Поздравляю вас с наступающим Новым 2006 годом. Успехом вам в учебе, работе, всех благ. Позвольте поздравить вас Рождественской песней:
Angels we have heard on high, singing sweetly through the night,
And the mountains in reply echoing their brave delight.
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo.
See Him in a manger laid whom the angels praise above;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, while we raise our hearts in love.
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Продолжаем готовиться к экзамену. Предлагаем проверить правильность выполнения задания по чтению, опубликованное в предыдущем номере SE.
1)
1
2
3
4
5
6
D
E
G
A
C
B
2)
1
2
3
4
5
B
C
F
A
E
Целью заданий, представленных в разделе «Грамматика и лексика», является проверка уровня сформированности навыков экзаменуемых использовать грамматический лексический материал в текстах различных типов и жанров. Типичные ошибки, допущенные учащимися в заданиях этого раздела на экзамене в прошлом году говорят о том, что экзаменуемые давали ответ, не вдумываясь в смысл предложения. Предлагаем вам выполнить два задания подобного типа, ответы на которые будут помещены в следующем номере SE.
1)Прочитайте приведенный ниже текст. Преобразуйте слова в скобках после номеров В10 — В17, если необходимо, так, чтобы они грамматически соответствовали содержанию текста. Заполните пропуски полученными словами. Каждый пропуск соответствует отдельному заданию из группы В10 — В17.
A New Experience
Mark had never seen real snow before. He lived with his parents in a part of the country where it was always too warm for there to be any snow, even in the B10(cold) of winters. The family B11(have) to come here, to the hills in the north of the country, to spend their winter holiday for there to be any chance of Mark to see this strange, cold, white substance. When they B12(arrive) at their hotel the sky was grey and it was very cold, but no snow covered the ground and Mark felt very B13(disappoint). When he went to bed that night he asked B14(the) if he was ever going to touch the strange white substance he had only seen in photographs.
When he B15(wake) up in the morning, he noticed that the light entering the room seemed B16(odd) altered. It seemed brighter somehow. He looked out of the window and up at the sky. It was as grey as it had been the day before, but there was something B17(differ) about it. Thousands of pieces of cotton seemed to fill the air. Then he realised; it was snowing.
2)Прочитайте текст с пропусками, обозначенными номерами А15-21. Эти номера соответствуют заданиям А15-А21, в которых представлены 4 возможных варианта ответов. Обведите номер выбранного вами варианта.
A Meeting at Might
It was dark and raining hard when I first saw it and even now I’m not sure what it was that A15 me notice it. I had been driving a long time without stopping for a rest because I had to get to the port to A16 the last ferry to the island. If I missed this one I would have to sleep in the car, and I didn’t want to do that in such bad weather, so I had kept driving. And there it was, running A17 the car with long, easy strides. It didn’t look at me at all, its eyes were fixed firmly on the road A18 as it ran. I don’t know how long it had been there, but it didn’t seem at all tired. I wanted to stop the car to see what would happen, but I was afraid of A19 the ferry, so I kept going and tried to ignore it. Surely it would get tired soon and lose me.
I was wrong. When I A20 at the port twenty minutes later it was still there, sitting and A21 at me hopefully with bright black eyes. I still have that dog. I call him Sprinter.
A15
1 had
2 did
3 made
4 got
A16
1 snatch
2 catch
3 hold
4 grab
A17
1 beside
2 along
3 next
4 across
A18
1 forward
2 before
3 ahead
4 towards
A19
1 losing
2 avoiding
3 escaping
4 missing
A20
1 arrived
2 came
3 reached
4 parked
A21
1 glancing
2 watching
3 looking
4 seeing
3) Следующее упражнение по чтению – повышенного уровня сложности и включает 7 заданий с выбором правильного ответа из 4 предложенных.
Прочитайте статью об искусственном интеллекте и выполните задания А8-А14, обводя цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую ответу, который вам кажется наиболее верным.
The term ‘artificial intelligence’ was first used by Professor John McCarthy in 1956. However, the idea of creating ‘thinking machines’ appears over and over again throughout history. In the 3rd century ВС, a Chinese engineer called Mo Ti made mechanical birds, dragons and soldiers and much later, in 18th century Europe, the nobility were delighted by mechanical figures which moved by clockwork. It seemed that making machines that moved and looked like human beings was easy. The difficult part would be to create a machine that could think like a human being.
When computers appeared in the 1950s, many people thought that it would not be long before these impressive machines started talking, thinking for themselves and taking over the world. People predicted all kinds of things, from robot servants to computerized houses. None of it happened. Despite the billions of dollars and years of research given to developing artificial intelligence, computers are still unable to hold a normal conversation with a human being. In fact, although computers today can process information thousands of times faster than they could fifty years ago, they are only two or three times better at using human language than they were back then. In addition, the huge increase in computer use has proved that today’s computers, with their windows, mice, icons and commands, do not operate in the same way as the human brain. If this were not true, there would be no need for the thousands of tech support staff employed by call centres.
The trouble is that, even though computers can turn speech into text, recognise objects by using cameras, search through endless amounts of data and even use robot mechanisms to move like human beings, they are unable to put all these abilities together and actually think and function like human beings. One of the reasons for this is that scientists still do not know much about how the human brain works, so it is impossible to program computers to copy the brain’s processes. As for language, there is not much hope of computers ever being able to chat with human beings. Human language is complex and does not follow clear enough rules for computers to understand. A machine may be able to work out the grammar of a sentence, but it still cannot understand its meaning. It looks like the science fiction fans who dream of robots which look and act just like us had better keep on dreaming.
A8 According to the text, people have been trying to create thinking machines
1 since the third century ВС.
2 since the 1950s.
3 since the 18th century.
4 since history began.
A9 In the 18th century, mechanical figures
1 were operated by engines.
2 amused wealthy people.
3 were difficult to make.
4 could be used to tell the time.
A10 People expected computers to be able to talk because
1 they were very expensive.
2 they were impressed by computers.
3 they wanted mechanical servants.
4 they believed computers would take over the world.
A11 Fifty years ago, computers were
1 thousand of times better at using human language,
2 two or three times slower at processing information.
3 thousand of times slower at processing information.
4 two or three times worse at using human language.
A12 We need tech support staff because
1 today’s computers have windows and mice.
2 so many people these days use computers.
3 computers and people do not work in the same way.
4 we have so many call centres these days.
A13 Computers cannot think like human beings because
1 scientists can’t program them to do so.
2 we do not know enough about the human brain,
3 computers can’t copy human thought processes.
4 computers do not have robot mechanisms.
A14 Computers can not use human language because
1 they do not understand the grammar.
2 human language does not have any rules.
3 they can not work out what sentences mean.
4 humans don’t want to chat with computers.
Все задания из пособия, подготовленного секцией английского языка Федерального экспертного совета Министерства образования и науки РФ имеет гриф «Допущено Министерством образования и науки Российской Федерации».
С наилучшими пожеланиями в новом году,
Наталья Кузнецова,
Методист John Parsons Bookshop (ЦентрКом-Самара)
Все задания из пособия, подготовленного секцией английского языка Федерального экспертного совета Министерства образования и науки РФ имеет гриф «Допущено Министерством образования и науки Российской Федерации».
