Тексты для контроля навыков чтения, 6 класс

1.     The London Underground and the Moscow metro

The London Underground is the oldest one in the world. In 1870 there was the opening of the first line. It was like a tube (Tpy6a), that's why English people call the old lines the Tube, the new lines the Underground.

The London Underground is very long. It's about 300 kilometers long and it has about 300 stations. Some of them are closed on Sundays. The other stations are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. The price of tickets isn't low. It depends on the distance. There are comfortable seats in the carriages at the Underground. The walls are white or grey. There are a lot of ads on them.

So the word "Underground" in London shows you where the stations are. When you want to find the metro stations in Moscow you look for the letter "M".

The Moscow metro began its work on the 15th of May, 1935. There were 13 stations at that time. Now it has more than 190 stations. Our metro is one of the most beautiful, comfortable and the cleanest metro in the world. We are proud of it.

1.     When was the first line of London underground opened?

2.     How many stations does it have?

3.     What is the price of tickets?

4.     What colour are the walls?

5.     What does the word "Underground" in London show you ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.     A policeman

I was about sixteen years old when a policewoman visited our school. She told us interesting stories about the policemen’s job, so I decided to become a policeman. At that time I lived in a small town in the South West of England and when I arrived in London, I was shocked by the noise and all the traffic.

I began working on a response team. It is a difficult but interesting job to police a large city. Some of my colleagues have police dogs, some ride police horses, others ride police motorbikes. Most British police officers do not carry guns. But there are police officers, who have extra training and carry guns.

You need different skills to be a police officer. It's necessary to be sociable and responsible. You must believe in the importance of law and order. In tragic situations you must be strong and compassionate.

A policeman is a dangerous job. Good policemen are ready to risk their own lives to help and protect people.

1. Who visited the school one day?

2. Why was I shocked in London?

3. What does help policemen to work?

4. What skills does a policeman need to be a police officer?

5. What are ready good policemen to?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.     How would you do it?

Once a farmer went to a market. He took three animals with him: a hen, a sheep and a fox. He had to cross a river which was very wide. There was a boat but it was very small. He could not take all his animals with him. He could take only one animal at a time. So he had to cross the river three times. But he knew that he could not leave the fox with the sheep or with the hen because the fox could kill them.

He did not know what to do and went back home. When he came home and told his father about it, his father laughed. "You can do it," he said, "and I can tell you how." The father said, "You must take the fox to the opposite bank first. Then you must come back and take the sheep to the opposite bank too. You cannot    leave the sheep with the fox, so you take the fox back with you to the first bank, take the hen with you, but leave the fox. When you bring the hen to the opposite bank, you can come back again to the first bank and take the fox."

 

1.     Where did a farmer go?

2.     How many animals did a farmer take with?

3.     How many animals could he take in the boat at a time?

4.     Why did he go back home?

5.     What did his father say?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.     The wonderful world of books

Why are so many people fond of reading books? The answer is very simple — the world of books is full of wonders. Reading books you can find yourself in different lands. Together with the characters of the book you go by ship in the stormy sea, you climb high mountains, you have a lot of adventures.

There are authors and characters famous all over the world. Who hasn't read "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll or "The Adven­tures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain? Who hasn't travelled with Mary Poppins to her imaginary world?

We enjoy the beauty and wisdom of fairy-tales which teach us to be kind and clever, brave and honest, to understand other people. Books help us to be true friends. They teach us to understand the beauty of nature, to take care of it.

 

1.     Why are  people fond of reading books?

2.     What can you find reading books?

3.     What can you do together with the characters of the book?

4.     How do books help people?

5.     What do they teach us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.     So many people, so many hobbies

A hobby is something you like to do in your free time. Hobbies differ like tastes. Some people are interested  in music. They collect CDs. People living in big cities and towns would like to be closer to nature, so they  spend their free time in the country. Some of them go hiking and some find pleasure working in their gardens. Gardening and growing flowers, espe­cially roses, is the most popular hobby among Englishmen.

Nowadays many new hobbies have appeared.

Many people are fond of hunting, but not with the guns. They enjoy "hunting" sea animals and fish with a camera. Both grown-ups and children like playing computer games. It has become one of numerous hobbies. Very often hobbies help you to choose your future profession.

 

1. What is hobby?

2. What hobbies do you know?

3. What is the most popular hobby among Englishmen?

4. What new hobbies have appeared?

5.How can hobbies help you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.     The old musician

It happened in Vienna many years ago. Every evening an old man played the violin in one of the streets. People passed by and put some money into the man’s hat.

One night it was very cold and rainy. The old musician was playing the violin near the door of a restaurant, but the people didn't stop to listen to him. Nobody gave him any money. He was very tired and hungry and couldn't play any longer.     

Suddenly a young man came up to him and asked, "Why did you stop playing?" The old man answered, "Nobody wants to listen to my music."

The young man took his violin and began playing. He played so beautifully that very soon there were a lot of people around him. Everybody liked the music and put a lot of money into the old man's hat.

Soon the hat was full of money. The old man wanted to thank the young man, but he could not find him.

Nobody knew that he was the great Paganini.

 

1.     What musical instrument did an old man play?

2.     Where did people put money?

3.     Why couldn't the old man play any longer?

4.     How did the young man help the old musician?

5.     What was the name of the young musician?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.     A modern kitchen

A cook, who wanted to get a job, came to speak to Mrs. White. She asked her what dishes they liked to have and Mrs. White said they had three meals a day and liked to have ham and eggs for breakfast, vegetable soup and beefsteak for lunch, chicken or fish for dinner.

Then Mrs. White took the cook to the kitchen and showed her the electric cooker, the washing and drying machines, a dish-washer, a microwave and other things.

"It won't be difficult for you to cook in our house," she said. "I don't think so," answered the cook and began to put on her coat. She was going to leave the house when Mrs. White asked in surprise, "Aren't you going to stay?"

"No," said the cook, "your kitchen isn't good for me. It's an engineer you want, not a cook."

 

1.     Why did a cook come to speak to Mrs. White?

2.     What dishes did they like to have?

3.     What was there in the kitchen?

4.     Did the cook like the kitchen?

5.     Why was Mrs. White surprised?

 

 

 

 

8.     Shopping hours in Britain

Shopping hours in Britain are changing. A few years ago, shops opened at nine o'clock in the morning and closed at six o'clock in the evening. Some shops also closed for an hour for lunch. On Sundays nothing was open.

But now many shops are open longer hours. Some big shops and many supermarkets never close! If you want some milk or some bread at midnight, you can easily buy it.

It's very good for people who often work late at night or early in the morning. If someone finishes work at five o'clock in the morning, they can go to the supermarket on their way home and buy some breakfast or a newspaper or anything else they want.

There are people who don't think it's good. They say that Sunday is a holiday for all people — who wants to work in a supermarket on a Sunday? But shops are very busy at the weekend and they will work to make people's life easier.

 

1.     What is changing in Britain?

2.     How did shops work in the past?

3.     Can you buy any milk or any bread at midnight?

4.     Who wants to work in a supermarket on a Sunday?  

5.     What can you buy in the supermarket?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.     It's your duty!

It is two o'clock at night. A young doctor is sleeping. Suddenly he hears the door-bell ring. What can a doctor do? It's his duty to help his pa­tients even at night. When he opens the door, he sees a man standing there.

"How do you do, Doctor?" says the man. "Can you go to a place in the country? It's not near, but I know you have a car. I can show you the way." "Of course," says the doctor. "I am ready. I can go with you now."

The doctor goes to his garage and takes his car. In five minutes the car is standing in front of the house and the doctor and the man start off. They drive for some time. They must be ten or fifteen kilometers from the city when the man says, "Here we are. This is my home. Thank you very much. Now I want to pay you and you can go back home."

"But how can I go back? I must see the patient. Where is he?

"There is no patient," says the man. "Nobody is ill. I live here far from the city and must get home. There are no taxis at this time of the night. But it's a duty of a doctor to help his patients even at night. So, excuse me. Here is your money. Thank you. Good night."

1.     What time it is?

2.     What is a young doctor doing at this time?

3.     What is the duty of the doctor?

4.     How many kilometers from the city did the doctor drive?

5.     Was there any patient in the house?

                          

 

 

 

 

10. Welcome to the supermarket

Good afternoon! Welcome to our supermarket. Listen to the information about some special things happening in the shop today.

First - if you buy eggs here today, you will get a free book which will tell you how to make beautiful cakes and biscuits. You can find the eggs at the back of the shop near the fruit juices.

Next, something at a very special price. We have some very good chocolate which you can buy today much cheaper than usual. You can find it near milk and yoghurt.

Also, why not stay and have a lunch in our cafe. There you can find chicken, cheese and fish sandwiches or maybe you would like to try our soup. Every day we have a different kind of soup and today it is tomato. Welcome to our cafe upstairs. Finally, you can win a TV set if you take part in our competition today. Just write your name and telephone number on a special card and put it in the box when you leave the shop.

Thank you for visiting our supermarket.

1.     What special things are happening in the shop today?

2.     Where can you find the eggs?

3.     What is special about chocolate?

4.     What dishes can you eat in the café?

5.     What prize can you win in the competition?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Chocolate

We all like chocolate. In fact, the Kit Kat chocolate bar is so popular that the British eat forty seven of them every second! But what exactly is chocolate and where does it come from? And is it good for us or bad for us?

Perhaps you know the history of chocolate. Like the potato, it comes from South America. The Spanish people brought it to Europe as a drink. It was so expensive that only rich people could buy it. The idea of making it into bars came later so it became popular as a sweet only in the 1850s.

Why do we like chocolate so much? Of course, it tastes good, but there are other reasons. There is something in chocolate which makes us happy. And it gives us a lot of energy. But it's also so rich in calories that you can put on weight if you eat it all the time.

Is it good or bad for us? Well, some scientists  say that chocolate is very healthy, that it isn't bad for your heart or your skin and that's it even good for your teeth. Other people think that you shouldn't eat it at all.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. You shouldn't eat chocolate all the time but it's too tasty to say no!

1.     What chocolate is the most popular in the UK?

2.     Where does chocolate come from?

3.     Why only rich people could buy chocolate?

4.     What does chocolate give us?

5.     What do some scientists  say about chocolate?

 

 

 

 

 

12. A new job

Twelve months ago Robin Tucker left his job as a salesman. Now he has a restaurant.

Robin lived ill London and had a job there. But he decided it would be difficult to open a restaurant in such a big city. So he chose Brighton, because he knew it from the years of his childhood.

Robin found an empty building in a nice old street. The house was very old, but other buil­dings were expensive and he didn't have much money.

Robin loves his new work. He has found a good cook. Robin himself gets up at 6 am and often goes to bed after midnight. He enjoys talking to people who come to his restaurant and some of them have become his good friends.

Robin's restaurant is going very well and he could take a long journey. But he doesn't want to do it. Now he has a new idea to open a supermarket selling food from around the world.

 

1.     When did Robin Tucker leave his job as a salesman?

2.     Where did he live?

3.     Why did he choose Brighton?

4.     When does Robin get up?

5.     What is his new idea?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. The Queen's day

It's really a busy job to be Queen. Elizabeth II, the Queen of England, gets up early and begins the day by looking through the newspapers. Then she reads letters from the public (she gets more than 1,000 each week), and tries to answer them all. The Queen has daily meetings with her Private Secretary who helps her with her paperwork, and lots of meetings with ambassadors, lawyers (new judges), and church people.

In the afternoon Elizabeth II often goes out on public meetings — she gets thousands of invitations each year. She opens new hospitals, bridges and factories.

Being Queen is not a 9 to 5 job, and Elizabeth II has to work from early in the morning until late at night. And people watch her all the time.

Of course, she has some free time, and some private life, but less than most people.

In her free time Elizabeth II enjoys horse racing, fishing, and walking in the countryside. She also enjoys photography and likes taking photos on her travels. In 50 years the Queen has been on 251 official visits to 128 different countries.

 

1.     What is the name of the British Queen?

2.     How does she begin her day?

3.     How many letters does the Queen get every day?

4.     What does she do in the afternoon?

5.     How many official visits did the Queen pay?

 

 

 

 

 

14. The most famous woman pilot

Amy Johnson was a very famous pilot. She was born on 1st July 1903. In 1930 Amy flew from London to Australia. She went there alone. She flew in a small airplane called Jason. The journey took 19 days. She stopped many times at small airfields in Europe and Asia and on islands in the Pacific Ocean.

She was a national hero when she came back to Britain and a newspaper gave her ten thousand pounds as a prize.

Amy made many other flights. In 1931 she flew to Japan and Siberia and in 1936 she had a flight from London to Cape Town in South Africa.

She made some of the flights alone and some with another famous pilot called Jim Mollison. In August 1932 Amy married Jim arid in 1933 they flew from Britain to the United States of America. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west. Amy died in a plane acci­dent  9 in January 1941.

 

1.     When was Amy Johnson born?

2.     What was the name of her airplane?

3.     How many days did her first journey take?

4.     How did Amy become a national hero?

5.     When did she die?

 

 

 

 

15. Safari parks

A safari park is like a large zoo, where the ani­mals live in natural conditions . There are several safari parks, in Britain and they are very popular places for visit. One of the most famous is at Windsor, which is close to London airport.

You can visit some parts of the safari park on foot. Here you can see the animals that are not dangerous: giraffes, zebras, camels and antelopes. The animals walk around as if they were in Africa.

Safari parks also have lions, tigers, leopards and other dangerous animals. They cannot live with the other animals, because they would eat them. They would also eat the visitors, so they have to drive through the parts where these ani­mals live. You must not open your windows and you must not get out of the car. It is not a good idea to take a new car into this part of the park, be­cause the monkeys climb on the cars. They can break or spoil  them. Safari parks are much better than zoos, because the animals do not have to live in small cages.

1.     Where do animals live in natural conditions?

2.     How can you visit some parts of the safari park with non-dangerous animals?

3.     Why such animals as lions, tigers, leopards cannot live with giraffes, zebras, camels and antelope?

4.     Why must you close your windows and sit in the car in some parts of the safari park?

5.     Why is it not a good idea to take a new car into safari park?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16. An evening out for the Americans

What do Americans do when they have a free evening? Where do they go?

It is easy if they live in New York or Chicago, for example. There are a lot of theatres and places to go in big cities. But people don't have to live in New York to enjoy themselves. Many of the theatres travel from town to town. And in some "dinner theatres" you can have dinner and then watch the show.

The cheapest way to enjoy yourself is to go to the cinema. Even in small towns in the USA you can go there and see the latest film.

Many Americans like to go and listen to music. Many forms of music have come from America to other countries. Jazz and blues started from the music that black people played many years ago. The style of country music is also very popular in America, especially in small towns. And some people spend an evening listening .to music and dancing.

Americans are fond of all kinds of sports. Even if they don't play sports themselves they go to the stadiums to see games or watch them on TV.

1.     What does "dinner theatres" mean?

2.     What is the cheapest way to enjoy yourself?

3.     What can you say about jazz and blues?

4.     What sort of music is also popular in America?

5.     Why Americans go to the stadiums?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

17.  An Unlucky Cat

Once there lived a cat. He was fat and lazy. He liked to sit at the window and look at the street. He had got big yellow eyes and long moustache. His name was Tiger. He was my friend's pet. One day Tiger jumped over the wall and went into the garden next door. The weather was fine.

He saw a bird in an apple tree. It was a small brown bird with bright red feathers on its chest. Tiger was hungry. He

climbed the tree. The bird did not see him, because its eyes were closed.

The bird was at the end of a long, thin branch. It sang pretty. Tiger walked slowly and quietly longed the branch. He was very near the bird. Suddenly there was a loud crash!

The branch broke, the bird flew away and Tiger fell. He landed in the lap of an old lady who was sitting   under the tree.

1. What is the name of the cat?

2. Who is Tiger?

3. What did he see in an apple tree?

4. What colour is the bird?

5. Why did Tiger fall?

 

 

 

 

 

 

18. Schools in the Past

One hundred years ago schools were very different. Children did not wear uniforms. They used to wear their everyday clothes to school.

Children learned to read, write and do mathematics. They had history and geography lessons but they did not learn science. They used to write on slates with white chalk. When the children finished their work, they cleaned their slates with a rag so that they could write on them again and again. When they were older, children learned to write with pens and ink. They did not have many books because they were very expensive. Teachers were usually very strict. If the children were naughty  they had to stand in the corner.

They did exercises in the playground. They did not do sports like basketball or football.

1.                                                                                                             What clothes used children to wear in the past?

2.                                                                                                             What school subject did children learn?

3.                                                                                                             How did children  write at school 100 years ago?

4.                                                                                                             When did pupils learn to write with pens?

5.                                                                                                             How many books did they have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

19. The Man with Thirteen Jobs

Andrew McSporran is a very busy man. He is 60 years old and he has thirteen jobs. He is a postman, a policeman, a fireman, a taxi driver, a school-bus driver, a boatman, an ambulance man, an accountant, a petrol attendant, a barman and an undertaker. Also, he and his wife, Margaret, have a shop and a small hotel.

Andrew lives and works on the island of Gigha in the west of Scotland. Only 120 people live in Gigha but in summer 150 tourists come by boat every day.

Every weekday Andrew gets up at 6.00 and makes breakfast for the hotel guests. At 8.00 he drives the island's children to school. At 9.00 he collects the post from the boat and delivers it to all the houses on the island. He also delivers the beer to the island's only pub. Then he helps Margaret in the shop.

He says: "Margaret likes being busy, too. We never have holidays and we don't like watching television. In the evenings Margaret makes supper and I do the accounts. At 10.00 we have a glass of wine and then we go to bed. Perhaps our life isn't very exciting, but we like it."

1.     How old is Andrew?

2.     Where does he live?

3.     How many tourists come in summer every day?

4.     Who does he make breakfast for?

5.     When does he collect the post from the boat?

 

 

20. Sky-diver

Clem Quinn was always interested in flying. When he was five, he tried to fly by jumping off the garden shed with a golf umbrella. But when he grew up he didn't become a pilot, he became a taxi driver. Then 20 years ago he did a parachute jump and loved it. He decided that being a taxi driver in London was a lot more dangerous than jumping out of a plane, so he moved to the country to learn parachute jumping and sky-diving. He is now a full-time teacher of sky-diving. He says: "I love sky-diving because the world looks so good — blue sky, green fields, white clouds. You float through the air, it's like floating in water. You can see forever, all the way to the French coast. The views are fantastic. You can forget all your worries. People think it is dangerous but it's very safe. Football is much more dangerous. Footballers often have accidents. When did you last hear of a sky-diving accident? Next July I'm going to do a sky-dive with 100 people from six planes. That's a record. I'm never going to retire. I'm going to jump out of planes until I'm an old man."

1.     How old was Clem when he first tried to fly?

2.     What did he do when he grew up?

3.     Where did he move to learn sky-diving?

4.     What is sky-diving like?

5.     What is more dangerous than sky-diving?

 

 

21.              The Life of Ryan                                                 I've lived in a foreign country: in Japan, actually. I lived in Osaka for a year. I enjoyed it very much. I loved the food. I have worked for a big company. I worked for Nissan, the car company, that's why I was in Japan. That was two years ago, then I got another job.

Have I stayed in an expensive hotel? No, never — only cheap hotels for me, but I have flown in a jumbo jet — four or five times, actually. I've never cooked a meal for a lot of people. I love food but I don't like cooking. Sometimes I cook for me and my girlfriend but she likes it better if we go out for a meal!

I've never met a famous person — oh, just a minute, well not, met! I saw a famous politician at the airport once. Oh, who was it? I can't remember his name. I've only seen one Shakespeare play. When I was at school, we saw "Romeo and Juliet". It was OK. I've driven a tractor. I had a holiday job on a farm when I was 17. I enjoyed that.

Good news — I've never been to hospital. I was born in hos­pital, of course, but that's different. Bad news — I've never won a competition. I do the lottery every week but I've never won a thing!

1.      How long did he live abroad?

2.      What did he do in Japan?

3.      What famous people has he seen?

4.      What did he do on a farm when he was 17?

5.     When was he in hospital last?

 

22. Behind the Mirror                                      Alice was in a beautiful garden. There was a house

with the door open. Alice went in. In the kitchen there was

a woman with a baby, a frog laying  the table, a cook and a fish. The frog was putting the plates and glasses on the table upside down! The knives and forks were in the wrong position! The fish was standing near the woman. It had a letter. The kitchen was full  of smoke and the cook was smashing plates on the floor! Everybody was sneezing! "There is too  much pepper in the soup," said the woman and sneezed again.

"A letter for the Duchess from the Queen," said the

fish. "What does it say?" asked the Duchess. The fish read, "Dear Duchess, come and play          croquet with me. NOW." "Oh dear, I must go," said the Duchess. "I must play croquet

with the Queen. There are always tasty things to eat. There
 are cakes and tarts and fizzy things to drink at the castle."  The  Duchess  gave  the  baby to Alice.  "What a funny baby," said Alice. "It's got a big nose and small eyes. It's all pink. Oh," she shouted. "It's a PIG!" The pig

jumped down and ran  away. " What strange

people," thought Alice. "I think I'll go back outside."

1.     What was there in a beautiful garden?

2.     Who was there in the kitchen?

3.     Why was everybody sneezing?

4.     Why the Duchess must go?

5.     What tasty things to eat are there?