Контроль навыков чтения (тексты с заданиями)

In a Small Town

Text 1

Toscanini was a great musician. He lived in America. One day he came to a very little town. He was walking along the street when he saw a piece of paper in one of the windows. He read:

MRS.SMITH.MUSIC LESSONS.

TWO DOLLARS A LESSON.

Then Toscanini heard the music. Somebody was playing Tchaikovsky.

“Mrs. Smith is playing,” he thought, “she isn’t a very good musician. She doesn’t play Tchaikovsky well. I must show her how to play it.”

He went up to the door of the house and rang. The music stopped and soon a woman opened the door.

“Are you Mrs. Smith?” asked Toscanini. “My name is Toscanini and I want to show you how to play Tchaikovsky.”

Mrs. Smith was very glad to meet the great musician. She asked him to come in. Toscanini played Tchaikovsky for her and went away.

A year later Toscanini visited the same town again. When he went up to the house where he had played Tchaikovsky the year before he again saw a piece of paper. Now it read.

MRS.SMITH. (TOSCANINI’S PUPIL)

MUSIC LESSONS.

FOUR DOLLARS A LESSON.

1. Put “+” if the sentence is right and “-“if it is wrong.

1. Toscanini came to a very little town.
2. He liked how Mrs. Smith was playing.
3. He wanted to play the piano for her.
4. Tchaikovsky visited Mrs. Smith one day.
5. Mrs. Smith was a teacher of music.

2. Write the sentences in the right order.

1. Mrs. Smith was very glad to meet the great musician.
2. He lived in America.
3. The music stopped and soon a woman opened the door.
4. The music stopped and soon a woman opened the door.
5. “Mrs. Smith is playing,” he thought, “she isn’t a very good musician.

3. Answer the questions.

1. Where did Toscanini live?
2. Toscanini was a great musician, wasn’t he?
3. Did he want to show Mrs. Smith how to play?
4. What did he see in one of the window?
5. Did he think that Mrs. Smith was playing well?

4. Write down the ending of the sentence.

1. One day he came…
2. I must show her…
3. The music stopped and soon…
4. Toscanini played Tchaikovsky for …
5. Four dollars…

5. Make up 5 questions to the text.

Shmily Text 2

My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “Shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving “Smily” around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.

They dragged “Smily” with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to wait whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where my grandma always fed us warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring. “Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave Shmily on the very last sheet.

There was no end to the places “Shmily” would pop up. Little notes with “Shmily” scribbled hurriedly were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows. “Shmily” was written in the dust upon the mantel and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of my grandparents’ house as the furniture.

It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism has kept me from believing in true love- one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious little games; it was way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection which not everyone is lucky enough to experience.

Grandma and grandpa held hands ever chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other’s sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome an old man he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew “how to pick ‘em”. Before every meal they bowed heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessing: a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.

But there was a dark cloud in my grandparents’ life: my grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always, Grandpa was with her every step of the way. He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that color so she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.

Now the cancer was once again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my grandfather’s steady hand, they still went to church every morning. But my grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally, she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, Grandpa would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over his wife. Then one day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone. “Shmily. It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Though his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby.

Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. For I knew then that, although I couldn’t begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been privileged to witness its unmatched beauty. S-H-M-I-L-Y: See How Much I Love You

Thank you , Grandpa and Grandma, for letting me see.

Laura Jeanne Alien

1. Answer the questions.

1. What was the goal of the game have been played by the grandparents?
2. Where could this mysterious word be found?
3. What disease had grandmother?
4. What song did grandfather sing to grandma when she had died?
5. What color did grandpa paint their room when grandma was sick and why?

2 . Find sentences which prove that grandparents had true love.

3. Write the sentences in the right order.

1. The grandpa sang a lullaby to grandma on her grave when she died.
2. The author of this story was proud to witness the beauty of true love.
3. The grandparents were married about fifty years.
4. As usually grandpa helped her every step of the way.
5. I never doubted my grandparents relations.

4. Find in the text:

1. С помощью трости и твердой руки моего дедушки, они все еще каждое утро ходили в церковь.
2. Это мистическое слово являлось такой же частью дома бабушки и дедушки, экак и мебель.
3. они любили друг друга до гробовой доски.
4. Затем день, которого мы все страшились, наступил.
5. Они обменивались поцелуями, если сталкивались друг с другом на своей крошечной кухне.

5. Make up 5 questions to the text.

Text 3

In 1608 an Englishman whose name was Thomas Coryate visited Italy. He liked the country and noted down every interesting thing he found. But there was one thing which he found more interesting than the others. In his diary Thomas wrote, “When the Italians eat meat, they use small forks. They don’t eat with hands because, as they say , do not always have clean hands”.

Before leaving for England, Thomas Coryate bought a few forks.

At home Thomas gave a dinner party to show the invention to his friends. When the servant brought the steak, he took out a fork and began to eat like they did in Italy.

Everybody looked at him in surprise. When he told his friends what it was, they all wanted to take a good look at the strange thing. All his friends said that the Italians were very strange people because the fork was very inconvenient.

Thomas Coryate tried to prove the opposite. He said it was not nice to eat with one’s fingers because they were not always clean.

Everybody got angry at that . Did Mr. Coryate think that people inEngland always had dirty hands? And weren’t the ten fingers they had enough for them?

Thomas Coryate wanted to show that it was very easy to use the fork. But the first piece of meat he took with the fork fell to the floor. His friends began to laugh and he had to take the fork away.

Only fifty years later people in England began to use forks.

1. Translate the following sentences into Russian:

1. In 1608 an Englishman whose name was Thomas Coryate visited Italy.
2. But there was one thing which he found more interesting than the others.
3. He said it was not nice to eat with one’s fingers because they were not always clean.
4. But the first piece of meat he took with the fork fell to the floor.

2. Answer the questions:

1. Why did the Italians eat with the forks?
2. What did he give at home to show the invention of the Italians?
3. Why did his friends begin to laugh?
4. When did people in England begin to use forks?

3. Correct according to the contents of the text :

1. They eat with the hands because, as they say, do not always have clean hands.
2. Everybody got happy at that.
3. Only seventy years later people in England began to use forks.
4. When the servant brought the steak, he took out a knife and began to eat like they did in Italy.

4. Put 5 questions to the text.

London Text 4

London is the capital of Great Britain. London is a very old town. London is two thousand years old. Many years ago London was a small town on the Thames. There were a lot of villages round it. After many years London and three hundred villages grew into a very large city. Some of the names of those villages are the names of the streets in modern London-Kensington, Westminster.

Now London is a beautiful city with large squares and parks. The city of London is the business centre. East End includes the poor districts. West of London is the West End where rich people live.

Trafalgar Square is in the centre of the West End of London. In the centre of Trafalgar Square there is the column made of granite. On the top of the column there is a 17-feet-tall statue of Admiral Nelson who defeated the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1809. The total high of the monument is 184 feet (44 meters).On the pedestal is a bronze relief cast from a captured French cannon, representing Nelson’s victory.

On the North side of Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery.

The National Gallery has one of the finest collections of pictures in the world.

Trafalgar Square is one of the busiest place in London, where people go to and from the work, it is hard to cross the street.

1. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту.

1. What is the capital of Great Britain ?
2. How many years is London?
3. What includes the poor districts?
4. Where do rich people live?
5. Where is the Admiral Nelson column?

2. Продолжите предложение.

1. On the top of the column …
2. London is two…
3. On the north side…
4. The total high…
5. There were…

3. Какие предложения соответствуют содержанию текста “+”, а какие не соответствуют “-”

1. London is a new town.
2. London is on the Thames.
3. The West End of London is a place where rich people live.
4. In London there aren’t a lot of squares and parks.

4. Найдите в тексте

1. Национальная галерея имеет одну из прекраснейших коллекций в мире.
2. Трефальгарская площадь находится в центре Вест Енда в Лондоне.
3. Сейчас Лондон –один из красивейших городов с большими площадями и парками .
4. Спустя много лет Лондон и три сотни деревень превратились в один большой город.
5. Некоторые из этих деревень стали названиями в современном Лондоне.

The Christmas Tree Text 5

No one _1_ for sure who decorated the first Christmas tree . The_2_ of bringing an evergreen tree indoors and _3_ it at Christmas started in Germany. One _4_ says that Martin Luther started the practice. Luther was an important Christian_5_ . According to the story, he noticed the starlit sky as he walked home one Christmas Eve about the year 1513.He thought the stars looked as if they were shining on the branches. When he arrived home, Martin Luther placed a small fir tree _6_ his house. He decorated it with lighted candles.

Decorating Christmas trees became _7_ in Germany. Prince Albert of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, the German husband of Queen Victoria, took the tradition to England. Both German and English people brought it to America. And now nearly every family in Great Britain and the USA has a _8_ tree.

The biggest Christmas tree in Britain is put up in Trafalgar Square in _9_ .

The people of Norway still give this tree every year to the _10_ to thank them for helping Norway against Hitler in the second World War.

1. Chose the right answer:

2. Answer the questions:

1. Where was started the tradition of decorating Christmas tree?
2. Who started this tradition?
3. Who brought it to Britain?
4. Why do people of Norway still present a tree to Britain?

3.  Ask 5 questions .

Text 6

THE STORY OF MY TROUBLES

From my childhood I was an easily taught and obedient boy. My kindness was so noticeable that my friends made fun of me. I was especially fond of animals and had a great number of pets. With these I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and playing with them. My character did not change much when I grew up.

I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a character very much like my own. Seeing my love for pets she never lost a chance of getting the most pleasant animals. We had birds, gold-fish, a fine dog, rabbits, a small monkey, and a cat.

This cat was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, quite black and surprisingly clever. In speaking of his cleverness, my wife, who was a superstitious woman, often mentioned the old popular belief, which considered all black cats to be in disguise.

Pluto- this was the cat’s name-was my favourite pet and playmate. I alone fed him, and he followed me everywhere about the house. It was even with difficulty that I could prevent him following me through the streets.

Our friendship lasted for several years, during which my character (I blush to confess it) had changed for the worse. I became day by day more moody and irritable. It often happened that I hurt the feelings of others; I suffered myself as I was rude to my wife. At last I even hit her.

My pets, of course, could feel the change in my character. In fact, I began to treat them cruelly. As for Pluto, I held back from cruelty as I did treat cruelly the rabbits, the monkey, or even the dog when they came in my way. But my illness took hold of me- for what other illness is like alcohol!- and at last even Pluto ,who was now becoming old, even Pluto began to feel the effects of my temper.

1. Answer the questions:

1. What kind of pets do they have?
2. What was the cat’s name?
3. What illness had the author?
4. Was he a kind man?
5. How long did their friendship last?

2. Ask questions.

1. Yes/No
2. Who
3. Where
4. or
5. “tag” question

3. Translate:

1. I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a character very much like my own.
2. Our friendship lasted for several years, during which my character (I blush to confess it) had changed for the worse.
3. In speaking of his cleverness, my wife, who was a superstitious woman, often mentioned the old popular belief, which considered all black cats to be in disguise.

4. Name antonyms:

Happy, beautiful, kind, black, begin.

5. Find in the text:

I got day by day more changeable.