Матура по английски?! [Архив]

TEARS

02-24-2009, 15:55

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Приложение № 2
ПРИМЕРЕН ИЗПИТЕН ВАРИАНТ
ЗА ДЪРЖАВЕН ЗРЕЛОСТЕН ИЗПИТ ПО АНГЛИЙСКИ ЕЗИК
TRANSCRIPT
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Directions: You will read a text about beer production twice. Before you read it, let the
students read the questions for no more than 2 minutes. While they listen to the text for the
first time, they may look at the questions and the suggested choices, but are not allowed to
take notes. When they hear the whole text they have 6 minutes to answer the questions on
their answer sheets choosing among A, B or C. Then read the text again and give them up to 1
minute to check their answers.
Beer Brewing Paralleled the Rise of Civilization
The basic process of producing, or brewing beer - malting, mashing, boiling, and fermenting -
has remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years.
The first recorded knowledge of brewing beer dates back to 6 000years ago and the
Sumarians. The relatively simple process of turning grain into an eatable substance—or
"liquid bread"—is at least as old as civilization. There is a perfectly respectable academic
theory that civilization began with beer. Some people even claim that beer may have been the
main food of man even before bread was invented.
During the Neolithic Revolution, bands of hunters and gatherers began forming organized
communities to cultivate the land—the beginning of civilization. We know that in farming the
land, they grew things, and the first thing grown was cereal grains in the Middle East.
The theories about the early emergence of beer are based on he fact that grains can be grown
in poorer soils and require less water to grow than other crops, such as grapes. Unlike grapes,
however, grains have no juice to extract. Therefore, perhaps in an attempt to find a way to
make grain edible, they had to be soaked in water, which led to a natural fermentation process
that produced what Julius Caesar described as "a high and mighty liquor."
Directions: You will read a text about bullfighting twice. Before you read it, let the students
read the questions for no more than 2 minutes. While they listen to the text for the first time,
they may look at the questions and the suggested choices, but are not allowed to take notes.
When they hear the whole text they have 4 minutes to answer the questions on their answer
sheets choosing among A, B or C. Then read the text again and give them up to 1 minute to
check their answers.
Bullfighting
It is hard to defend most hunters’ claim that humans have the right to kill another species for
entertainment. All across Europe people are protesting bullfighting as inhumane. To such
people, there is no difference between the killing of a bull in a ring and a stray dog in an
alleyway.
Of course, a Spanish fighting bull is by far not defenseless; these bulls are warriors,
descendants of the massive prehistoric bison of Europe. They were once worshipped as deities
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in Asia Minor and bred by medieval feudal lords just to be killed in public by a man in a ring
on a hot afternoon.
The Spanish have never thought this was entertainment, or a sport. For the last seven
centuries, bullfighting has, instead, been mystically regarded as something between art and
religion. Articles about bullfights aren’t even in the sports sections of Spanish newspapers;
they appear in the cultural and arts pages, next to opera and ballet.
Directions: You will read a text about Sudoku twice. Before you read it, let the students read
the questions for no more than 2 minutes. While they listen to the text for the first time, they
may look at the questions and the suggested choices, but are not allowed to take notes. When
they hear the whole text they have 5 minutes to answer the questions on their answer sheets
choosing among A, B or C. Then read the text again and give them up to 1 minute to check
their answers.
Sudoku
Not since the Rubik’s Cube of 1980 has a puzzle been this hot. Its fans have started clubs,
competitions and computer-games. It has become a fresh way to relax. Some experts even
claim that it can lower your blood pressure, relieve stress—even make you smarter. It might
just be the least-harmful addiction around.
As nearly everyone knows by now, Sudoku resembles a traditional crossword puzzle, with a
nine-by-nine box grid. But the game relies on logic—not knowledge. The goal is to have the
numbers 1 through 9 in each row and column of the puzzle’s grid, filling in the empty spaces
until the box is complete. The game, whose name suggests that it was developed in Japan, was
actually invented in the United States, first published in the Dell puzzle magazine in 1979.
Five years later, it was picked up by a Japanese magazine and then by a retired New Zealand
judge living in Japan, who wrote a computer program for it. In 2004, Sudoku was introduced
as a daily feature of the Times of London.
Today, hundreds of newspapers print the puzzle on their crossword pages. The appeal of
Sudoku lies in the challenge, in the mystery of solving it, in the feeling of satisfaction you get
from completing it. And Sudoku is one of the most addictive puzzles ever invented.
It has very simple rules. You can learn it in 10 seconds, and yet the logic needed to solve
Sudoku is challenging.
Like chess, Sudoku perhaps can hardly be classified as a sport, as far as sport generally
suggests athletic ability, but it definitely is a competitive activity. You might call it a 'mental
sport.'
Sudoku sharpens your brain and it improves your focus. You have to be focused to be a good
Sudoku solver, because if you make a mistake and then base further logic on the mistake you
made, you have no option but to erase everything and start over. So Sudoku really teaches you
to be careful.
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TEST
PART ONE
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
Directions: You will hear a text about beer twice. Before you listen to it, read the questions in
about 2 minutes. While listening for the first time, you can look at the questions and the
suggested choices, but you are not allowed to take notes. When you hear the whole text you
have 6 minutes to answer the questions on your answer sheet choosing among A, B or C.
Then you will hear the text again and will have 1 minute to check your answers.
1. The process of producing beer has changed dramatically in the course of time.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
2. The first records of making beer date back to the year 600 AD.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
3. Some think beer was consumed as food even before people knew how to make bread.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
4. Growing cereals marked the beginning of civilization.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
5. Perhaps beer was popular because grains can be grown almost anywhere.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
6. Julius Caesar never tasted beer.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
Directions: You will hear a text about bullfighting twice. Before you listen to it, read the
questions in about 2 minutes. While listening for the first time, you can look at the questions
and the suggested choices, but you are not allowed to take notes. When you hear the whole
text you have 4 minutes to answer the questions on your answer sheet choosing among A, B
or C. Then you will hear the text again and will have 1 minute to check your answers.
7. Many Europeans protest bullfighting because …
a) bulls are indefensible.
b) it is not humane.
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c) bulls are not stray dogs.
d) they love hunting.
8. In Spain fighting bulls were …
a) highly respected.
b) bred to kill.
c) prehistoric bisons.
d) true gods.
9. To a Spaniard bullfighting is rather …
a) an entertainment.
b) a delightful sport.
c) an art.
d) a mystery.
10. The Spanish press treats bullfighting as part of Spanish …
a) culture.
b) religion.
c) history.
d) future.
Directions: You will hear a text about Sudoku twice. Before you listen to it, read the
questions in about 2 minutes. While listening for the first time, you can look at the questions
and the suggested choices, but you are not allowed to take notes. When you hear the whole
text you have 5 minutes to answer the questions on your answer sheet choosing among A, B
or C. Then you will hear the text again and will have 1 minute to check your answers.
11. According to some experts Sudoku can …
a) be very stressful to some people.
b) be dangerous for your blood pressure.
c) make you feel silly.
d) turn highly addictive.
12. In order to be good at Sudoku you need …
a) good knowledge in mathematics.
b) merely a logical mind.
c) to recognize numbers.
d) to do sums quickly.
13. The game was first developed in …
a) Japan.
b) the USA.
c) London.
d) New Zealand.
14. The appeal of Sudoku is …
a) a mystery.
b) in the challenge it poses.
c) in its difficult rules.
d) in its addictive nature.
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15. Like chess, Sudoku …
a) teaches concentration.
b) suggests athletic abilities.
c) offers numerous options.
d) All of the above.
PART TWO
READING COMPREHENSION
Directions: Read the texts below. Then read the questions that follow them and choose the
best answer to each question correspondingly among A, B or C, marking the answer on your
answer sheet.
Ireland's Past Is True Gold
The shape and landscape of present-day Ireland—an island of 70,200 square kilometers—
were formed 10,000 years ago when Atlantic Ocean glaciers slowly began their retreat. The
event left the country rich with the soil that has nurtured Ireland's flora and fauna for
centuries, and which offered a hospitable environment for migrating people to settle and plant
seeds.
Some of the oldest existing Irish artifacts are megalithic tombs that date back to the Stone
Age. They were lined in stone and had passages that led from a circular chamber to a burial
one at the center.
During the times of the Vikings, the tombs were robbed. But because the tombs were created
prior to the Bronze or Iron Age, they did not hold much booty.
Until the Vikings arrived in Ireland in A.D. 795, the economy centered on cattle raising,
which left the land widely undeveloped. Moreover, there were no towns until the Vikings
began building Dublin in A.D. 840.
The Vikings also introduced trade, shipbuilding, and coinage. The increased urbanization of
Ireland under the Vikings basically changed the economy and way of life for the local Gaelic
people.
1. The retreat of the Atlantic Ocean glaciers influenced the size and territory of Ireland.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
2. Ireland is rich in animal species and plant varieties.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
3. The natural conditions in Ireland are very favourable.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
4. In Ireland there are burial tombs dating back to the Stone Age.
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a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
5. The Vikings took away great treasures from the tombs they robbed.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
6. Before the Vikings arrived the native population were mainly farmers.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
7. Dublin was founded by the Vikings.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
8. The Vikings knew more about trade and ships than the local people in Ireland.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
9. The Vikings brought disaster and misery to the local Gaelic people.
a) True.
b) False.
c) No information in the text.
Directions: Read the texts below. Then read the questions that follow them and choose the
best answer to each question correspondingly among A, B, C D, marking the answer on your
answer sheet.
St. Patrick's Day: Fact or Fiction
The celebration of St. Patrick's Day in the United States is associated with parades, beer, and
partygoers dressed out in green.
However, Bridget Haggerty remembers marking St. Patrick's Day very differently. A 41-year
U.S. resident he was born to Irish parents in England.
As a child in England during the 1950s, Haggerty remembers that every St. Patrick’s Day her
Irish family would receive a package from her mother's relatives back in Dublin. The package
contained live shamrock and small cardboard badges with a golden harp, a symbol of Ireland.
Family members pinned a twig of shamrock on their clothes, and Haggerty and her two
brothers would wear the greenery along with their harp badges to school on St. Patrick's Day.
"If the budget allowed it, I'd have a green ribbon in my hair. But that was the only green we
wore," said Haggerty, who now lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
This seems a stark contrast to the fields of green decorations, hats, and clothes found in the
United States. While no one can confirm with certainty why wearing so much green became
popular, there is a very good reason, according to the Irish, not to do so, Haggerty said.
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According to superstition, the color green was thought to bring bad luck because it was the
favorite color of the fairy folk. "As a matter of fact," Haggerty said, "you should never say the
fairies. They hate it! The Good People is the right term to use."
The Good People were unpredictable, according to Irish folklore, and were known to steal
people away—especially children—who angered fairy folk by wearing too much of their
favorite color.
In Ireland, St. Patricks Day was traditionally a Catholic feast day. People had the day
off from work, went to Mass, and had a family meal together.
Times indeed have changed. Once Irish pubs used to be closed on two days of the year: Good
Friday and St. Patrick's Day. So, ironically enough, in Ireland until recently, on St. Patrick's
Day you couldn't get a drink!
Haggerty recalls one notable exception from her university student days in Dublin. The
annual Irish dog show was held on March 17 and was given a license to sell alcohol. "It was
amazing the number of people who developed a fondness for dogs on that particular day," she
said.
Another misconception is the association of St. Patrick with the color green. The confusion
perhaps arises from the phrase "the wearing of the green," which meant to wear a twig of
shamrock. St. Patrick used the three-leaved plant to explain the Trinity of the Christian
religion.
In contrast, the original color assigned to St. Patrick was blue. This color, St. Patrick's blue,
can be seen on ancient Irish flags and on the uniforms the Irish special forces wear to this day.
As the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick is said to have brought Christianity to the island. Yet
St. Patrick himself remains in a mysterious fog of fact and legend.
No one can say exactly the dates of St. Patrick's birth or death or where he originally was
born. It is generally agreed that he was captured in his youth and sold into slavery, probably in
the fifth century, in Ireland. There is a combination of history and myth that is very difficult to
sort out.
10. The symbol of Ireland is …
a) an instrument.
b) gold.
c) cardboard.
d) a badge.
11. The Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day …
a) in the authentic Irish way.
b) quietly praying in church.
c) after their own fashion.
d) at home with family.
12. According to Irish folklore the Good People are …
a) known thieves.
b) always angry.
c) hardly predictable.
d) rather childish.
13. In the past in Ireland, on St. Patrick’s Day people traditionally …
a) stayed in church.
b) worked hard.
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c) did not go to work.
d) spent all day in pubs.
14. On that day the Irish …
a) could not have a proper drink.
b) got as drunk as lords.
c) showed their love for dogs.
d) traditionally hold pet shows.
15. As a symbol of the Trinity of Christian religion St. Patrick is said to have used …
a) shamrock.
b) a green leaf.
c) a blue flag.
d) blue uniforms.
PART THREE
USE OF ENGLISH
Section One: Cloze Test
Directions: Read the text and the sentences below and for each numbered gap circle the letter
(A, B, C or D) of the word or phrase that best suits each space. Then enter your answers on
your answer sheet.
Every February 2nd Americans celebrate Groundhog Day. Then, tradition has it, the
groundhog, a small furry animal with short legs, leaves its underground burrow to …1…if
cold winter weather will ...2…. If the groundhog cannot see its shadow, it remains …3…
ground. But if its shadow is …4…—that is, if the sun is shining—six more weeks of cold
weather will follow, and the animal returns to its burrow.
The idea that animals can predict weather has a long history, probably associated with
the sowing of crops. If seeds were sown too early and …5… weather followed, the crops
would be …6…. Supposedly, German and English immigrants brought these beliefs to the
American colonies. Groundhogs were …7…in the colonies, and, in the course of time,
…8…the European animals in American tradition.
1. a) look b) glance c) see d) observe
2. a) keep b) continue c) remain d) endure
3. a) above b) on c) over d) up
4. a) obvious b)distinctive c) visible d) notable
5. a) rough b) harsh c) tough d) hard
6. a) ill b) infertile c) weak d) poor
7. a) plentiful b) generous c) fruitful d) lots of
8. a) replaced b) misplaced c) removed d) reset
9. The word ‘yoga’ means ‘union’ in Sanskrit and appeared … in the Rig Vedas, part of a
collection of sacred Indian texts.
a) at first b) first c) the first d) firstly
10. Through their songs, birds …their identity, breeding status, health and individuality.
a) proclaim b) advertise c) publish d) state
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11. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Europe was seized by a hysterical fear of witches, …
to the persecution of many innocent women.
a) leading b) spreading c) going d) guiding
12. It seems that today many people … success by publicity and bank accounts.
a) define b) call c) determine d) find
13. In a passageway 25 feet below the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, scientists
are looking for some clue as to who built the … structure and the city around it.
a) 2,000-years-old b) 2,000-year-old c) 2,000-year-aged d) 2,000-years-age
14. Though she felt jealous, she managed not to show her feelings in … .
a) public b) society c) family d) community
15. Snowy owls, unlike most owls, hunt during the day and … primarily on lemmings.
a) eat b) feed c) have d) dine
Section Two: Sentence Completion
Directions: For each of the sentences below, circle the letter (A, B, C or D) of the word or
phrase that best completes its meaning. Then enter your answers on your answer sheet.
16. The polar caps on Mars influence the climate on Mars … in the same way the oceans
influence the climate on Earth.
a) very b) most c) much d) more
17. It is difficult to say when exactly shoes originated, … footwear made of leather or plant
materials degrades rapidly.
a) since b) because of c) yet d) when
18. Inevitably, if you … business with pleasure people might get hurt and your reputation
could be compromised.
a) mixed b) had mixed c) mix d) are mixing
19. Since the 1970s, Halloween celebrations … increasingly popular among adults.
a) have become b) become c) had become d) is becoming
20. The independence college brings … be as much of a challenge as the classes.
a) can b) need c) would d) ought
21. The U.S. has long had a thriving college rugby subculture … is Berkeley.
a) that capital b) the capital of which c) who’s capital d) of which capital
22. The average person is said … at a rate of 250 words per minute.
a) to read b) to be reading c) to have read d) to have been reading
23. A language is far more than the sum of its parts. It is … a community of shared history,
technology and even aspirations.
a) too b) as well as c) also d) both
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24. Doing physical exercises with friends is always … than doing them solo.
a) more fun b) as a fun c) so great a fun d) much fun
Section Four: Sentence Transformations
Directions: Complete the second sentence so that it is as close as possible in meaning to the first one.
25. Smoking is forbidden in all parts of the college.
Students are not………………………………………� �……………………………………….
26. Although they quarrel noisily, the Flintstones are good neighbours.
In spite……………………………………… …………………………………………� �……..
27. They are sorry they didn’t listen to the psychiatrist.
They regret……………………………………� �…………………………………………� ��…
28. The government should make industries pay attention to the environmental problems.
Industries should……………………………………� �………………………………………..
29. The nurse may be taking his pulse, but I can’t see very well.
It looks as if he………………………………………… ……………………………………….
30. The rescuers couldn’t get to the injured people until the hurricane was over.
Not………………………………………� �…………………………………………� ��……....
PART FOUR
WRITING
Directions: Write a composition of about 140-170 words on ONE of the following topics.
1. What would make a ‘perfect’ evening for you? Where? Doing what? With someone?
2. Your house, with everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets,
you have time to make a final dash to save just one item. What would it be? Why it?

Key
Listening Comprehension
1. B; 2. B; 3. A; 4. A; 5. A; 6. B; 7. B; 8. A; 9. C; 10. A; 11. D; 12. B; 13. B; 14. B; 15. A.
Reading Comprehension
1. B; 2. A; 3. A; 4. A; 5. B; 6. B; 7. A; 8. A; 9. B; 10. A; 11. C; 12. C; 13. C; 14. A; 15. A.
Use of English
Section One
1. C; 2. B; 3. A; 4. C; 5. B; 6. D; 7. A;
8 A; 9. B; 10. A; 11. A; 12. A; 13. B; 14. A; 15. B.
Section Two
16. C; 17. A; 18. C; 19. A; 20. A; 21. B; 22. A; 23. C; 24. A
Section Three: Sentence Transformations (Suggestions)
25. Students are not (allowed/permitted to smoke anywhere in the college).
26. In spite (of their noisy quarrels, the Flintstones are good neighbours).
27. They regret (not listening/not having listened to the psychiatrist).
28. Industries should (be made to pay attention to the environmental problems /by the government/).
29. It looks as if he (is being taken his pulse /by the nurse/).
30. Not (until the hurricane was over could the rescuers get to the injured people).