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SECTION 01 · Reading: separate texts

Reading

Choose a text number. Its questions will appear on its own page.

35 texts

Text 31Book 3 · Section 1 · 31 / 35

How to solve: ReadingA text with several questions: main idea, details, word meaning and inference.

What it tests

Careful reading: finding the main idea, locating details, understanding a word from its context and drawing conclusions the text supports.

In the exam: part I, 10 tasks.

Step by step

Read the questions first, so you know what to look for.
Skim the whole text once for its topic and the author's purpose.
For each question find the exact place in the text (line numbers help) and read the sentence before and after it.
Choose the option that says the same thing in other words — not the one that copies the most words.
For “main idea” questions pick the option that covers the whole text, not one paragraph.

Watch out for

An option that is true in real life but not stated in the text.
An option that repeats words from the text but changes the meaning (“always” instead of “often”, wrong date or person).
A detail that is correct but too narrow for a “main idea” question.

Example

Text: “It took 800 men seven years to build the bridge.” — The bridge was built in: a) one year b) seven years c) 800 days

b) The text says “seven years”; 800 is the number of men, not days.

Text 31

READING TEXT

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in East Tupelo, Mississippi.
His twin brother died at birth. Elvis grew up in a poor but religious home which
was typical of the deep south of the United States. His parents were kind and
loving. While he was still a child, Elvis won several music competitions. Later,
after he left school, he worked as a cinema usher and a truck driver. The latter was
the job Elvis always said he liked best.
The first person to realize that Elvis was a good singer was Sam Phillips, the
owner of a record company called Sun Records. But the man who really guided
Elvis's career was Colonel Tom Parker. Colonel Parker became Elvis's manager in
1955 and soon made him into a world-famous rock'n roll star.
By 1956, Elvis Presley had won six gold discs. These were the first of many
which he won during his life. When he was young, Elvis had many critics,
particularly from the older generation. They thought that Elvis was “dangerous
for the morals of young people'.
Life and people's attitudes have changed since 1956. And Elvis Presley helped
to change them. Elvis died suddenly in early middle age. Many people say that
he died because he took too many drugs and pills.

QUESTION 1

Which of the statements is NOT true?

a)Elvis Presley was born in a religious familyb)Elvis's mother died when his twin brother was bornc)Elvis grew up in a friendly familyd)Elvis Presley's talent was recognized,c still a child

QUESTION 2

According to Paragraph 1, lines 1—6,

a)Elvis didn't like the job of a cinema usher at allb)in his early childhood Elvis performed minor jobsc)most of all Elvis enjoyed working as a truck driverd)Elvis greatly enjoyed working as a cinema usher

QUESTION 3

According two Paragraph 2, lines 7—10,

a)Sam Phillips was the first to appreciate Elvis's talentb)Sam Phillips was Elvis's managerc)Colonel Tom Parker was the owner of a record company called Sun Recordsd)Colonel Tom Parker was a world famous rock'n roll star

QUESTION 4

The word realize in line 7 may best be replaced by

a)fulfilb)accomplishc)achieved)understand

QUESTION 5

According to Paragraph 3, lines 11—14,

a)the older generation adored Elvis Presleyb)in his youth Elvis Presley was criticized by everybodyc)in his youth Elvis Presley was criticized by the older generationd)Elvis Presley won six gold discs during his life

QUESTION 6

Elvis Presley's first attempts as a singer are discussed in

a)Paragraph 1 (lines 1—6)b)Paragraph 2 (lines 7—10)c)Paragraph 3 (lines 11—14)d)Paragraph 4 (lines 15—17)

QUESTION 7

The word particularly in line 13 is NOT synonymous to

a)especiallyb)mainlyc)chieflyd)only

QUESTION 8

Which of the following words from the text means “characteristic”?

a)poorb)typical tc)famous ad)dangerous

QUESTION 9

The author thinks that .

a)Elvis Presley was dangerous for the morals of young peopleb)life and people's attitudes changed Elvis Presleyc)life and people's attitudes haven't changed since 1956d)Presley helped to change the life and attitudes of people

QUESTION 10

It is supposed that Presley

a)died after long illnessb)died of drug overdosec)lived a long and happy lifed)died still a teenager