Reading Test

1.    Read the text below. For questions (1-5) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WEATHER

        Weather has a powerful effect on people. It influences health, intelligence, and feelings.

        In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. Southerners have heart attacks and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states tend to have heat attacks after the weather changes in February or March.

        The weather can also affect intelligence. For example, in 1938 the IQ (intelligence quotient) scores of a group of undergraduate college students were very high during a hurricane, but after the storm, their scores were 10 per cent below average. Hurricanes can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can lower it. Students often do badly on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

        Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, overweight people, may feel unhappy. The summer heat may make them tired and irritable.

1.    What is the hottest and wettest time of the year in the south of the US?

Read the text below. For questions (1-5) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WEATHER

        Weather has a powerful effect on people. It influences health, intelligence, and feelings.

        In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. Southerners have heart attacks and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states tend to have heat attacks after the weather changes in February or March.

        The weather can also affect intelligence. For example, in 1938 the IQ (intelligence quotient) scores of a group of undergraduate college students were very high during a hurricane, but after the storm, their scores were 10 per cent below average. Hurricanes can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can lower it. Students often do badly on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

        Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, overweight people, may feel unhappy. The summer heat may make them tired and irritable.

2.    Where is it very hot at some times and very cold at other times?

Read the text below. For questions (1-5) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WEATHER

        Weather has a powerful effect on people. It influences health, intelligence, and feelings.

        In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. Southerners have heart attacks and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states tend to have heat attacks after the weather changes in February or March.

        The weather can also affect intelligence. For example, in 1938 the IQ (intelligence quotient) scores of a group of undergraduate college students were very high during a hurricane, but after the storm, their scores were 10 per cent below average. Hurricanes can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can lower it. Students often do badly on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

        Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, overweight people, may feel unhappy. The summer heat may make them tired and irritable.

3.    What is the best climatic condition for taking a test?

Read the text below. For questions (1-5) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WEATHER

        Weather has a powerful effect on people. It influences health, intelligence, and feelings.

        In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. Southerners have heart attacks and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states tend to have heat attacks after the weather changes in February or March.

        The weather can also affect intelligence. For example, in 1938 the IQ (intelligence quotient) scores of a group of undergraduate college students were very high during a hurricane, but after the storm, their scores were 10 per cent below average. Hurricanes can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can lower it. Students often do badly on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

        Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, overweight people, may feel unhappy. The summer heat may make them tired and irritable.

4.    When are the worst exam results very often produced in the US?

Read the text below. For questions (1-5) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

THE POWERFUL INFLUENCE OF WEATHER

        Weather has a powerful effect on people. It influences health, intelligence, and feelings.

        In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. Southerners have heart attacks and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states tend to have heat attacks after the weather changes in February or March.

        The weather can also affect intelligence. For example, in 1938 the IQ (intelligence quotient) scores of a group of undergraduate college students were very high during a hurricane, but after the storm, their scores were 10 per cent below average. Hurricanes can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can lower it. Students often do badly on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

        Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, overweight people, may feel unhappy. The summer heat may make them tired and irritable.

5.    What does weather normally affect?

2.    Read the text below. Match choices (A-H) to (6-11). There are two choices you do not need to use.

NEW YORK MUSEUMS AND ART CENTRES

6 ____

        The Guggenheim Museum is at Fifth Avenue and 89^th Street. It specializes in modern painting, sculpture and graphic arts. The building itself is a place of modern art designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Which of the art centres and museums is associated with __________?

7 ____

        The Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts is the official name of what is more commonly called Lincoln Centre. It is at Broadway and 64^th Street and includes the home of the New York Philharmonic Society, the New York State Theatre, a library and a school.

Which of the art centres and museums is associated with __________?

8 ____

        The Metropolitan Museum of Art is at 82^nd Street and Fifth Avenue. It is one of the most important art museums in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. It includes hundreds of world’ famous masterpieces: paintings, sculptures, tapestries, musical instruments, decorative arts and costumes. Its collection includes more than two million works of art across the globe: from the first cities of the ancient world to works being created today. 

Which of the art centres and museums is associated with __________?

9 ____

        The Radio City Music Hall Entertainment Centre is in the Rockefeller Centre. It is located from 47^th to 52^nd Street, west of Fifth Avenue. It is a masterpiece of art deco, special performances and spectacular revues.

Which of the art centres and museums is associated with __________?

10 ____

        Carnegie Hall is situated at 57^th and Seventh Avenue. It is a music centre founded in 1891 by the capitalist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It is the place where the world’s greatest orchestras and soloists play.

Which of the art centres and museums is associated with __________?

11 ____

        The Museum of Modern Art is situated at 11^th W 53^rd Street. It exhibits modern paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and architecture, photography, film, industrial and graphic design dating from the 1880s to the present day.

        Which of the art centres and museums is associated with __________?

3.    Read the text below. Choose from (A-H) the one which best fits each space (12-17).

A DANGEROUS COOK

        When my friend Tom sets (12) ____, disaster often results. Once he tried to make toasted cheese sandwiches for us (13) ____ along with the bread; and he ruined the toaster. Unfortunately, the toaster was a fairly new one that I had just bought for him three weeks before, on his birthday. (14) ____, he had cut up some beans and put them in a pot to steam. I was really looking forward to the beans, for I eat nothing but canned vegetables. I, frankly, am not much of a cook either. The water in the Teflon pan steamed away while Tom was on the telephone, and both the beans and the Teflon coating in the pan were ruined. Finally, another time Tom made spaghetti for us, and (15) ____ so tightly that we had to cut off slices with a knife and a fork. (16) ____, the meatballs were burned on the outside but (17) ____ inside.

A DANGEROUS COOK

        When my friend Tom sets (12) ____, disaster often results. Once he tried to make toasted cheese sandwiches for us (13) ____ along with the bread; and he ruined the toaster. Unfortunately, the toaster was a fairly new one that I had just bought for him three weeks before, on his birthday. (14) ____, he had cut up some beans and put them in a pot to steam. I was really looking forward to the beans, for I eat nothing but canned vegetables. I, frankly, am not much of a cook either. The water in the Teflon pan steamed away while Tom was on the telephone, and both the beans and the Teflon coating in the pan were ruined. Finally, another time Tom made spaghetti for us, and (15) ____ so tightly that we had to cut off slices with a knife and a fork. (16) ____, the meatballs were burned on the outside but (17) ____ inside.

A DANGEROUS COOK

        When my friend Tom sets (12) ____, disaster often results. Once he tried to make toasted cheese sandwiches for us (13) ____ along with the bread; and he ruined the toaster. Unfortunately, the toaster was a fairly new one that I had just bought for him three weeks before, on his birthday. (14) ____, he had cut up some beans and put them in a pot to steam. I was really looking forward to the beans, for I eat nothing but canned vegetables. I, frankly, am not much of a cook either. The water in the Teflon pan steamed away while Tom was on the telephone, and both the beans and the Teflon coating in the pan were ruined. Finally, another time Tom made spaghetti for us, and (15) ____ so tightly that we had to cut off slices with a knife and a fork. (16) ____, the meatballs were burned on the outside but (17) ____ inside.

A DANGEROUS COOK

        When my friend Tom sets (12) ____, disaster often results. Once he tried to make toasted cheese sandwiches for us (13) ____ along with the bread; and he ruined the toaster. Unfortunately, the toaster was a fairly new one that I had just bought for him three weeks before, on his birthday. (14) ____, he had cut up some beans and put them in a pot to steam. I was really looking forward to the beans, for I eat nothing but canned vegetables. I, frankly, am not much of a cook either. The water in the Teflon pan steamed away while Tom was on the telephone, and both the beans and the Teflon coating in the pan were ruined. Finally, another time Tom made spaghetti for us, and (15) ____ so tightly that we had to cut off slices with a knife and a fork. (16) ____, the meatballs were burned on the outside but (17) ____ inside.

A DANGEROUS COOK

        When my friend Tom sets (12) ____, disaster often results. Once he tried to make toasted cheese sandwiches for us (13) ____ along with the bread; and he ruined the toaster. Unfortunately, the toaster was a fairly new one that I had just bought for him three weeks before, on his birthday. (14) ____, he had cut up some beans and put them in a pot to steam. I was really looking forward to the beans, for I eat nothing but canned vegetables. I, frankly, am not much of a cook either. The water in the Teflon pan steamed away while Tom was on the telephone, and both the beans and the Teflon coating in the pan were ruined. Finally, another time Tom made spaghetti for us, and (15) ____ so tightly that we had to cut off slices with a knife and a fork. (16) ____, the meatballs were burned on the outside but (17) ____ inside.

A DANGEROUS COOK

        When my friend Tom sets (12) ____, disaster often results. Once he tried to make toasted cheese sandwiches for us (13) ____ along with the bread; and he ruined the toaster. Unfortunately, the toaster was a fairly new one that I had just bought for him three weeks before, on his birthday. (14) ____, he had cut up some beans and put them in a pot to steam. I was really looking forward to the beans, for I eat nothing but canned vegetables. I, frankly, am not much of a cook either. The water in the Teflon pan steamed away while Tom was on the telephone, and both the beans and the Teflon coating in the pan were ruined. Finally, another time Tom made spaghetti for us, and (15) ____ so tightly that we had to cut off slices with a knife and a fork. (16) ____, the meatballs were burned on the outside but (17) ____ inside.