1. Read the text. Are the statements 1–5 true or false?
An unusual string quartet
What do you do after you have completed your studies in classical music at a famous music academy? Well, if you are like Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, Max Lilja and Antero Manninen, you form a heavy metal band, of course! But not just any band. The four friends left the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 1993 and formed a grouped called Apocalyptica, one of the most successful heavy metal bands today, selling millions of albums around the world.
What brought the four young men together was their shared love for the band Metallica. At first, their dream was simply to play their favourite Metallica songs. What makes Apocalyptica unusual among heavy metal bands is that the musicians play cellos, not electric guitars. Their first album, released in 1996, had a title that explained it all – Apocalyptica Plays Metallica by Four Cellos.
The band became an unexpected international success. They received invitations to play with some of the biggest bands in rock, and performed at many festivals around Europe and the United States. Although the friends never expected to make a career in rock music, they have recorded seven more albums to date – all worldwide hits. Eicca and Paavo still play together, but Max Lilja and Antero Manninen have been replaced by Perttu Kivilaakso, another cello graduate of the Sibelius Academy, and professional drummer Mikko Sirén.
Apocalyptica have come a long way since 1993. They still play the music they loved listening to as teenage fans, but now they write most of their own material. Their fourth album, Reflections, released in 2003, was the first one to feature only original tracks by Apocalyptica. For songs that need a singer, they invite famous guest stars like Ville Valo of the band HIM, Till Lindemann of Rammstein or Gavin Rossdale of Bush.
The most ironic moment of their career came in November 2008. Their hit I Don’t Care appeared in third place on the Billboard chart, ahead of Metallica who managed only fourth place! Later, with the same song, Apocalyptica became the first Finnish band ever to reach the top of the US charts.
1 The four friends from Sibelius Academy originally formed a quartet to play classical music.
2 They started Apocalyptica because they all liked the same band.
3 Today only two of the original musicians are left in the band.
4 They write some of their material, but most of their songs are still by other bands.
5 They made the US charts in 2008, just behind Metallica.
Mark 1=1
2. Complete the text. Choose the correct answers, A, B, C or D.
One of the best films I’ve seen recently is called Inception. It was written and directed by Christopher Nolan and released in 2010. The main character is Dom Cobb, played by Leonard DiCaprio, who can create dreams for people. This allows him to enter their minds and steal their ideas or change their behaviour. The owner of a large energy company asks him to enter the mind of one of his competitors and ‘plant’ an idea, 1 him destroy his own company. Although the plot sounds 2 , I thought the film was very 3 and realistic. The first time I saw it, I thought the ending was a bit 4 , but the second time I watched it, it made more sense.
5 made the biggest impression on me was the way the film used time in dreams: something that feels like an hour in a dream might only last for a few minutes in real life. And a person could have a dream, or several dreams, within a dream, so that every time you go into the next dream, time slows down even more. This means that something that only takes a 6 seconds in the first dream lasts for several minutes, or even hours, in the second or third dream.
There are a lot of 7 in the film that you need to understand, but I’ve already seen it three times and 8 time I see it, I understand and enjoy it more. I think the plot is 9 original. I would definitely recommend it. It makes other films look very two-dimensional and 10 .
1 A made B make C making D are making
2 A unusual B gripping C familiar D irresponsible
3 A colloquial B confused C convincing D conscientious
4 A believable B colloquial C puzzling D satisfying
5 A How B That C What D Which
6 A any B few C little D some
7 A directions B details C roles D settings
8 A all B each C many D most
9 A so B such C total D complete
10 A dull B exciting C gripping D moving
We usually have holidays in spring. Spring is my favourite season, because it is warm and you can do a lot of things outside. So, I decided to visit my grandparents and went to the small town where they lived. As I go there every year, I have got a lot of friends there. That`s why I didn`t have time to be bored: we walked together, went to the cinema and played in the yard. I had a really good time with them.
Мои весенние каникулы
Обычно весной у нас каникулы. Весна - мое любимое время годы, потому что тепло и можно найти много занятий на свежем воздухе. Поэтому, я решила проведать бабушку с дедушкой и поехала в маленький город, где они живут. Так как я езжу туда каждый год, у меня там много друзей. Поэтому времени скучать у меня не было: мы гуляли вместе, ходили в кино и играли во дворе. Я отлично провела с ними время.
What the point of keeping wild animals at home? First of all, this is good idea to take care of an animal, who can't take care of itself. It is difficult to find food in today polluted wood, species, that was common some day, now become extinct. If one can possible take care of european wolf or wild cat, it can help restore balance of nature. More over, huge animal may protect house and frighten burglars and neighbors. On the other hand, wild animal will never get used to live at house, it will always dream to break free. There no enough room in modern apartment for them, so they can never run or hunt, as they want. Also, it may be very espensive to keep them, as they need more food and more care, there is less goods for wild animals in pet shops, then for the domestic ones, and finally it would be hard enough to find vet, skilled enough to threat rare animal.