1. Things boys play with are not like objects girls play with. Boys often have more freedom to run about and they get guns, train sets, toy trucks and toy cars. Electronic games are very popular among young boys. Toys for girls are much quieter and more passive. Young girls often get things like dolls, dresses, and pictures to colour.
2. Teddies are an important part of British culture. Most people in Britain have a teddy bear when they are young, and most people are very fond of their special bear, even when they are 30 or 40 years old! Many famous people like film stars or pop stars or politicians collect teddies. These people have donated their old friends to the teddy bear museum which is in Stradford-on-Avon in England. Many tourists go to this place, because it is the birthplace of Shakespeare, but they often love the teddy bear museum more.
3. Computer games are a multimillion dollar industry, but people who really enjoy games are not satisfied with playing against the computer. They want to play against real people and most computer games allow you to do that just by joining up with other players on the Internet. Regular players say that this is where their true enjoyment of games can be found. With some games up to 60 people can take part. It's a good way to meet people and it gives you something to talk about.
4. The big American company General Motors has developed a vehicle that uses the power of the sun instead of petrol. The vehicle is called Sunraycer which means "ray of the sun"+"racer". Sunraycer has just taken part in a race against 25 solar-powered vehicles. Sunraycer covered the great distance in 45 hours at a speed of 41 miles an hour at temperatures as high as 48C. It is certainly the car of the future.
5. Computers are a great technological invention of the 20th century. Their advantages are numerous yet much can be said against them. The main disadvantage of computers is that looking at a screen for long periods of time is bad for the eyes, and sitting on a chair for hours is not healthy. Also, people who use computers have a tendency to become anti-social and stay at home. The strongest argument against the use of computers is that the more jobs which are done by computers, the less are done by people.
6. Thirty years ago few people realized that computers were about to become part of our everyday lives. This short period of time has seen great changes in business, education and public administration. Jobs which took weeks to do in past, are now carried out in minutes. Schoolchildren have become as familiar with hardware and software as their parents were with pencils and exercise books and they dont worry about mistakes having a computer.
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| 1. The Royal Family lived in Reading for long periods of time. 2. The music festivals last for the same period of time. 3. You can get tickets for the Reading Festival only in Reading. 4. It is easy to book a room in a hotel during the festivals. | Reading is a modern, prosperous town on the south bank of the River Thames. Guarding the western approaches to London, it has always been important. It was a stopping-off point for kings and queens and once it was home to one of the countrys richest abbeys. Today almost nothing is left of the old town except the remains of the abbey. There is a flourishing arts scene in the town, with both the Reading Film Theatre and the Hexagon Theatre. Reading is also famous for its big summertime festivals. The first, the Folk Poetry Festival, lasts five days. The three-day World Music, Arts and Dance Festival was originally inspired by Peter Gabriel. Held a little later in the summer the Reading Festival is a three-day event featuring many of the big names of contemporary music. Details of who is performing are published in the music press at least a couple of months in advance and tickets are available from record shops across the country. If you are planning on being in Reading for any of the festivals be sure to reserve a room months in advance. | |
| 5. A man-made waterway is one of the towns sights. 6. The Beatrix Potter Exhibition is located in the tower of the cathedral. | Gloucester has played an important role in the history of England. Commercial prestige came to town with trade up the River Severn, which developed into one of the busiest trade routes in Europe. However, navigating the Severn was so difficult that most trade gradually moved to the south. To help the city, a canal was opened in 1827, but it didnt improve the situation. Today, the canal is busy once again, though this time with pleasure boats. It has become a great new tourist attraction. Gloucesters most prominent sight is the cathedral, its tower visible for miles around. The impressive buildings around the cathedral include the Beatrix Potter Exhibition in the house used by the childrens author for her illustrations of the story of the Tailor of Gloucester. |
| 14-20, 1, 2, 3 4, . |
My friendship with Kathy wasnt a perfect friendship. I learned very soon in our relationship that Kathy was jealous. We would have great fun going out shopping but if I bought, say, a dress for a party and she thought my dress was better than hers, she would start to say slightly unkind things about it. She would be keen to come out with me to buy the dress. She would give me a lot of helpful advice while I was trying on the various dresses in the shops. Her advice would be good. She would even tell the shop assistant if she thought the price was too high. I can remember one occasion when she said this and, to my surprise, they knocked the price down so that I could afford to buy it. The trouble would come later. When we were actually going to the party and we were both dressed up and she was looking marvellous (for she was very beautiful) she would suddenly say, I think, Sarah, we were both wrong about that dress. It looks a bit cheap, doesnt it!
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Once or twice I dropped Kathy. I told her I was too busy to see her. Or I told her I had to see another friend. All these lies hurt me because I had no other friend and I was so lonely. But they never hurt her. She just smiled sweetly and said shed see me next week. And of course, within a week or so, Id be on the phone asking her to come out. She never minded this. She never sulked at me and pretended that she was too busy.
Students always celebrated the end of the college year with a fancy-dress ball. It was a big event. But as luck would have it, Kathy and I had made another arrangements for the day of the ball. We had booked to go to the theatre. We had talked for ages of going, and at last we had our tickets. For us it was a big event. It was a musical and our favourite singer star was in it, so our hearts were set on the theatre.
Then Kathy came round to see me. Mother was in at the time, and I had to speak to her on the doorstep because Mum had just been having a go at me for seeing too much of Kathy.
I dont want that girl coming in this house and nosing around. So I told Kathy I couldnt invite her in because my Mum had a bad headache.
Kathy didnt mind. She smiled and said she was sorry about my mothers bad head. I was sure she knew what had really happened.
But she carried on smiling, and then she said: Im sorry, but I cant come to the theatre with you after all. My brothers come home and he wants to take me to the fancy-dress ball at the college. I cant let him down. I couldnt believe that she would let me down. She knew how much I had looked forward to the theatre trip. We had talked about it together for months.
I was almost in tears by the time I had said goodbye to her and closed the door. My Mum was kind and understanding. She made me promise I would never see Kathy again. I agreed, and felt that was the least I could do by way of revenge for my disappointment. I told myself that I would never so much as talk to Kathy if I saw her. Our relationship was at an end. I would never forget what she had done to me.
| A14 |
When Sarah says that Kathy was jealous she implies that Kathy didnt like it when Sarah
| 1) | had fun going out. |
| 2) | managed to buy the dress cheaply. |
| 3) | wore expensive clothes. |
| 4) | wore clothes smarter than her own. |
| A15 |
When Sarah was buying a dress in a shop Kathy would
| 1) | start to say slightly unkind things about it. |
| 2) | do her best to ensure that Sarah made the best buy. |
| 3) | insist that Sarah should buy a cheap dress. |
| 4) | be keen to buy a marvellous dress for herself. |
When Sarah tried to drop her, Kathy
| A16 |
| 1) | pretended to be busy. |
| 2) | went to see another friend. |
| 3) | felt hurt and lonely. |
| 4) | always took it easy. |
But as luck would have it in paragraph 3 means Kathy and Sarah
| A17 |
| 1) | had the luck to get the tickets for the musical. |
| 2) | were happy to have made arrangements for the ball. |
| 3) | were looking forward to hearing their favourite singer. |
| 4) | had by chance two events on the same day. |
| A18 |
Sarah couldnt invite Kathy to come in because
| 1) | their house was in a mess. |
| 2) | her mother was suffering from a bad headache. |
| 3) | her mother disapproved of her daughters friend. |
| 4) | Kathy had come to their house to nose around. |
Kathy said she didnt mind speaking to Sarah on the doorstep because she
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| A19 |
| 1) | didnt want to make Sarah feel uncomfortable. |
| 2) | believed that Sarahs Mum had a headache. |
| 3) | did not want anyone to overhear them talking. |
| 4) | was in a hurry to see her brother. |
| A20 |
Sarah decided not to see Kathy again because
| 1) | her mother forbade her. |
| 2) | she couldnt forgive Kathy. |
| 3) | her mother was disappointed. |
| 4) | she wanted to revenge for her mother. |
