, critics say. They worry that universities will cede their role in civilizing us and passing down the heritage of the past, and will become glorified vocational schools.

Education’s goal, the novelist Mark Slouka wrote in Harper’s Magazine, should be “to teach people, not tasks; to participate in the complex and infinitely worthwhile labor of forming citizens, men and women capable of furthering what’s best about us and forestalling what’s worst. It is only secondarily—one might say incidentally—about producing workers.”

As the digital classroom comes, we will face hard questions. What will happen when teachers, like banks and retail outlets, are consolidated by the market, with favored professors teaching hundreds of thousands and regular Joes relegated to night school? Will a freer marketplace generate more ideas, or narrow the diversity of ideas as certain teachers crowd out others? How will students design their curriculums? Does a 20-year-old know what she wants to know at 40? How will teachers change when the goal becomes to titillate the widest audience, not just connect with the room? Will teaching for the cameras undermine pedagogy or widen knowledge’s appeal? Will the best teaching, beamed globally, silence voices that might otherwise have spoken? Or, in spreading knowledge, will it help the silent speak?

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ

ІІІ етап Всеукраїнської учнівської олімпіади з англійської мови

LISTENING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 11TH FORM STUDENTS

Directions:

In this test you will carefully listen to a text read aloud twice. The text is followed by 10 true/false statements and 10 multiple-choice questions. You should do the first 10 tasks following the first reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. The text will be read a second time and you should do tasks 11 to 20 following the second reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text.

TEXT

Virtual Classrooms Could Create a Marketplace for Knowledge

Listen to the text “A Review of the New Museum in My Neighborhood” by Sophie Pollitt-Cohen.

On your answer sheet put T if the statement is true, and F if it is false.

Statements 1 to 10

1. Educational materials are now more accessible to economically disadvantaged students.

2. There are now universities where students learn not from teachers, but from each other.

3. Until now, the education market has been more favorable to the customer than the supplier.

4. New technology possibilities will force teachers to think of their role in the classroom in a different and more flexible capacity.

5. One of the advantages of digital classrooms is that you could take courses from anywhere, whenever you want.

6. Educational traditionalists believe that the educational market approach will give more value to the education that people receive.

7. Critics of the idea think that education as a marketplace will not provide students with the information they will need in the future.

8. Mark Slouka argues that the role of education is most importantly to create workers from the information they receive.

9. A digital classroom would alter the meaning of education in our world.

10. The author of this article has obviously thought about both sides of the argument for digital classrooms.

For questions 11-20, choose the answer (A, B, C or D).

11. The ‘teacherless classroom’ was first written about in

A. 1962

B. 1963

C. 1975

D. 2009

12. The word “simultaneously” means

A. In different places

B. In a good way

C. At the same time

D. On the Internet

13. Which of the four options is NOT mentioned in the article as a new source of education through technology?

A. Downloading lectures from universities.

B. Ordering a professor to lecture in your home from the Internet.

C. Taking online university courses.

D. Having online courses where other students are the teachers.

14. How would the position of the teacher change in the education market model?

A. Teachers would teach only what they knew, nothing more.

B. Teachers would help and encourage their students and use material from other, perhaps better, teachers.

C. Teachers would become indispensable.

D. Teachers would only give marks and not lecture.

15. Some worry that making education a consumer product will

A. Not teach students what they will need in the future, only what they want to know now.

B. Cost too much for students and be too expensive.

C. Close universities because they cannot make a profit anymore.

D. Disturb the supply and demand ratio of students to teachers.

16. Mark Slouka believes that education’s main goal should be

A. To teach people how to work correctly.

B. Be for men only.

C. To develop capable citizens.

D. About producing workers.

17. Supporters of the digital classroom believe it would accomplish all of the following EXCEPT:

A. Make it easier for students to study at any university.

B. Make universities become better in order to compete with others.

C. Allow students to be able to take courses from different degree programs and finish with an exit exam.

D. Allow professors not to work as hard because they will not teach as many classes.

18. The ‘teacherless classroom’ has allowed education to become more available for whom?

A. The developing world’s rich and the rich world’s poor.

B. The rich world’s adults and the developing world’s youth.

C. The developing world’s poor and the rich world’s youth.

D. The rich world’s youth and the developing world’s rich.

19. What does the author mean when he describes the current education system as “a seller’s market”?

A. Universities control what students must learn and where they study.

B. Students have too much choice in where they study and what they study.

C. University is very inexpensive.

D. Students are allowed to take courses elsewhere if the classes are better.

20. What group of people strongly supports the ‘teacherless classroom’ idea?

A. Educators.

B. Students.

C. Politicians and government workers.

D. Business leaders and free-market champions.

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Дата останньої зміни 18 Квітня 2016

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