After Thomas Blood, other criminals tried to steal the Crown Jewels.

True

False

Not stated

 

 

На фипи стр. 20 №3

Прочитайте текст. Определите, какие из приведённых утверждений 10–16 соответствуют содержанию текста (1 – True), какие не соответствуют (2 – False) и о чём в тексте не сказано, то есть на основании текста нельзя дать ни положительного, ни отрицательного ответа (3 – Not stated). В поле ответа запишите одну цифру, которая соответствует номеру выбранного Вами ответа.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain wrote ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ in 1884. Since then, the book has been published in at least sixty languages, and some people say it is the best book ever created by an American writer. American students have ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ on their school reading list and parents, teachers and literary experts still debate the problems touched in the book.

The writer’s real name was Samuel Clemens. Samuel was born in 1835. He grew up in the state of Missouri on the Mississippi River. After his father died, young Samuel went to work as an assistant to a publisher. Ten years later, he became a pilot on a steamboat that sailed on the Mississippi. He heard the riverboat workers call out the words "mark twain!" That was a measure for the depth of water. Later he used this word combination as a pen-name.

In 1861 Clemens travelled west and became a reporter for newspapers in Nevada and California. He wrote news stories, editorials and sketches under his pen-name Mark Twain. He became one of the best known storytellers in the West. He developed his own narrative style – friendly, funny, and often satirical, which won him a wide audience. The first success came with the story ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County’.

Mark Twain travelled a lot during his lifetime not only round the USA but also to Europe and the Holy Land. He naturally began writing books about his travels. ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ was published in 1876, and soon after he began writing a sequel, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.

It took Mark Twain longer to write ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ than any of his other books. He started writing in 1876, but put the story away after about two years of work. He returned to it in 1883, and the following year it was published.

From the beginning, the book was strongly debated. Some critics praised its realism and honesty, but the others strongly disliked it. They protested against the personality of Huck – a rough, dirty and disobedient boy. They could not agree that such a person should be the main character of a book. What's more, critics disliked the way Mark Twain used the language of a common, uneducated person to tell the story; no writer had ever done that before.

Today there is no longer any debate about the importance of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ in American literature. In 1935 Ernest Hemingway wrote: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called 'Huckleberry Finn.' There was nothing before. And there has been nothing as good since."

No wonder then that the novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ was a great inspiration for film producers – more than 20 screen versions of the book have been shot not only in America, but also in Europe, Russia and Japan. There are feature films, musicals, cartoons and even Japanese anime.

10. ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ has been translated into many languages.

True 

False

Not stated

The writer took his pen-name when working as an assistant to a publisher.

True

False

Not stated

12. ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County’ is still on the reading list for American school children.

True

False

Not stated

13. It took Mark Twain two years to write ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.

True

False

Not stated

14. Literary critics expressed different opinions of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.

True

False

Not stated

15. Ernest Hemingway strongly criticised ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.

True

False

Not stated

16. The first film on the novel ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ was shot in Europe.

True

False

Not stated

 

На фипи стр. 20 №4

Прочитайте текст. Определите, какие из приведённых утверждений 10–16 соответствуют содержанию текста (1 – True), какие не соответствуют (2 – False) и о чём в тексте не сказано, то есть на основании текста нельзя дать ни положительного, ни отрицательного ответа (3 – Not stated). В поле ответа запишите одну цифру, которая соответствует номеру выбранного Вами ответа.

The will

One day young William was called to a lawyer’s office. The lawyer announced that William’s uncle had left him a thousand dollars. He also added that William was required to give the lawyer a report of how he used the money as soon as he spent it. That was his uncle’s last wish.

William promised to follow his uncle’s wish and went straight to his club. He looked for Bryson, a calm wise man of about forty, who was sitting in a corner reading a book. When William told him about the contents of the will, Bryson did not seem at all surprised. He only remarked that the uncle was worth about half a million.

William told Bryson that his uncle had left a lot of money to charity while his servants had received only ten dollars each. There was one more person mentioned in the will, Miss Hayden, a distant relative who lived in the uncle’s house. She was a quiet, musical girl and the dearest woman in the world to William. William had been in love with her for two years but he had never told her about his feelings.