Подготовка к олимпиаде 9-11 класс

Олимпиадные задания по английскому языку

9-11 класс

READING (15 points)

Read the passage below and answer questions 1-15.

ASSISTANTS TO THE STARS

It stands to reason that a city like Los Angeles, which is home to so many of the famous and the semi-famous, would have an Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants (ACPA). The organisation describes personal assistants as ‘multitasking’, as ‘possessing the most resourceful, creative, insightful, and results-driven abilities.’

When I first got in touch with Josef Csongei, the organisation’s president, he was initially reluctant to talk to me because I was a journalist. As he sees it, celebrity personal assistants have not always been treated fairly by the press. But despite this, and all the hard work and lack of appreciation that can come with this line of work, he explained, the jobs were still widely sought after. He noted that people regularly travelled great distances to attend a seminar titled ‘Becoming a Celebrity Personal Assistant’, run by the ACPA. To prove his point, he told me about Dean Johnson. In the coming weeks, I heard this story from a number of assistants, including Johnson himself, and every time it left me baffled.

The story begins one night in September 1994, with Dean Johnson sitting at home in Columbia, South Carolina. Johnson is a single, 32-year-old business executive in charge of marketing and advertising at a sizeable company in the healthcare industry. It is 11 pm and he’s looking to unwind in front of the television after a long day’s work. A repeat of a talk show appears on the screen, and the host introduces her four guests: the celebrity personal assistants for Whoopi Goldberg, Roseanne Barr, Burt Reynolds and Carol Burnett. As these assistants talk about flying on private jets and attending Hollywood parties, Johnson reaches for a pen and starts taking notes. Without wasting another minute, he picks up the phone, calls directory enquiries in Los Angeles, and asks for the home phone numbers of the four assistants on the show.

Only one of them is listed: Ron Holder, who works for Whoopi Goldberg. Johnson dials his number, and a minute later Holder picks up the phone. ‘He said I was very lucky to get through,’ Johnson told me. ‘Apparently, in the three months since he had appeared on that talk show, he had received about 200 phone calls from people like me. He was in the process of disconnecting his phone, but he was nice enough to chat with me for a while.’ During their conversation, Holder told Johnson that he should consider attending the ‘Becoming a Celebrity Personal Assistant’ seminar in Los Angeles.

For someone like Johnson, with almost no connections in the industry, the notion of moving out to Los Angeles to become a celebrity personal assistant, something he did two months later, was extremely courageous - there’s no denying that. The typical American story of the guy in the remote provinces who falls in love with the glamour of the silver screen, packs up all his possessions and moves out to Hollywood to become a star is almost a century old. But Johnson’s story offered a new twist: he moved out to Hollywood to become an assistant to a star.

Of the thousands of people who work in Hollywood: agents, lawyers, stylists, publicists, business managers and others, many hope to rub shoulders with the biggest stars. What’s unique about celebrity personal assistants is that such proximity appears to be the only perk their profession offers. Most describe the bulk of their work as drudgery: doing laundry, fetching groceries, paying bills. Assistants typically make about $56,000 a year - hardly a fortune by Hollywood standards, especially given the round-the-clock obligations they often have. What’s more, the job is rarely a stepping stone to fame: celebrity personal assistants are, on average, aged about 38, right in the middle of their professional lives, and most of the ones I met described their line of work as a lifelong profession. For them, being an assistant was not the means to an end but an end in itself.

Task 1. Questions 1-7

In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, circle: A (TRUE) if the statement agrees with the information given in the text; B (FALSE) if the statement contradicts the information given in the text or if there is no information given in the text.

1.  Los Angeles is home to ACPA.

2.  Celebrity personal assistants have always received wide publicity.

3.  Initially the author was puzzled by Dean Johnson’s case.

4.  Dean Johnson used to be a Hospital Chief Executive Officer.

5.  Ron Holder said Johnson was lucky to get his home phone number at directory enquiries.

6.  Thousands of people who live in Hollywood dream of rubbing hands with celebrities.

7.  The main part of the duties of celebrity personal assistants is rather tedious work.

Task 2. Questions 8-15

Choose option A, B, C or D which best fits according to the text. Circle the correct letter in boxes 8-15 on your answer sheet.

8.  When the writer first contacted him, Josef Csongei was

A.        angry about something she had written.

B.        suspicious of her because of her profession.

C.        surprised that she was interested in his organisation.

D.        pleased that she recognised the importance of assistants.

9.  The phrase ‘to prove his point’ in the second paragraph refers to Csongei’s belief that celebrity assistants

A.        enjoy travelling as part of the job.

B.        are not given the appreciation they deserve.

C.        do a job that many other people would like to do.

D.        need to do a course before they start looking for work.

10.  At the beginning of the story about Dean Johnson, we learn that

A.        he had turned on the television in order to relax.

B.        he was dissatisfied with the work he was doing.

C.        he had always wanted to work in the film industry.

D.        he often watched television programmes about celebrities.

11.  What was Dean’s immediate reaction to what he saw on the programme?

A.          He wrote down the contact details of the four interviewees.

B.          He decided which of the four interviewees he wanted to talk to.

C.          He started making enquiries about how to find the people on the show.

D.          He read through his notes carefully before getting in touch with anyone.

12.  How did Ron Holder respond to Dean’s phone call?

A.          He refused to enter into a long conversation with Dean.

B.          He was angry that anyone had been able to get his number.

C.          He complained about being disturbed on his home number.

D.          He was willing to give Dean some advice and information.

13.  In the fifth paragraph, the writer suggests that Dean Johnson

A.          never achieved his aim of becoming a personal assistant.

B.          was brave to go and look for a new career in Los Angeles.

C.          really wanted to become a star rather than a personal assistant.

D.          lived to regret his decision to give up everything in his old life.

14.  What does the word ‘perk’ in the final paragraph mean?

A.          extra work required by a job

B.          something unexpected in a job

C.          a benefit of doing a particular job

D.          an unpleasant job that has to be done

15.  In the final paragraph, we learn that celebrity assistants

A.          tend to see the job as their career goal.

B.          are relatively well paid for what they do.

C.          find the job gets too demanding as they get older.

D.          often move into other aspects of the film industry.

Transfer your answers to the answer sheet!

USE OF ENGLISH (20 points)

Task 1. Questions 1-10

For items 1-10, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example:________________________________________________________

0 teaching ____                                                                 BEING A TEACHER

Task 2. Questions 11-20

For items 11-20, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. Use from three to five words. The number of words you should put in the gap is specified in each case. Do NOT use contracted forms. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example: 0. “Let’s go to the cinema on Sunday,” said Ann. wanted

Ann_________________________ to the cinema on Sunday. (4 words)

0

wanted us to go

11.  Karen failed to persuade the landlord to change the locks.

SUCCEED

Karen____________________ the landlord to change the locks. (5 words)

12.  His doctor advised him to reduce the amount of caffeine he consumed.

DOWN

He was advised________________ the amount of caffeine he consumed. (4 words)

13.  Perhaps they went the wrong way and got lost.

MAY

They____________ the wrong way and got lost. (5 words)

14.  Her employer will not tolerate her tardiness any longer.

PUT

Her employer will not____________ her tardiness any longer. (5 words)

15.  All the employees received a pay cheque apart from Charles.

WHO

Charles was the____________________ receive a pay cheque. (5 words)

16.  The candidate definitely will not win the election.

CHANCE

The candidate has got________________ the election. (4 words)

17.  I got the job because I knew the manager.

WOULD

If I had not known the manager, I________________ the job. (4 words)

18.  He said he was sorry he had yelled at his sister.

YELLING

He____________ at his sister. (3 words)

19.  She got the part even though she did not have much acting experience.

OF

In________________ much acting experience, she got the part. (4 words)

20.  He studied history because he wanted to be a teacher.

VIEW

He studied history____________________ a teacher. (5 words)

Transfer your answers to the answer sheet!

WRITING Time: 20 minutes (15 points)

Write a short description of your favourite place in Moscow and recommend it to foreign tourists. The place should be real, not imaginary.

Remember to mention in your description:

•        where in Moscow the place is located;

•        why you like the place;

•        why you recommend it to foreign tourists.

Write 100-150 words.

КЛЮЧИ

READING

USE OF ENGLISH

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