Задание 14 ЕГЭ по английскому языку: страница 3
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Change your food choice
While recycling and refillable water bottles were once the most popular fad among the environmentally conscious, there is now a more pressing matter for humans to turn their attention to in order to slow global climate change: the animal industry.
When you navigate to the university website on campus sustainability, you find a list of all of the ways the University is making an effort to “go green”.
A plan to increase levels of recycling on campus? Great! Printers that reduce paper waste? Fantastic! A garden to collect excess rainwater? Amazing! Let’s go one step farther.
If we’re not actively educating students about the immense ways our food choices influence the environment, then we’re not doing enough to really serve the causes we claim to support. It’s not only about giving students the option to eat less meat but telling them how these choices can influence the future of the environment and create sustainable change. The question of whether eating meat is bad for the environment is not a question anymore. And the issue isn’t that people are unwilling to try more plant-based foods or unaware of the perils the environment is currently in, but rather, it’s that people aren’t aware of the effects their demand for meat has on the earth.
Lean and Green, a student initiative that strives to promote sustainability on campus through environmentally friendly and healthy diet choices, conducted a study that showed students don’t fully understand the impact their eating habits have on the environment.
The livestock industry of chickens, cows and pigs produces more greenhouse gas emissions that all cars and trucks combined, according to Greenpeace. So as we eat more meat, the demand for meat likewise goes up and increases those gases. But when we eat more meat alternatives instead, like nuts or tofu, we can make a big difference. According to Walter, if a person went vegetarian for a year, they would produce three times less carbon than if they were to purchase a hybrid car.
And interestingly, more than 92 percent of responders said they would like to see more plant-based foods in the university dining halls. So it’s clear that students are willing to eat less meat and explore more veggie-friendly options. But what’s not clear for students is why these options are imperative for making choices that help our planet.
With the student population of about 34,000, the University has the capability to make significant changes for the future of the environment. Give the students want they want – which is more diverse plant-based options – but also tell them why they should want it. Informing students about why these options are environmentally favorable can only inspire students to choose them more often. Posters throughout the dining halls, informational email campaigns, programs in residence halls and even financial incentives can help inform students and shape their knowledge and decision-making.
In conjunction with offering more vegetarian options, letting non-vegetarian students know about the sustainable benefits that come from choosing these foods can encourage them to eat them more often.
The animal industry is only going to grow if people keep eating meat. If our university wants to have an impact and keep up its reputation as environmentally conscious, it should ensure its students know how they can do their part to help the earth.The author thinks that her university can affect the environmental campaign by …
1) reducing meat options in menus on campus. 2) creating and offering new vegetarian dishes. 3) educating students about ecological problems. 4) increasing awareness of the harm the meat industry may incur. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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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.
Attendance requirements
Studying at university can be very different from school, sixth form or college. Your term time will be different, as will your classes. Whether attendance is mandatory or not will also vary. Your classes will be divided into lectures and seminars. You will also have study sessions and inductions each year. Failure to attend mandatory sessions could have implications on your progression towards your degree, so it is important to understand what is mandatory and what is not.
Most universities do care about attendance. Universities generally associate good attendance with good academic performance, and therefore strongly encourage students to attend all of their seminars and lectures. Many universities will have an attendance threshold which students must reach. Likewise, module tutors may use a register to log and monitor the attendance of students for each seminar and lecture.
The real world has attendance requirements, too. If you don’t meet those expectations, you will get penalized. Jobs, for example, have required attendance. If you skip a day of work because you’re not up to it, you will probably face consequences. You have to be actively present to achieve your career goals, you can’t coast through your career like you may in college. College prepares you for the real world, so class attendance benefits your education and your future. That’s why many people think class attendance should be mandatory – to ensure students are engaged in their academic studies.
But, even without required attendance, it is your job to show up. Tests often reflect lectures, so being in class can help you more easily answer test questions. Most classes use participation to discuss topics in class, which goes beyond just needing to know it for tests. Attendance also makes it easier to work with fellow students and professors, so as to better understand the topics.
Active participation is not just for jobs and school. It can help you in life as well. Attending class would help emphasize that people need to be active in their role in society. This includes participating in things like elections, community service, and volunteering.
Most notably, we must pay for the classes we take, so missing a class means we hurt ourselves by wasting money, time, and educational opportunities. Not everyone gets to attend a uni, so why not take advantage of this opportunity?
On the other hand, if attendance is not required, you can choose whether or not to get out of bed in the morning and make your way to class. I must admit that there are days I may really want to choose not to go to class. But it is required, so I feel as though I have no choice at all. Maybe I feel a cold coming on but can’t make it to a doctor for a sick note, or I had to work extra late at my part-time job the night before. Most frequently I need some extra time to catch up on the overwhelming amount of homework I have been assigned in all of my classes.
Regardless of the reason, the choice should be mine. I understand that going to class is beneficial in many ways. But burnout is real. Many full-time students work just to make ends meet, and you can’t always predict illnesses well enough to get a university approved absence.
The requirement to attend classes can negatively affect grades and cause a great deal of stress for students that are under enough stress already. Many students who are not able to attend every single class still deserve a decent grade, and they work very hard to maintain one. We are adults. We are choosing to further our education. Therefore, we should also be given the choice to attend class or not – without it being detrimental to our grades.The verb coast through in “you can’t coast through your career” (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to …
1) succeeding without much effort. 2) working hard. 3) planning your next steps. 4) making a choice. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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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.
Being too positive
Having a positive outlook on life is good for your mental well-being. The problem is that life isn’t always positive. We all have painful emotions and experiences. Those emotions, while often unpleasant, need to be felt and dealt with openly and honestly to achieve acceptance and greater psychological health.
Toxic positivity is the belief that no matter how dire or difficult a situation is, people should maintain a positive mindset. While there are benefits to being optimistic and engaging in positive thinking, toxic positivity rejects all difficult emotions in favour of a cheerful and often falsely-positive façade. It takes positive thinking to an extreme. In other words, it makes it too general. This attitude does not just stress the importance of optimism – it also minimizes and even denies any trace of human emotions not strictly happy or positive.
Toxic positivity means having a “good vibes only” approach to life and discarding any seemingly negative emotions. It denies people the authentic support they need to cope with what they are facing.
Toxic positivity can take a wide variety of forms. Some examples you may have encountered in your own life include the following. When something bad happens, such as losing your job, people may say to “just stay positive” or “look on the bright side.” While such comments are often meant to be sympathetic, they can shut down anything the other person might want to say about what they are experiencing. After some type of loss, people might say, “everything happens for a reason.” While people will make such statements because they believe they are comforting, this is also a way of avoiding the other person’s pain. Upon expressing sad feelings, someone may respond that “happiness is a choice.” This suggests that if someone is feeling negative emotions, it’s their own fault for not “choosing” to be happy.
Such statements are often well-intentioned, or people just don’t know what else to say and don't know how to be empathetic. Still, it is important to recognize that such behaviour can be harmful.
Too much positivity is toxic because it can harm people who are going through difficult times. Rather than being able to share genuine human emotions and gain support, people who are faced with toxic positivity find their feelings dismissed, ignored, or outright invalidated.
It’s also shaming. Receiving too-positive responses can lead to feelings of shame. It tells people that the emotions they are feeling are unacceptable. When someone is suffering, they need to know that their emotions are valid and that they can find relief and love in their friends and family.
Shame goes hand in hand with guilt. Being toxically positive can also cause feelings of guilt. It sends a message that if you aren’t finding a way to feel positive – even in the face of tragedy – you are doing something wrong.
Moreover, it avoids authentic human emotion. When people engage in this type of behaviour, it allows them to sidestep emotional situations that make them feel uncomfortable. Sometimes we turn these same ideas on ourselves, internalizing them. When we feel difficult emotions, we then discount, dismiss, and deny them.
It prevents growth. Toxic positivity allows us to avoid feeling things that might be painful. But this denies us the ability to face challenging feelings that can ultimately lead to growth and deeper insight.
I believe it is possible to be optimistic in the face of difficult experiences and challenges. But people going through trauma don’t need to be told to stay positive or feel that they are being judged for not maintaining a sunny outlook.Which consequence of toxic positivity is NOT mentioned in the text?
1) Discouraging people from sharing emotions. 2) Ignoring other people’s negative feelings. 3) Putting the blame on the person dealing with pain. 4) Avoiding harmful behaviour of those around you. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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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.
Regular exercise
Only a few lifestyle choices have as large an impact on your health as physical activity. But many face a problem of keeping up regular exercise. What are some of the tricks?
At first, you can keep it short and sharp. My personal trainer, Robert, says a workout doesn’t have to take an hour: “A well-structured 15-minute workout can be really effective if you really are pressed for time.” As for regular, longer sessions, he says: “You tell yourself you’re going to make time and change your schedule accordingly.”
My rule is: if it doesn’t work, change it. For example, it rains for a week, you don’t go running once and then you feel guilty. It’s a combination of emotion and lack of confidence that brings us to the point where, if people fail a few times, they think it’s a failure of the entire project. Remember it’s possible to get back on track.
If previous exercise regimes haven’t worked, don’t beat yourself up or try them again – just try something else. We tend to be in the mindset that if you can’t lose weight, you blame it on yourself. However, if you could change that to: “This method doesn’t work for me, let’s try something different,” there is a chance it will be better for you and it prevents you having to blame yourself, which is not helpful.
“We start to lose muscle mass over the age of around 30,” says Hollie Grant, a personal-training instructor. Resistance training (which is using body weight, such as press-ups, or equipment, such as resistance bands) is important, she says: “It is going to help keep muscle mass or at least slow down the loss. There needs to be some form of aerobic exercise, too, and we would also recommend people start adding balance challenges because our balance is affected as we get older.”
My second rule is raising the ante. If you do 5-km runs and you don’t know if you should push faster or go further, rate your exertion from one to 10. As you see those numbers go down, that’s when you should start pushing yourself a bit faster. Robert says that, with regular exercise, you should be seeing progress over a two-week period and pushing yourself if you feel it is getting easier. You’re looking for a change in your speed, endurance, or strength.
Another shortcut to regular exercise is to work out from home. If you have caring responsibilities, you can do a lot within a small area at home. In a living room, it is easy to do a routine where you might alternate between doing a leg exercise and an arm exercise. “It’s called Peripheral Heart Action training and involves doing six or eight exercises for upper and lower body. This effect of going between the upper and lower body produces a pretty strong metabolism lift and cardiovascular workout,” Robert says. Try squats, half press-ups, lunges, dips and raises. You’re raising your heart rate, working your muscles, and having a good general workout. These take no more than 15-20 minutes and only require a chair for some exercises.
And what about doing chores? We are often told that housework and gardening can contribute to our weekly exercise targets, but is it that simple? “The measure really is you’re getting generally hot, out of breath, and you’re working at a level where, if you have a conversation with somebody while you’re doing it, you’re puffing a bit,” says Robert. With gardening, you’d have to be doing the heavier gardening – digging – and not just weeding. If you’re walking the dog, you can make it into a genuine exercise session – run with the dog, or find a route that includes some hills.
So, I think everyone can do exercise regularly and experience the health benefits of physical activity – age, abilities, ethnicity, shape, or size do not matter.The author’s message in paragraphs 3 and 4 is that …
1) testing various ways of exercising will help you stick to it. 2) if you fail to do exercise once, it’s likely you’ll give up. 3) being passionate and confident leads you to success. 4) if you fail in some exercise plan, try it again later. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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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.
Highlands Express
The journey began on a September evening in London as a black cab rushed me to Euston station. I had a weekend to myself, and I meant to make the most of it by hitting the famous Highlands of Scotland on a Caledonian Sleeper, a working train also affectionately known as the Deerstalker Express. I saw it as an escape from hectic city life.
A train is a very public place, but a berth on the sleeper is one of the most private. I was shown to my little first-class cabin - a little bed, little basin, window, night light and an extra blanket, trim as a toy house. I took a nibble in the comfortable, modern dining car, and retired to bed. London had slipped away, and it was black out there. I pulled the blind, put out the lamp, and arranged myself for sleep.
The train pulled into the station at 9:43 a.m. The centre of Fort William, I quickly learned, is but a street of fishing and hiking shops, with a spiky Victorian church, a handsome stone hotel, and a lake running alongside it. Before I took a cab to the hotel, I wandered up High Street to find the local paper and a cup of tea. A few hours later, I found myself standing up to my knees in the River Lochy, fishing with the expert assistance of a local guide, Martin Brown. The hotel staff was quite helpful and had arranged the outing with Martin. My aim was to learn the basics of fly-fishing. While Martin effortlessly handled yards and yards of fishing line so that his fly touched a small pool across the river, I splashed my fly into the river a few yards off. My first few casts were a mess, but I gradually improved. Soon, I hooked something. The rod grew heavy and lively. Eventually, I got very cold feet and aching arms and some sense of the pleasures of fishing, just as I had hoped.
That evening, after Martin dropped me off at the hotel, I found a place to sit among the armchair atolls in the oceanic great hall. Later, I was summoned to my table in one of the dining rooms, walls hung with prints. My meal was unassuming but tasty. I had a bit of meat pie, and a bit of cheese.
The following morning, I struck out on the well-marked walk that takes just a few hours but plunges you immediately into the grandeur of the Highlands. In the distance I saw an odd sight: a group of hikers dancing madly about the stream, waving their arms and shaking their heads.
I spread my coat on the grass and settled down to my picnic - superior crab sandwiches provided by the hotel. In a moment, I was on my feet, slapping my face and rubbing my hair while grabbing up my sandwiches with a free hand. I had forgotten the bane of the Highlands: flies, which are particularly active in late summer.
At Fort William’s excellent West Highland Museum, housed in a late Georgian building on Cameron Square, you can learn how people left a mark on this ancient landscape. They worked its trees and stones, leaving beautiful ax heads from the Stone Age, Celtic jewellery, the blade of a bronze sword. There are suggestions of myth and magic, the cement that connected people to their surroundings and the darker world beyond: amulets, cures, and trophies. And there are objects so rare and weird that they seemed to have dropped from the world beyond: so-called drift-seeds, which floated ashore from the West Indies and were turned into charms, odd-shaped or queerly colored pebbles that drew fevers, or brought a loved one home.
It was not yet dark when the London sleeper slid out of Fort William Station. I did not brood for long on the triumphs and tragedies of Highland history. When I next opened my eyes, I saw the huddled rooftops of suburban London, and a cheerful attendant, passing me a cup of tea.Which statement about the author’s fishing experience is FALSE?
1) His fishing skills slowly improved. 2) His attempts to catch something were useless. 3) The experience was quite satisfying. 4) The guide showed him how to throw the line. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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What can help you to live a better life
There are lots of things that can help you to live a better life, but one of them is not that clear – boundaries. Boundaries are how we care and give support to those we love – without sacrificing our own health and happiness in the process. They are not necessarily about our relationships with people, as many might think. In the modern world, we sometimes need to set boundaries to using technology. Here are a few tricks I’ve found particularly useful.
My number one must-have is treating the news like a snack. I am ready to stop scrolling through negative news or social media content, and you would probably benefit from doing the same. Many therapists recognise that constantly refreshing the headlines takes a toll on you; during the workday, it makes you think less about the work, and it causes unnecessary stress. “There’s a lot of pressure to keep up, like it’s what’s expected of me or the right thing to do, and I need to redefine what the actual limit is for me,” says Mike, who has a consulting agency in San Francisco. “What I would love to do is go back to the days before cable news, when the newspaper arrived once or twice a day.”
If you don’t like your compulsive news-seeking habit either, join him in checking the headlines just twice a day. If that still feels like too much, I suggest subscribing to a weekly newsletter that summarizes recent events, and catching up in one condensed session. You’ll probably end up feeling more focused and optimistic.
Another important thing is to banish tech from the bedroom. In 2026, change the relationship with your phone – at least for nights. Mike is going to start keeping his phone in another room, and he encourages others to set the same boundary. “Nobody has told me I need to have my phone next to me all the time, but for a long time I used to do it. I thought, “What if somebody calls in the middle of the night, or there’s an emergency?” “But I also can't think of a time when that happened,” Mike adds.
If you, too, operate under the assumption that other people expect you to be available 24/7, reevaluate that notion, he suggests. You might find that if you keep your phone in another room overnight – after letting your friends know about your new boundary – you’ll sleep better and feel more refreshed in the morning.
Last, but not least – trade virtual time for face time. Katy Mith’s days often pass in a virtual haze. The New York-based psychologist sees clients online during the day, and then hops back on a virtual call in the evening to meet with fellow leaders in the organizations she’s involved with. Then there’s even more tech when it’s time to catch up with long-distance friends and family. “I’ve had to think about how much of my life I want to spend in that medium,” says Mith, author of many books about well-being. “I’m trying to be very thoughtful about how much of my week is on virtual calls.”
If that makes sense for you, she says, make it a point to say “no” to opportunities that are not part of your usual course of work and involve online meetings, or let the organizers know that you can’t commit to lots of virtual time. Then, they can choose to proceed with or without you, if you’re not going to be virtual with them a lot of the time.
She also recommends seeking out community-based opportunities that prioritize getting together in person. “All those side conversations that happen when you get together with people are really good for your mental health and will help brighten your year.”
These boundaries help create a balance between online and offline life, ensuring that technology use enriches rather than detracts from personal well-being and real-world interactions.What is Mike’s advice on dealing with the news?
1) Try to read the news in your free time only. 2) Limit news input to twice a day or just weekly. 3) Look for specific type of news like cable news. 4) Read just news headlines to catch up quickly. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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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.
British food
Foreigners often laugh at the British. They say, “In Britain you get hot chips with everything!” But even the British don’t eat chips with their meals. To prove that, we decided to let you read an extract from a letter written by Pete Phrase, the chief cook at Daphne’s in London, to his foreign friends.
“…I am always both amused and annoyed when I hear foreign people criticise British food. “It’s unimaginative,” they say. “It’s boring, it’s tasteless with totally overcooked vegetables.” I have a theory about British cooking, and I was interested to read that several famous cookery writers agree with me. My theory is this. Our basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that we haven’t had to invent sauces and complex recipes to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh peas or new potatoes just boiled (not overboiled) and served with butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream or yoghurt and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?
If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “fish and chips” and then stop. It is disappointing, but true, that there is no tradition in Britain of eating in restaurants, because our food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. British cooking is found in the home, where it is possible to time the dishes to perfection. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with reasonable prices.
It is for these reasons that we haven’t exported our dishes, but we have imported a surprising variety of cuisines from all over the world. In most cities in Britain you’ll also find Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. In London you’ll also find Indonesian, Lebanese, German, Spanish, Mexican, Greek… Cynics will say that this is because we have no “cuisine” ourselves, but, well, you know what I think!”
Traditional British food is usually described as plain, conservative and unvaried. There are many popular jokes about it. “The British Empire was created as a by-product of generations of desperate Englishmen roaming the world in search of a decent meal,” remarks American journalist Bill Marsano.
Indeed, classic British dishes are not too dainty, but they are nourishing, natural and tasty, a lot of attention here is paid to the food quality. Residents of Great Britain prefer local food to imported products, so nearly all fish, milk and meat products are produced within the country and vegetables are grown by local farmers.
Meals during a day in Britain traditionally include breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. Dinner is always the most substantial meal during the day. For dinner the British often have soup and then the main course, such as meat, poultry or fish with vegetables or mashed potatoes. It is followed by a dessert, for example, the most ubiquitous apple pie. Meat dishes are presented in British cuisine in a large variety. Probably, the most delicious of them is succulent roast beef, which is grilled and served with vegetables, roast potatoes or Yorkshire pudding. Apart from beef, the British cook steaks of pork, lamb and sometimes turkey or chicken.
Supper in Britain is the last meal of the day, and usually it consists of something light, for example, a bowl of cream soup, naturally, often skipped.
As for drinks, it’s impossible to imagine British cuisine without tea. Contrary to popular belief, tea is not always served with milk. The British drink tea with and without sugar, with lemon, cinnamon, honey and so on. But tea and milk is a classic combination, not a favourite of mine, though.”Which statement is NOT true according to Pete Phrase?
1) Foreigners know few English dishes. 2) The English prefer home cooked dishes. 3) Prices in English restaurants are low. 4) The English are good at cooking. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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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.
How teaching English on my year abroad improved my French
I began my year abroad in Paris as an intern at a publishing house, earning €2.70 an hour for menial work. I’d hoped to be able to soak up French in a real-life setting, but was constantly writing emails and making calls in English, with little free time for learning my second language. I soon realised the only thing I’d really learned was how to use a document-binding machine. Luckily, I’d taken an intensive English-teaching course in London the previous summer, which helped me find a new job with a language school.
Students planning their years abroad might worry about teaching English. It seems counterintuitive – you go to another country to learn the language and end up speaking your mother tongue. But in my experience, it can be a rewarding job and is perhaps even the best way to immerse yourself in another culture and learn the language. Ellen Rothnie, a student at the University of Glasgow, who has recently returned from two years in Spain, agrees. She says: “The feeling of integrating is so special. I wanted to improve my Spanish and was astounded by how much I did. I noticed a difference within a month.”
So, what struck me most about teaching English, was the potential for improving my French. Teaching your own language gives you a broader insight into language-learning – you see what works and what doesn’t. Among my students, I encountered a full range of abilities – speakers of near-native fluency and those who could barely string together a simple English phrase. I noticed what held my weakest students back – too much focus on writing down notes, crippling shyness and fear of making mistakes, and the other extreme – overconfidence, speaking at length and carelessly repeating the same errors. I saw how my best students learned – by being chatty and enthusiastic, and by watching hours of Anglo-American TV and films in their spare time. Trying to follow their example, I studied French thrillers and reality shows, picking up slang and colloquialisms, which helped me get by in everyday conversations.
Rothnie also found that teaching English helped with her Spanish. “My students often didn’t know what I considered to be basic expressions involving prepositions, such as ‘run out’, or ‘left over’,” she says. “Then I realised that in Spanish there is usually a separate, single equivalent verb which, before my year abroad, I probably didn’t know either.” At university, language teachers often tell students to avoid directly translating English phrases word-for-word, but it’s only when you’re interacting with native speakers in another country that you grasp the common expressions and idioms. This knowledge allows you to become more fluent in a language.
Teaching English can also give you the chance to socialise with native speakers, as Amy Stewart, a student at the University of Strathclyde, found on her year abroad in Tenerife. As a British Council assistant, she became friendly with her fellow teachers and even went to stay at the family home of a Spanish colleague. Despite her concerns about living in a hotspot for Anglophone tourists, Stewart improved her Spanish by taking part in language exchanges with locals. You need to be proactive too, she says: “If you go looking for areas that aren’t quite as touristy, then you’ll find them.”
Ultimately, the success of your year abroad is down to your own efforts – but maybe there’s something about teaching that gives you a certain motivation. After all, when you’ve been telling your students to knuckle down and practise vocabulary in their spare time, you feel like a hypocrite if you don’t do the same.Ellen Rothnie was surprised by how …
1) fast she became part of Spanish culture. 2) deep her experience was. 3) many classes she had to teach. 4) far she progressed in learning Spanish. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Philanthropy
Philanthropy is defined as the love of humanity. A modern definition is “private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life”, which combines an original humanistic tradition with a social aspect developed in the 20th century.
Growing up in this state, I dreamed of attending a college one day. On fall Saturdays at the stadium, I caught a glimpse of the brick buildings and tree-lined walkways. I knew they led to information, knowledge, and a whole tribe of new minds to connect with. When the day finally came to unpack my few belongings in the residence hall, I knew I was finally where I had always wanted to be. My years on campus certainly lived up to the anticipation. The classes, professors, friends, and opportunities created a life-changing experience.
Philanthropy is a critical part of the life and success of the whole local community, and college in particular. As a board member of the Center for Advancement, I have seen firsthand the joy of our alumni and friends as they make a difference in the life of this institution. They are delighted to pay it forward as they understand what college means to them. As a student, one does not always value how much the path was paved by those who have gone before, those who have an ability to give back. Now that my friend and I have made this community our family’s home, we have a much better understanding of how vital the long-term success of the college is for our entire state.
Through my involvement with the Center for Advancement, I truly witness the breadth of areas one can support. This institution is doing incredible researching, educating, and programming in so many areas. And our donors can discover their passion and connect in a meaningful way that goes beyond the dollars given. Whether it is the joy of the written word, the connection to first-generation college students, the atmosphere of a football Saturday, or a desire to support the cure for a hereditary medical condition, our donors become a part of the life of the college.
I have also seen philanthropy directly affect the life of the college from my experience in the Department of Finance. I work with students who have the opportunity to attend college because of the financial assistance they receive from our donors. Continued support has fostered the enhanced facility we work in today which has been reconfigured to remain relevant to today’s needs. The educational experience is much richer because of the generosity of others. Our new auditorium is one shining example that we are proud to support. Not only is this facility a marvel of world-class architecture and programming, it also strives to make the arts accessible to all citizens. These experiences spark curiosity and imagination in audiences, young and old, to remind us what it means to be alive in this era of technology and separation.
Different funds provide a real-life working experience that is as relevant as any internship. Through philanthropy, students and faculty are able to use technology that could not be supported with tuition dollars. Private gifts also allow us to assist our faculty, who are the life of the institution, and provide our students a top-notch education.
Every dollar of support to the university today replays itself over and over as successive generations of learners have an opportunity to develop the skills they need to save lives, shape minds, and transform our future. One of the values we hope to instill in our children is the understanding of the value of giving back.Working in the Center for Advancement allowed the author to …
1) appreciate donors’ aid. 2) become more successful. 3) make lots of new friends. 4) make a big difference in students’ lives. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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How I learnt Chinese
I believe that random chance plays a more significant role in our lives than many people realise. The reason I started learning Chinese was a long string of fairly unlikely coincidences. Looking back, they all combine neatly to form who I am today and what I do, but that certainly wasn’t a strategic goal at the time. To find out about why I started learning Chinese in the first place, we need to wind the clock back almost 20 years.
For me, the journey probably started in junior high school, when I started practising martial arts. I found Japanese martial arts to be too rigid with set uniforms, a strict grading system and a training environment with numerous rituals, and switched to a different system. Who knows, if I had stuck to Japanese martial arts, I might have ended up with hacking Japanese instead. That would have been cool, too, but that’s not what happened.
My interest for the language came from a deeper interest in the system of thought behind the Eastern philosophy. I started thinking about and reading up on it. I studied translations of Tao Te Ching, listened and read everything I could find by Alan Watts, who has had a great impact on the way I think. In 2006, two good friends of mine told me that there was a new course at the university where you could study the Chinese language and culture intensively for one year. At this point, I had already studied at university for three years, but I felt that this was a good opportunity to take a break from that and learn some Chinese.
So I did. I took a study break from the teacher’s program and enrolled in a one-year intensive program. Some lessons focused on general proficiency, including textbook reading, translation and drilling. Most vocabulary learning was done at home and then used and/or tested during lessons. We also had lessons focusing more on translation into Chinese, which were meant to cover the productive aspects of learning, but fell short mostly because of the lack of class time, not because the actual lessons were bad. Since we were around 20 students, there was little one-on-one time with anyone who could actually speak Chinese.
My decision to continue studying Chinese in Taiwan was mostly a coincidence. My teacher in Sweden forwarded a note about a scholarship, and I applied for it without really expecting either to get it or to continue studying Chinese. When I actually received the scholarship, I had to go. You don’t turn down an offer of studying a language for one year with most costs covered.
Learning in a classroom is not enough, even if the classroom is located in a Chinese-speaking environment. Most language schools are fairly traditional and stay close to the textbook, focusing a lot on reading and vocabulary. Even though I spoke a lot in class, too (small class size is a blessing), that was far from enough. I limited my use of English to about once per week when I played games with a group of other foreigners. The rest of the time I spent with native friends, language exchange partners and foreign classmates whose Chinese was a lot better than mine. I also practised some sports, such as diving, which meant I got to know native speakers who were far from campus, both literally and metaphorically speaking.
After that year, I had reached some kind of conversational fluency, but I didn’t think my Chinese was good enough to make a living from. The decision, then, was to stay for another year, which would firmly put me in the advanced category, then go home and continue my teaching education.That in Paragraph 3 (“... this was a good opportunity to take a break from that …”) most probably refers to …
1) his main university course. 2) the new language course. 3) the study of culture. 4) practising Eastern philosophy. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Coffee decaffeination processes
Every day it seems that medical researchers come out with a new study about coffee, how it is extremely unhealthy for you and/or full of amazing benefits. The focus of most of these studies is more particularly about the effects of caffeine on human health. As caffeine, coffee’s most potent element, is a stimulant, it can produce both positive and negative effects. It can wake you up in the morning, but it can also lead to sleeplessness, a racing heartbeat, and anxiety.
It is therefore no surprise that many people have decided to cut caffeine out of their diets. As for me, I have grown to like the taste of coffee, but to me the main purpose of drinking it is to get an extra jolt of energy. That is why I will admit to a certain prejudice against decaf, perhaps prompted by bad experiences with weak and tasteless brew, because it is true that the actual process of removing caffeine from coffee can degrade the taste beyond repair.
Early decaffeination attempts involved soaking the green beans in water and then using various solvents to separate the caffeine in the resulting water solution. The beans were then re-introduced to the caffeine-free solution in order to absorb some of the flavor they had lost. Solvents used included benzene, chloroform, and trichloroethylene, all of which were later found to have toxic effects. In the 1970s, dichloromethane came into use to replace the earlier solvents before it too was deemed possibly carcinogenic.
In response to these concerns about solvents, some coffee companies began to run the water solution through charcoal filters as a means of removing the caffeine. The so-called Swiss Water Process, developed in Switzerland in the 1930s, goes one step further. After a batch of coffee beans has been steeped in hot water, that water is filtered, and then is used to soak the next batch of beans to be processed. In this way, the beans lose caffeine as they soak, but lose less of their flavor.
Yet another method that aims to safely remove caffeine from coffee beans involves a fascinating compound procedure. The solvent used in this method is neither water nor one of the earlier toxic solvents. Instead, caffeine in the coffee beans is dissolved by means of carbon dioxide. In order to accomplish this, the carbon dioxide must become a supercritical fluid, created when it is compressed and heated to the point that it has the same density in liquid and gaseous forms.
As this supercritical CO2 is passed through the beans, it can penetrate them because of its gaseous properties, and yet is able to dissolve the caffeine they contain because of its liquid properties.
In 2004, Brazilian scientists identified a new strain of coffee beans with a naturally low level of caffeine. They found three coffee plants from Ethiopia that contain almost no caffeine as they seem lack an enzyme necessary to caffeine production. If these plants can be crossed with commercial strains of coffee plants, we may one day see more coffee on the market that is naturally low in caffeine.
With these advances, and the current methods of decaffeination, decaf junkies are sure to be able to get their fix of coffee that not only tastes great, but won’t keep them up half the night.
As for me, I do want to stay up half the night, so I’ll stick to my full-strength brew.We learn that the early decaffeination processes …
1) were too complicated. 2) improved the taste of coffee. 3) were not effective. 4) could be dangerous for health. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Stop buying stuff
Did you know that spending 1,000 rubles a day adds up to spending more than 365,000 a year? And I don’t know about you, but hardly anything costs under 1,000 where we live. So thoughtless spending can add up very quickly. As I try to live more simply, I have been trying to mend what we have and make what we need. I recently made linen napkins with some fabric we had. This way of living has required me to slow down and question whether what I want to buy is truly essential. If you also want to live more simply and stop buying stuff you don’t need, here are some tips that I’ve found useful.
First, you need to identify your motivation. Take a few minutes to think about why you want to buy less stuff. Your goal is to buy less, but why are you chasing that goal. Some reasons might be to save money, to reduce clutter, to live more sustainably, to get out of debt, or to live a more handmade and simple life. Once you have your motivation identified, you can refer back to it when you are tempted to buy something frivolous.
Next, it’s very useful to record your expenses. Don’t worry about setting up a fancy budget right now. Just write down everything you buy and how much you spend for one week. This is to make you more conscious of your spending habits and help you to stop buying stuff you don’t need. Also for one week, write down what prompted you to buy something. For example, imagine you bought a new
T-shirt. Write it down and think about what made you want to buy it. Did you see someone you follow on social media wearing it? Did you buy it late at night after a date went badly? The goal is to make your invisible purchasing habits more visible. As you write down what prompted you to buy something, think about whether the spending was emotional or not. Did you get a rush when you pushed ‘buy now’? That’s probably an emotional purchase. Try to identify which emotion you’re avoiding. Do you feel self-conscious? Or depressed? Once we can name what we’re trying to avoid, then we can take steps to meaningfully address it.
Have you heard about the One-Year Test? Look around your space. Do you see anything you haven’t used in a year? Strongly consider selling or donating it. Once you have an understanding of how much you spend and what your spending triggers are, it’s time to clean the slate. Unsubscribe from brands on social media and from email newsletters from companies or influencers. You want to set yourself up for success and protect yourself from being bombarded with emails promising ‘irresistible’ sales. Once you know when you are triggered to buy things, you can pre-empt the urge by filling the time with something else. For example, if you browse and buy late at night on your phone, you can do yoga or meditate or read a good book before bed. You don’t need to do this forever – just try to do it once to begin with, and see how you feel.
Another very good tip can be summed up as ‘cost versus work.’ Before you buy something, calculate how much you will need to work to cover the cost. If you get paid 300 rubles/hour and something costs 2,500, that’s more than 8 hours of work. Is it worth it to you?
Before buying something, wait 24 hours. This is a good way to weed out impulse buying. Instead of buying things every day, choose one day a week. Bookmark everything you want to buy and on the buying day, review all of your bookmarks. This is a good way to remove emotional or impulse buying, too.
So, buying stuff you don’t need is a major problem for a lot of people. The material possessions that you’ve desired and eventually purchased will lose their sparkle, and you’ll return to your happiness set point. Things can’t make you happy, but people can.According to the author, writing down what you buy helps to …
1) analyse your real motivation. 2) stop social media influence. 3) cope with depressive state. 4) protect you from criminals. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Turning As an Obstacle
When I first read about a sport called parkour, I thought it was about fluid, elegant, and graceful motions. But in practice, parkour is considered an “extreme” sport; as its participants dash around a city, they may vault over fences, run up walls, and even jump from rooftop to rooftop. So you won’t see senior citizens doing it in the park on Sunday mornings, but if you do witness it, you may think you’re watching a stunt person on a movie set.
Le parkour is a French term, related to the verb parcourir, “to run over or through”. It was created by David Belle, Sebastien Foucan, and a group of their friends when they were teenagers living in the Paris suburb in the late 1980s. Belle’s father had been a soldier in Vietnam, and his preparatory programme included navigating obstacle courses. Belle picked up many of the moves from his father and, along with his friends, developed them into an art form.
Parkour combines elements of running, gymnastics, dance, and martial arts into a breathtaking way of moving from place to place. The general idea is to move quickly and gracefully, treating buildings, walls, handrails, rocks, and whatever objects you come across as elements in an obstacle course. The only real rule is that you should not move backwards and that you should do it with as much efficiency and style as possible.
The only equipment required for parkour is a good pair of shoes. Participants, who call themselves traceurs, wear no protective gear but typically invest a great deal of time in training and preparation in order to execute the necessary moves safely. The first thing any participant learns is how to cushion the impact of a jump by rolling. Although parkour is ultimately about clever improvisation rather than choreographed moves, there are a couple dozen or so standard maneuvers that almost all traceurs learn, including several methods for getting over tall walls.
Some traceurs participate merely for the fun or the challenge, but others treat parkour as a more serious art, similar to some martial arts. As a philosophy, the movements metaphorically represent becoming one with your environment, learning how to overcome obstacles without effort, and finding creative paths – all things with practical value outside the sport.
Even though parkour has reached international popularity, there is already an offshoot sport that has led to a great deal of bitterness and division among parkour proponents. Co-founder Sebastien Foucan, in a 2003 BBC documentary called “Jump London,” referred to the sport as “free-running” and that term caught on in the media. However, parkour purists feel that the direction in which Foucan has taken the activity is entirely different from what he and Belle had originally developed.
The biggest difference has to do with theatrics. Free-running involves a lot of trick moves, particularly mid-air flips and spins. Because these moves are merely showy, not economical, they’re considered contrary to the nature of parkour. A free-runner may also move backwards in order to make a move as flashy as possible.
But it’s not simply a matter of differing styles. Manufacturers are capitalizing on the growing interest in parkour and free-running by introducing special shoes, designer clothing, and so on; free-running competitions are also beginning to appear.According to the author, the rules of parkour are …
1) very complicated. 2) difficult to follow. 3) not defined. 4) limited to one only. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Cycling
Winter is over, and snow is but a memory. Because of the warmer climate, getting around the town by bicycle has become a more viable option. With parking problems and rising gas prices, people should bike more, as it is a less costly alternative to using automobiles, and it is better for the environment and personal health.
It would not be revolutionary to claim that parking in our city can be a bit of a hassle. Recently, the University students were asked about their experiences with parking. Their main complaint — and the bottom line of the problem — is that parking is expensive. However, those expenses can be avoided by using bicycles, as bike parking on campus is free.
Another expense issue with cars is gas, as prices have been on the rise. Though price averages in our state remain below the national average, it is still a lot more compared to the pricing from a year ago. This would obviously not be an issue if one were to cycle instead.
The great weather we have had and the cost-efficiency of cycling should be enough to convince people to bike more, but there are other benefits aside from general convenience.
Firstly, cycling is better for the environment. Bikes do not release pollutants into the air, and consistent cycling is estimated to prevent 6 to 14 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere every year. Infrastructure requirements for bikes are minimal, as they do not require the establishment of highways. This means fewer resources need to be used and less land needs to be urbanized.
Secondly, cycling is better for you. Cycling as a means of transportation will get you where you need to go while providing you with an accessible workout that increases your strength, stamina, and overall fitness. Additionally, cycling has mental health benefits. Regular cyclists are likely to experience improved moods. To build on this, a study shows that cyclists experience 21.6 percent fewer bad mental health days, suggesting that cycling is beneficial to one’s well-being in more ways than one.
Essentially, there are plenty of reasons why everyone should bike more. Our city is a particularly encouraging place to bike. There are signs and lanes everywhere dedicated to making cycling more convenient, and the university encourages this alternative as well.
Well, there are some problems, of course. One of these is bike theft.
To avoid it, just follow some rules if you rely on bicycle transportation to get to and from campus. Many of these actions can also help police locate and identify your bicycle, should it go missing. First of all, use a high-quality lock. When you lock your bike, be sure to lock your bike frame and wheel to fixed, approved bike racks. Second, keep a record of the make, model, and serial number of your bike, including a photograph. This will make it easier to report your bike if it is stolen, and to return it to you if it is located. Next, balance protection and visibility. Lock up your bike in a moderately busy area with high visibility rather than an isolated location. Avoid leaving your bike unattended in the same area for multiple days. Finally, consider investing in a tracking device for your bicycle and report bike theft and suspicious activity near bike racks. Following these simple tips, you won’t lose your bike and you’ll help save others.
Considering that the weather is warmer and automobiles are still a hassle to use in the city, now is as good a time as any to start biking. If you have an old bike lying around, maybe it is time to start using it. If not, it might be time to invest in one.According to the text, the prices for gas in the author’s region …
1) are higher than in other regions. 2) are lower than last year. 3) are almost the same as for parking. 4) have considerably increased. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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What are soft skills?
Every career has a job description. Employers like to make clear the experience, education and skills they are looking for in an employee, so they can ensure a good fit. But in addition to “hard skills” that come from your education and work experience, employers want to know if you have the personality and character it takes to do well in the workplace and in your specific role. These less-technical skills are called “soft skills”.
Unlike other parts of your job duties, soft skills are traits that aren’t trained. They are interpersonal skills like communication, empathy, collaboration, problem solving and conflict resolution. These skills are all essential for employees in any organization. We all work with people in a variety of ways, and teams are the norm in almost every company. Hiring professionals and supervisors need to know you will get along with, support and effectively connect and collaborate with co-workers to complete tasks.
Simply put, hard skills may get you an interview, but soft skills can help you get the job and keep it. The soft skills that set you apart from others may also lead to future incentives or promotions.
Soft skills are an excellent way for you to differentiate yourself in a job search. If your technical skill is on a par with other candidates, your ability to communicate and build a connection with hiring managers can be the decisive factor.
You’re probably wondering which soft skills will set you apart from other applicants. Most hiring managers agree that communication skills are at the top of their list. While you don’t have to be an amazing speech-deliverer, employers want to know that you can handle disagreements, portray ideas in presentations or conversations and write coherently.
Conflict resolution and collaboration are other key areas hiring managers value. But don’t be fooled – working well with others isn’t just about keeping a calm office. The ability to develop relationships that benefit both parties is a big part of becoming an influential and effective employee. While it is true that many of these traits are ingrained, don’t worry too much if these don’t come naturally to you. There are plenty of ways to learn and grow as you prepare for a job.
Showing your soft skills isn’t impossible, it just takes a little work. Not only do you have to emphasize your soft skills in interviews but share specific examples to illustrate how you apply them in your life and on the job. You can recall times when you worked on a team project where members had conflicting views and share how you handled it.
Were you the leader who made sure all voices were heard, and then helped mediate and resolve the conflict? Maybe you were one of the team and you took the role of helping evaluate each view and coming to consensus. Maybe you were the one to support the person whose idea was not used but was successful afterwards. These are all examples that can be highly relevant to employers making hiring decisions.
When it comes to your résumé, leveraging your soft skills may sound tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, how you communicate on your resume and cover letter are great examples of your soft skills. Start by making sure your résumé and cover letter are typo-free and grammatically sound. Remember to show, and not just tell. Saying you’re an excellent communicator has much less impact than giving concrete examples of times where your communication ability was excellent. Anyone can say they are amazing. It’s up to you to prove it.The expression on a par with in “If your technical skill is on a par with other candidates ...” (paragraph 4) means …
1) similar to. 2) different from. 3) superior to. 4) secondary to. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Are tours really so bad?
I’ve always been all for independent travel and my friends often ask me: if tours are really so bad, why so many people do them?
Well, I wouldn’t be so straightforward. First of all, tours provide higher quality at better value. I’ve always been trying to break down costs for independent travel in different cities around the world, so it might seem strange when I say that tours are actually a better value. The reality is that in most places, the absolute cheapest way to travel is independently, but that means hostel bunks and street food instead of hotels and restaurants. And in a country like China, the tours are much cheaper than independent travel at any standard.
Of course, the reason for this is that a tour provider can book 20 hotel rooms every week with one phone call, so they get amazing hotel rates that independent travellers couldn’t dream of. The same is true with restaurants and even attractions, where large groups are much cheaper per person than singles. Even with a tour provider mark-up, you still get a better deal in most cases.
Another important thing for many of us is that there is little or no stress with language or culture barriers. Even in an English-speaking country, it can be confusing on your first visit, and things like finding hotels and even museums can be headaches. When in countries with other languages, the level of confusion gets multiplied, often further compounded by touts and other illegal sellers who make a living trying to steer you somewhere else. On a tour you’ll always have an English speaker who knows the local area well between you and the potential obstacles. It’s almost like having an old friend living in the area, who can tell you exactly where to go and whom to ignore.
That leads us to the next point. Tours provide security and accountability. No method of travel is 100% safe and secure, but at least when you are on a tour you know that people who know the risks are working on your behalf. Travelling on your own, if your hotel says it’s fully booked, then you are out on the street. But with a tour, it’s up to them to find you a new room nearby, which would be far easier even if it did happen.
If you get sick or injured on your own, you are on your own, while on a tour there will be an experienced person there to help get medicine or look after you. I had a large backpack stolen off a train because the luggage area works on the honour system. Had I been on a tour, someone would likely have put everything in a secure place because their reputation depends on clients making it home with all their gear.
And last but not least, itineraries on tours are designed by professionals. Everyone obviously has different tastes when sightseeing, but that doesn’t mean that independent travellers always make the right decisions. The typical first-time visitor to a big city will try to schedule 18 hours worth of sightseeing into every day, which obviously doesn’t work once you get there. These tour companies that have been around for a long time tend to do a great job maximising sightseeing time but also adding in leisure time, meal time, and sleep time. In the era of ubiquitous reviews not to mention social media, these tour companies can only survive if they provide a product that people feel good about when it’s done. Not only can they get you between sights more quickly, but they also know when clients prefer to relax and slow down.
All said and done, I am not writing this to put you off independent travel but rather to make you look before you leap.It is implied that tour travel decreases your …
1) ability to speak with locals. 2) chances of being cheated. 3) culture-related activities. 4) language-learning experience. Источник: ФИПИ (по данным открытых источников).
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Проверено . Источники: ФИПИ — открытый банк заданий ЕГЭ · ФИПИ — спецификации и демоверсии ЕГЭ. Официальные решения публикуют Рособрнадзор, ФИПИ и Минпросвещения — при расхождении верны они.