Олимпиада 9-11 кл
олимпиадные задания по английскому языку

Время выполнения работы:  90 минут

Максимальное количество баллов:  57

Все ответы к заданиям должны быть перенесены в ЛИСТ ОТВЕТОВ

LISTENING

Time: 15 minutes

Максимальное количество баллов – 8

You will hear people talking in eight different situations. For Questions 1-8  choose the best answer A, B or C.

1. You hear this description on the radio. Who is speaking?

A. a newsreader                 B. a policeman                  C. a witness

2. You hear a girl talking to a friend about clothes. What is she describing?

A. a pair of trousers            B. a skirt                              C.  a pair of shorts

3. You hear a commercial on the radio. What is it advertising?

A. an umbrella                     B. a handbag                        C. a raincoat

4. You hear this woman talking to a friend. What is her job?

A. a nurse                            B. a policewoman                   C. a soldier

5. You are in a shop when you hear these two men talking. What are they looking at?

A. a pair of jeans                 B. a pair of gloves                    C. a pair of shoes

6. You hear one girl speaking to another. What is she talking about?

A. clothes                            B. hair                                         C. make-up

7. You hear this woman talking to a group of people. What is her job?

A. a photographer                 B. a painter                             C. a make-up artist

8. You hear a woman talking on the phone to a man. Who is she?  

A. someone he has never met             B. someone he has met once        C. someone he knows well  

READING

Time: 30 minutes

Максимальное количество баллов – 14

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

                                                   Holiday on Ice

What is the secret of Holiday on Ice’s long-lasting success? Hilary Rose reports

At 7pm on a dark, cold November evening, thousands of people are making their way across a vast car park. They’re not here to see a film, or the ballet, or even the circus. They are all here for what is, bizarrely, a global phenomenon: they are here to see Holiday on Ice. Given that most people don’t seem to be acquainted with anyone who’s ever been, the show’s statistics are extraordinary: nearly 300 million people have seen Holiday on Ice since it began in 1943; it is the most popular live entertainment in the world.

But what does the production involve? And why are so many people prepared to spend their lives travelling round Europe in caravans in order to appear in it? It can’t be glamorous, and it’s undoubtedly hard work. The backstage atmosphere is an odd mix of gym class and workplace. A curtained-off section at the back of the arena is laughably referred to as the girls’ dressing room, but is more accurately described as a corridor, with beige, cracked walls and cheap temporary tables set up along the length of it. Each girl has a small area littered with pots of orange make-up, tubes of mascara and long false eyelashes.

As a place to work, it must rank pretty low down the scale: the area round the ice-rink is grey and mucky with rows of dirty blue and brown plastic seating and red carpet tiles. It’s an unimpressive picture, but the show itself is an unquestionably vast, polished global enterprise: the lights come from a firm in Texas, the people who make the audio system are in California, but Montreal supplies the smoke effects; former British Olympic skater Robin Cousins is now creative director for the company and conducts a vast master class to make sure they’re ready for the show’s next performance.

The next day, as the music blares out from the sound system, the cast start to go through their routines under Cousins’ direction. Cousins says, ‘The aim is to make sure they’re all still getting to exactly the right place on the ice at the right time – largely because the banks of lights in the ceiling are set to those places, and if the skaters are all half a meter out they’ll be illuminating empty ice. Our challenge,’ he continues, ‘is to produce something they can sell in a number of countries at the same time. My theory is that you take those things that people want to see and you give it to them, but not in the way they expect to see it. You try to twist it. And you have to find music that is challenging to the skaters, because they have to do it every night.’

It may be a job which he took to pay the rent, but you can’t doubt his enthusiasm. ‘The only place you’ll see certain skating moves is an ice show,’ he says, ‘because you’re not allowed to do them in competition. It’s not in the rules. So the ice show world has things to offer which the competitive world just doesn’t.’ Cousins knows what he’s talking about because he skated for the show himself when he stopped competing – he was financially unable to retire. He learnt the hard way that you can’t put on an Olympic performance every night. ‘I’d be thinking, these people have paid their money, now do your stuff, and I suddenly thought, “I really can’t cope. I’m not enjoying it”.’ The solution, he realised, was to give 75 per cent every night, rather than striving for the sort of twice-a-year excellence which won him medals.

To be honest, for those of us whose only experience of ice-skating is watching top-class Olympic skaters, some of the movements can look a bit amateurish, but then, who are we to judge? Equally, it’s impossible not to be swept up in the whole thing; well, you’d have to try pretty hard not to enjoy it.

1. What surprises the writer about the popularity of Holiday on Ice?

A. The show has not changed since it started.

B. Few people know someone who has seen it.

C. Ice-skating is not generally a popular hobby.

D. People often say they prefer other types of show.

2. The writer describes the backstage area in order to show

A. the conditions the skaters put up with

B. the type of skater the show attracts.

C.  how much fun the cast have during their work.

D. how much preparation is needed for a performance.

3. What does the writer highlight about the show in the third paragraph?

A.  the need for a higher level of professional support.

B.  the difficulty of finding suitable equipment.

C.  the range of companies involved in the production.

D. the variety of places in which the show has been staged.

4.For Robin Cousins the key point when rehearsing skating routines is

A.  the movement of the lights.

B.  keeping in time with the music.

C.  filling all available space on the ice.

D. the  skater positions on the ice.

5. Cousins believes that he can meet the challenge of producing show for different audience

A.   by varying the routines each night.

B.  by adapting movements to suit local tastes.

C.  by presenting familiar material in an unexpected way.

D.by selecting music that local audience will respond to.

6. What does Cousins suggest in paragraph 5 about skating in shows?

A.   It allows skaters to try out a range of ideas.

B.  It enables skaters to visit a variety of places.

C. It  can be as competitive as other forms of skating.

D. It is particularly well paid.

7. What is mean by “the hard way”  in line 40?

A.   . through making a lot of errors

B.     through difficult personal experience

C. by over-estimating the ability of others

D. by misunderstanding the expectations of others

8. What conclusion does the writer draw about  Holiday on Ice?

A. It is more enjoyable to watch than formal ice-skating.

B.  It requires as much skill as Olympic ice-skating.

C. It is hard to know who really enjoys it.

D. It is difficult to dislike it.

Task 2. Read the following text and decide which of the statements below are true or false.

Improving Your Job Skills as a Teenager

  As a teenager you have probably noticed that your "worth" in the "job market" is not very high. For example, when you go searching for a job you probably find that most of them pay minimum wage. Have you ever wondered why you make minimum wage? Have you ever wondered why other people make $20 an hour, or $50 an hour, or more? What is it that determines your value in the job market, and how can you increase your value? These are extremely important questions. Once you answer them you are in position to do something about changing your own value.

  Your value in the marketplace is controlled primarily by what you know. A very simple and surprisingly accurate way to understand why this is the case involves the basic rule of supply and demand. Right now, as a teenager, you have not acquired the knowledge that allows you to earn more than minimum wage. That means that most of the jobs you are offered are "low on the totem pole." Either they are "entry level" positions, or they are "unskilled" positions like sweeping floors, unloading boxes, flipping burgers and so on. Most of these jobs pay minimum wage because it doesn't take long to train somebody to do the job.

   In the case of minimum wage workers, the supply of workers outstrips the demand. As an employee you have no leverage because you can be replaced in an instant.

   If you want to make more money, then you have to learn a skill. As a general rule, the longer it takes you to learn a skill the more valuable the skill is. This occurs because the length of time needed to obtain a skill tends to limit the supply of people who possess the skill.

   If you keep the laws of supply and demand in mind, a lot of things begin to make more sense. For example:

   Why do doctors and lawyers make a lot of money (a good lawyer bills between $100 and $200 per hour. Famous lawyers bill much more)? Because it takes 6 to 10 years to take the classes and pass the tests required to become a doctor or a lawyer. Therefore the supply is low relative to the demand for doctors and lawyers.

It really is important to start early. Have you ever seen an adult do something and been amazed by it? For example, have you ever seen a star athlete do things on the field that amaze you? Have you ever seen your parents handle a sticky situation in a way that amazes you? Have you ever seen a master craftsman build something beautiful and asked, "How in the world does he/she do that?" People who are able to do amazing things get to the point of amazement by practicing. Every day that you practice a skill you learn something new, and it is what you learn that makes you valuable. That applies to computer programming, car repair, public speaking, basketball, and everything else.

   Let's imagine that you are trying to learn a new skill. It doesn't really matter what the skill is. The first day on the job you know nothing, and as a result you are hopelessly bad. But on that first day you learn one or two things about the skill.        The second day on the job you are a tiny bit better and you learn a couple more things. The third day you are a tiny bit better and you learn a couple more things... And so on. Adults can do "amazing things" because they have spent thousands of days doing whatever it is they do. In their brains they hold thousands of experiences that they draw on to handle today's situations. The sooner you start adding information to your brain's storehouse, the more valuable you can become.

Let's say that you are a normal teenager. Let's say that you would like to start learning a skill that is valuable. Let's say that you have access to the web. If you like computers, then you are in luck. It is possible for anyone to learn a wide variety of computer skills on the web. Will your efforts help you earn more money? Yes. Even as a teenager you can significantly improve your earning power by learning computer skills.

Decide which of the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

1.   If you want to earn more money, you need to learn more skills.

2.   If you practice your skill every day, you can learn something new.

3.   You can do amazing things even if you have never learned them.

4.  You can’t hold experience in your mind the way an adult can.

5.  Even your first day at work is a day when you already know a lot of things.

6.  If you have access to the web you have an opportunity to earn money.

USE OF ENGLISH

Time: 15 minutes

Максимальное количество баллов – 15.

For items 1-15 fill in the gaps in the text choosing an appropriate word from the column on the right. Choose one word once only. There are two extra words in the right column which you don’t have to choose.

WRITING

Time: 30 minutes

Максимальное количество баллов - 20

Comment on the following piece of news:

Common sense goes a long way when it comes to learning a country’s proper etiquette. But even the savviest, most observant travellers can make the occasional cultural stumble if they are not careful.

Sam Bruce, a co-founder of the travel site Much better adventures, grew up in Hong Kong – yet did not realize until he was much older that in Hong Kong, people should always hand over business cards with two hands. “I had a rather awkward moment where I casually slid my name card face-down across the table to someone at the end of a meeting, when at the very same moment they delivered theirs, bowing, with both hands,” he explained. “What I had done was a big no-no and highly disrespectful.”

Write 100 -120 words.

Remember to

- make an introduction,

- express your personal opinion on local etiquette rules in your country and abroad, give reasons for your opinion,

- make a conclusion.

           Write in your  own words. DO NOT quote from the given text.

Participant’s ID number

ANSWER SHEET

Listening  

            Reading  

Task 1

Task 2

               Use of English

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Writing

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