1. Female bobsleighing

2. What you need for bobsleighing

3. Safety rules

4. Bobsleighing techniques

5. Participating countries

6. The dangers of bobsleighing

7. The newest rules

8. From the history of bobsleighing

A. Bobsleighing was originated in Switzerland. In the late 19th century, the Swiss first started doing it by attaching two skeleton sleighs together with a steering mechanism added to the front sleigh in order to control the direction. The first bobsleigh races took place in normal snow covered roads whereas the first bobsleighing club was founded in St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1897 and the first specially designed race track was developed outside of St. Moritz in 1902.

B. Bobsleighing is mostly played in Europe along with North America and Russia because of the proper climate for the icy track. The United States of America, Germany and Switzerland have long been the most successful bobsleighing nations based on their incredibly successful track record in all formats of competitive sports including World Cups and Olympic Championship. Presently, more than fifty countries take part in various international bobsleighing events all over the world.

C. Bobsleighing is considered the most expensive winter sport as the equipment used in it, including the safety equipment as well as bobsleigh parts, are quite costly. The most important equipment in bobsleighing is the sleigh. Besides this other protective guards are also used. The length of the sleigh must be a maximum of 3.80 metres (12.5 feet) for four-man sports and 2.70 metres (8.9 feet) in case of two-man sports. Bobsleigh crews are supposed to weigh heavy to ensure high speed.

D. In fact, two-man and four-man types of bobsleigh are very much similar. As weight plays a vital role for the speed of the sleigh, four-man sleighs are much faster than two-man types. However, even a simple mistake at the initial push-off or, say, during the steering, on decisions of the driver during the turns may largely affect the final race. The thing is, air passing through the sleigh slows the sleigh down. In order to avoid these drags, wind tunnels are usually added to the sleigh.

E. One may think bobsleighing is a risky sport but actually not only men are fond of it. Women do it too. In case of women bobsleighing, the sleighs for women were originally very much similar to those of men. But with time so many problems came out as women are shorter than men and many players injured their hips as well as back. These traumas prompted the organizers to change the interior sleigh designs for women bobsleighing. Now women can do it safely and successfully enough.

F. Bobsleighing competitions gather crowds of people who want to watch their favourite sportsmen compete with one another. However, even though bobsleighing is quite an interesting sport, the risks attached to it certainly cannot be avoided. Till now more than ninety three players have died in crashes or accidents during the game. In order to reduce the chances of accidents and to prevent the risks, officials have made certain rules and regulations about the uses of sleighs and the structure of the track.

G. There are a lot of risks connected with bobsleighing. Bobsleighers need to wear high tech plastic made helmets in order to prevent head injuries as well as goggles for eyes. Racers wear tight uniforms to increase aero-dynamicity and spiked shoes to gain traction on the ice. The brakeman wears a Kevlar vest in order to avoid third degree burns during the sleigh’s friction with ice. The next bobsleigh doesn’t start until the previous team has left the track because of security reasons.

Ответ:

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

11 Прочитайте текст и заполните пропуски A–F частями предложений, обозначенными цифрами 1–7. Одна из частей в списке 1–7 лишняя. Занесите цифры, обозначающие соответствующие части предложений, в таблицу.

Willis Tower today

Willis Tower is the heart of downtown Chicago and the future of work and play. The 110-story building is one of the tallest buildings in the world and the second tallest building in North America, making it impossible to miss A__________. The magnitude of this magnificent steel frame skyscraper can seem impossible to understand.

Willis Tower is now owned by Blackstone and managed by EQ Office. It is home to more than 100 businesses including law firms, insurance, transportation, financial companies and more. Radio and television stations are broadcast from Willis Tower’s rooftop. 15,000 people work at the Tower each day, B__________. And 12 million people pass by and through the Tower each year.

It is not surprising C__________. The Tower is not only an innovator in promoting green practices among its tenants, but also stands D__________ in increasing energy and water efficiency and reducing waste. Over the past 20 years, the Tower has reduced annual electricity consumption by 34% by E__________ and adopting special conservation practices. The building saves 10 million gallons of water each year by relying on reduced water-flow fixtures. These innovations are encouraging those in charge of the building to look into certification for energy efficiency and explore renewable energy resources, such F__________ covered with vegetation.

1. when appreciating the big city’s skyline

2. that the true color of Willis Tower is green

3. as solar and wind power and “green roofs”

4. as a leader among American skyscrapers

5. using new lighting systems and controls

6. that was designed and built many years ago

7. not counting thousands of the building’s visitors

Ответ:

A

B

C

D

E

F

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12–18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа.

Tablets out, imagination in

In the heart of Silicon Valley is a nine-classroom school where employees of tech giants Google, Apple and Yahoo send their children. But despite its location in America’s digital centre, there is not an iPad, smartphone or screen in sight. The fact that parents working for the biggest technology companies are questioning the value of computers in education begs the question – is the futuristic dream of high-tech classrooms really in the best interests of the next generation?

A global report by the OECD organisation suggests that there is no link between excessive use of computers and high results for reading, maths and science. What is more, those students who use tablets and computers often tend to do worse than students who use them less frequently.

Beverly Amico from the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America explains that their teachers encourage students to learn subjects by expressing themselves through artistic activities such as painting and drawing, rather than consuming information downloaded onto a tablet. The idea is to get rid of the distraction of electronic media and to encourage stronger communication between teacher and pupil during lessons.