Testebi.ge

1. From the start we learn that the speaker

2. The speaker says that Leonardo da Vinci

3. What the speaker likes most about his job is

4. When did Florence become best known?

5. When the speaker sees the city from the Florence Cathedral dome he feels

6. What does the speaker say about the Florence Cathedral?

7. The Medici Villa of Castello .

8. What is true about Michelangelo’s original statue of David?

1. explains why the Statue was gifted to Americans?

2. mentions that Bartholdi was influenced by his mother?

3. specifies the location from where the best view on the Statue opens?

4. explains why the way to the torch is closed to the visitors?

5. explains the reason why the colour of the Statue changed?

6. specifies the name of the person who changed the initial design of the Statue?

7. could have the title: ‘Raising money for good reason’?

8. could have the title: ‘One of the USA’s most recognizable symbols’?

A. On July 4, 1884 France presented the United States with an incredible birthday gift: the Statue of Liberty. Without its base the Statue is as tall as a fifteen-storey building. The world-famous Statue of Liberty, which stands in New York Harbour, represents the United States, though it was constructed in France and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in large boxes. The Statue, which was a symbol for freedom among immigrants, is now one of the most famous icons of the USA. The Statue depicts Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty. Interestingly, however, the Statue of Liberty looks different from the way the designer first intended.

B. The idea for the Statue came from a French poet, Édouard de Laboulaye. He wanted to mark the end of the American Civil War with a gift and also celebrate the end of slavery. So, Édouard de Laboulaye raised funds and hired a sculptor, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, to design the Statue. Bartholdi later employed the French engineer Gustave Eiffel to design the Statue’s structure. At that time Gustave Eiffel was already a well-known designer of railway bridges. So he knew how to build structures that would not break easily and that were flexible as well as safe in strong winds. This feature was necessary because the winds in New York Harbour are extremely strong.

C. Gustave Eiffel designed the Statue to be built around a massive metal skeleton, similar to the Eiffel Tower, which stands in Paris. Huge pieces of copper were fixed onto the skeleton to form its shape. The Statue was covered with a thin layer of copper, which eventually turned blue-green with age due to the chemical reaction between the metal and water. The recently discovered original plans, calculations and drawings of the Statue showed that the arm of the Statue of Liberty was thick and vertical in Gustave Eiffel’s drawings, but in reality it turned out to be slimmer, less upright and more attractive. It was obvious that some parts of Gustave Eiffel’s initial plans of the Statue had been changed.

D.The changes in the plans of the Statue are dated July 28, 1887, after the construction of the Eiffel Tower had begun. We don’t know what Gustave Eiffel thought of these changes. By then, Gustave Eiffel was working on other projects, and only his assistants were working with Bartholdi in New York. Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi knew he wanted to build a giant copper goddess. Some historians say that the Statue’s face was modelled after the sculptor’s mother, who had a great influence on her son throughout his life.

E. The changes in the plans of the Statue of Liberty made it more attractive, though it made it weaker as well and this has created problems over the years. Initially, visitors were able to climb a stairway to the torch in the Statue’s arm, however, in 1916 an explosion on a nearby island damaged the structure. This made the Statue’s torch and arm unsafe. As a result, the stairway to the torch has been closed ever since. Entering the torch requires climbing a forty-foot staircase and it is accessible only to staff.

F. During the restoration in the 1980s, engineers noticed that the structure inside the Statue of Liberty’s head, shoulders and arm were different from how they were shown on Gustave Eiffel’s plans of the Statue. They thought that the builders had made mistakes, but some historians believed that Bartholdi had changed Eiffel’s plans. The newly discovered documents prove this theory. In 2022 about four million people visited the island where the Statue of Liberty stands and many more viewed the Statue from the water. Tourists often find that the Statue’s majestic appearance is best noticed and appreciated from the water.

Task 3:Read the text and the questions which follow. For each question mark the correct answer (A, B, C or D). (8 points)

This is a true story told by Lionel Messi, a well-known Argentinian footballer.

‘I was born in Argentina to a poor family. My father Jorge Messi was a factory steel worker and my mother - Celia María Cuccittini worked as a part-time cleaner. As for me, I was passionate about football from a very young age. I used to play football with my older brothers Rodrigo and Matías and our cousins Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, both of whom became professional footballers. At the age of five I started playing football for a local club Grandoli coached by my father. A little bit later, when I was eight, I joined Newell Old Boys Club and was coached by Ernesto Vecchio. Since then I feel inseparable from football. My dream to become a professional football player started to fall apart when I was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency*. This meant that I was physically unable to grow unless I received special expensive therapy that cost 900 USD a month. Unfortunately, my parents couldn’t afford it. And the club that I was playing for, refused to pay for the therapy. Despite my medical condition, which was a problem, I didn’t give up football. Gradually, football clubs started noticing me. I remember Football Club River Plate showed a lot of interest in me, but lacked the money to sponsor my medical treatment, so in the end the Club River Plate rejected me. Fortunately, I was soon noticed by the coach of Football Club Barcelona who sent an offer to my family. In order to see if I was worth it, he proposed a trial - a period which would show how effective I was as a footballer. If I passed the football trial, Football Club Barcelona would cover my medical bills. Luckily, the coach seemed to be satisfied with my abilities. I was twelve years old then and extremely happy. I felt I was definitely born to play football. He offered me to sign a contract on the only thing that was available at that moment – a paper napkin at the Club de Tennis Pompeia cafeteria. Who would believe that my first Barcelona contract was actually written on a napkin? Barcelona technical secretary Carles Rexach was at the meeting alongside the football agent and my representative.I’ll never forget the emotions I had when I scored my first goal for Barcelona on May 1, 2005. I was able to score more than a hundred goals for Football Club Barcelona in my first six years there. Until leaving in 2021, I had spent my entire professional career with that great club. I made the greatest sacrifice by leaving Argentina a long time ago. I left my family to start a new life of hard work and great determination. Everything I did, I did for football to achieve my dream. That’s why I didn’t go out partying, or do a lot of other things. I believe there are so many lessons to be learned from life. Therefore, I would like to encourage everybody who wishes to succeed. I am the man who despite my health problems, despite poor financial background and all the rejection I faced, was still determined to achieve my dream and never give up. You can also be the one who will achieve success. I did my best, worked hard and at age 22, I won the FIFA World Player of the Year award. You have to sacrifice and work hard for all these things. I strongly believe that because of my determination and countless hours of hard work I was able to receive the 92nd championship title with Argentina’s victory at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on December 18, 2022.’

1. What is the text mostly about?

2. In a local club Messi was trained by his

3. Lionel Messi’s parents were unable to pay for

4. River Plate Club did not accept Messi because

5. Football Club Barcelona would pay for Messi’s medical treatment only if he

6. What did Messi do to achieve success and recognition?

7. Messi encourages others to

8. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

Task 4: Read the text and fill the gaps with the words given (A-N). Use each word only once. Two words are extra. (12 points)

The ancient Indian city of Dwarka is known to have been the great city of Krishna - one of the most popular and respected gods in Hinduism. Early Hindu …… (1) say that when Krishna left the Earth to join the spiritual world, a disaster happened there. Some parts of the wealthy city of Dwarka were …… (2) by the sea and most of its inhabitants died. The city of Dwarka is an important religious and archaeological site. Nowadays it is one of the seven sacred cities of India. The …… (3) for its underwater part began in the 1930s, and the first archaeological excavation took place there in 1963. During the excavation led by an underwater archaeologist, numerous artefacts and the flooded …… (4) of the ancient city of Dwarka were found. The archaeologists discovered the ground on which the ancient city walls must have been …… (5) along the river banks. The archaeologists also found stone blocks, which the builders …… (6) for the construction. However, the debate …… (7) the dating of the ruins is still ongoing. The size of the flooded part of the ancient city suggests that Dwarka must have been an …… (8) trading place. It had huge significance as a trade port in the …… (9). The word ‘dwarka’ …… (10) ‘door’ or ‘gate’ in Sanskrit - an ancient language of India. So, this ancient port city could have been a gate for foreign sailors who …… (11) in India. Discoveries made by the Archaeological Survey of India …… (12) that the mythical city of Dwarka really existed.

Task 5: Read the text and mark the correct choice A, B, C or D. (12 points)

Anyone can be famous for fifteen seconds, ...... (1) some people remain famous for ever. Such a man was Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian artist, scientist and writer ...... (2) has been rightly called ‘a man for eternity’. Distinguished ...... (3) appearance, Leonardo was also a genius in all the sciences and arts of his time. He is considered one of the most celebrated figures of humanity. Although he is best known ...... (4) his dramatic and expressive artwork, Leonardo da Vinci also created advanced inventions that were groundbreaking for the time. He came close to being a ‘universal man’ due ...... (5) the completeness of his knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci’s great passion was to explain everything in the universe. He spent all his life observing things ...... (6) testing them scientifically in his laboratory. He wanted to solve the mysteries of life and to educate ...... (7) world. Unfortunately, many of his projects were never carried ...... (8). His 5000 manuscript pages ...... (9) notes and drawings show many important discoveries and inventions. Those discoveries are the circulation of blood in the body, the design of a flying machine, a parachute and excellent plans ...... (10) cities. Surprisingly, all these pages lay untouched ...... (11) centuries. Leonardo da Vinci’s imagination was so far ahead of his time that people had to later find ...... (12) about many of the things that Leonardo da Vinci had already discovered.