Задание А8 - А14 Высокого уровня с выбором ответа из трех предложенных (задание на множественный выбор)

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Fabulous Sisters

  Venus and erena Williams are two of the biggest names, not only in tennis but also in the history of women's sports and black history. Together known as the Williams sisters, venus and serena have a combined total of forty two grand slam titles. serena has won 23 compared to her sister's 19 and Venus has won 3 Olympic Gold medals compared to Serena's 2. But Serena has won more career prize money than any other female athlete in history.

   But things have not always come easy for the williams sisters. They learned their game and practiced their tennis basics in a city torn by gang warfare - Compton, California. While many of their contemporaries had professional coaches and played on private courts, they played on municipal courts and were coached by their father, Richard.

   The girls showed a natural aptitude for the game and quickly advanced to amateur competition. When Venus made her professional debut in October 1994, Robin Flinn of the New York Times called her "the most unorthodox tennis prodigy her sport has ever seen." Venus, older than Serena by about 15 months, was the first to reach the top of the world women's rankings, and she has stayed at the top of the game ever since.

   Over the years and in spite of their struggles and injuries, journalists are always targeting them for not being devoted enough to the game of tennis. The sisters have branched out into acting and fashion. Serena even has her own fashion label "Aneres" - which is her name spelled backwards. They are beautiful and stylish and it seems like people criticize them almost just for being so great at everything they do!

   What a lot of people don't know is how much charity work the sisters do. Venus and Serena know what it is like to be poor from their childhood and they love to help kids who aren't so lucky. For the past three years in a row, the Williams have played exhibitions all over the country during the off-season to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charity; a charity  that donates money to children in need around the globe. Also during the 2006 off-season, Serena took a trip to Ghana where she visited people around the country. Serena fell in love with the country and after coming home, completely inspired, she would like to open a school there. In February, the sisters also went to Jamaica where they gave tennis clinics to hundreds of children. This was despite the fact that Serena was unwell and at that time unable to play pro tennis and Venus was struggling with a left wrist injury so bad she couldn't type or write, let alone play!

Pay attention to the meaning of the word combinations:

a city torn by gang warfare = having bad criminal situation;

to show a natural aptitude for the game = to be good at ;

an unorthodox prodigy = unusually skillful;

in a row = one after another without any break; 

to play pro tennis = to go in for professional tennis.

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