B2 Mintafeladat

Az olvasáskészség és nyelvismeret vizsgafeladatok megoldhatók a weboldalon. A párhuzamba állított humán- és reálmodul feladatokkal a modul kiválasztását könnyítjük meg leendő vizsgázóinknak.

Read the following text. Answer the questions (1-9) after the text in a maximum of FIVE words on the lines that follow the questions. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

John F. Kennedy

Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, into a wealthy family. Educated at Choate preparatory school and Harvard University, he graduated in 1940. Following naval service in the Pacific in World War Two, he entered politics in 1946 and won election as a Democrat to the US House of Representatives. Spurred on by his father, Joseph Kennedy, in 1952 John Kennedy was elected to the upper house of Congress, the Senate, defeating the incumbent Republican.

Unsuccessful in gaining the 1956 Democratic vice-presidential nomination, Kennedy ran and won the party's presidential nomination four years later. His defeat of vice-president Richard Nixon in the subsequent election made him the nation's first Roman Catholic head of state. He was also, at the age of 43, the youngest president ever elected.

His presidency got off to an uncertain start, despite the promise in his inaugural address of January 1961 that the US would 'pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend [and] oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty ...'. Subsequently, his years in power were marked by several areas of tension in foreign affairs, together with a rhetorical commitment to domestic reforms, and most of all to the civil rights of black Americans.

He inherited the Eisenhower administration's plan to use anti-communist Cubans to invade Cuba in order to overthrow Fidel Castro's government there. In April 1961 the invasion ended in failure, and in Castro's survival. Many historians suggest it was this fiasco that led the Soviet Union to conclude that Kennedy was a weak leader, and that they could get away with installing nuclear weapons on Cuba in 1962. The subsequent Cuban missile crisis did much to restore Kennedy's reputation, as Soviet Communist Party leader Nikita Khruschev withdrew the missiles - after a 13-day stand-off that included the naval quarantine of the island by the US.

Domestically, Kennedy introduced the desegregation of the University of Mississippi in 1962, and of the University of Alabama the following year - despite the opposition to this policy of each state's political establishment. More substantial legislation to encode civil rights was not passed, however, until the subsequent administration of Lyndon Johnson (1963-9).

Kennedy was assassinated by gun shot in November 1963. According to the Earl Warren commission established to investigate the assassination, a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, killed the president. However, few people found this an acceptable conclusion, and there has been consistent speculation ever since that Kennedy's death was the result of a conspiracy.

Read the following text. Answer the questions (1-9) after the text in a maximum of FIVE words on the lines that follow the questions. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

Puffins being wiped out as shrub chokes nesting sites

One of Britain 's best-known seabirds, the puffin, is being wiped out by invading fast-growing alien plant species because of global warming.

Scientists have discovered the tree-mallow is choking puffin breeding sites on Scottish islands and have warned that the plant could soon start killing off other seabirds, such as herring gulls and cormorants.

Tree-mallow, Lavatera arborea, which grows mainly in Mediterranean countries, was once confined to only a few UK outcrops. But now the plant has begun to spread as a result of global warming. This year was the northern hemisphere's hottest on record. Polar bears and Arctic seals are suffering. In southern England frogs have started to spawn and autumn leaves have failed to fall.

'The plant has already covered a couple of islands so quickly that puffins cannot make their nests on the ground,' said Dr René van der Wal, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, in Banchory. 'They cannot burrow in the soil and make nests. The result has been a catastrophic decline in puffin breeding. On Craigleith, near North Berwick, the numbers of burrows in which puffins breed plunged from 28,000 in 1999 to 14,000 in 2004 and the drop has continued this year. This is now the most dramatic example of an alien plant invader affecting wildlife in Britain,' he told The Observer.

The Atlantic puffin, Fratercula arctica, has a black back and white underparts, a flattened, brightly-coloured bill, and red and black eye-markings with bright orange legs. It is one of the nation's most distinctive and popular birds and is often photographed with sand eels - its favourite food - hanging out of its bill. The record is held by one bird which was found with 61 eels in its beak. But the advancement of the tree-mallow has added new fears for the future. First Craigleith succumbed to the plant, now the plant has started colonising other Scottish isles.

'The puffin only makes things worse for itself,' added van der Wal. 'It breaks up the ground, providing a perfect place for tree-mallow seeds to take root. The bird provides a home for tree-mallow which then prevents them breeding. Nature can be cruel.'

At present, only puffins have been affected by the tree-mallow's spread. However, researchers warn other ground-nesting seabirds could soon be affected, including herring-gulls, black-backed gulls and cormorants.

'There is a lot the public can do to help,' added van der Wal. 'They can send us photos of coastal areas where tree-mallow is growing, for example. We need to find out how quickly it is spreading.'

Getting rid of the plant may be tricky, although scientists do have a cunning plan: import neutered rabbits. 'Islands with rabbits do not have tree-mallow. Rabbits rip up their shoots before they can take proper root. And rabbits and puffins get on pretty well. However, too many rabbits could cause real damage and erosion - so we would neuter them first. It's simple really.'

Read the following text. Parts of some sentences have been removed from the text. Choose the most suitable part from the list (A-K) for each gap (1-9) in the text. There is ONE EXTRA part that you do not need to use. Write your answers in the gaps. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

Talent show singer is online hit

A 47-year-old church volunteer from West Lothian has become an unlikely overnight singing sensation with millions watching her perform online.

(0) on ITV's Britain's Got Talent with her performance of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables on Saturday. Since then Hollywood actress Demi Moore has joined the legions of fans (1) . Ms Boyle has now become the bookies' favourite to win the talent show.

Ms Boyle, who told viewers she had "never been kissed", said she had always wanted to be a singer. She said: "I entered the competition because I wanted to have a chance at my singing. I found it very nerve-wracking to begin with but once I settled down and began to sing, I thought that the audience accepted me a bit more. Then I sort of relaxed (2) ".

Ms Boyle, who is currently unemployed, is a keen church-goer and community worker (3) . She said: "It all began for me at age 12, (4) in choirs and school concerts. Then after that (5) I was singing in clubs."

Her performance on Saturday has received more than 5m hits on You Tube. Among (6) are Ghost star Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher. He sent her a message on the micro-blogging service Twitter saying: "This just made my night." Her entry read: "You saw it made me teary!"

After Ms Boyle's audition performance at Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium, she is now tipped to beat 75,000 other applicants to the Britain's Got Talent prize, which is a chance (7) .

Tom Kerr, West Lothian's Provost, said: "(8) for the next stage of the competition. Susan has clearly wowed the audience, the judges and the world with a truly fantastic performance. (9) , including from Hollywood star Demi Moore. And with millions of hits on You Tube, Susan has put Blackburn, West Lothian, firmly on the map.”

Read the following text. Choose the best word from the list (A-O) for each gap (1-12) in the text, and write its letter in the gap. There are TWO EXTRA words that you do not need to use. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

History, learning, beauty reign over Oxford

OXFORD, England -- In the early hours of the morning, when the streets are still and the ancient stone walls, the towers, the spires, and domes are bathed in moonlight, Oxford is its (0) beautiful.

Over the centuries it has developed from a small provincial town to (1) it is today, one of Britain's most impressive cities. Its famous university has been a stepping-stone for many world leaders and thinkers. Its architecture is monumental. For history buffs it is a paradise.

Like numerous other towns, Oxford in medieval times was encircled by a stone wall many feet thick and 2) than 15 feet high. It served as a deterrent to invaders. Today a small portion of that 3) wall provides a backdrop for a herbaceous border in New College garden. Another section borders Dead Man's Walk alongside Merton College.

William of Wykeham, who founded New College in 1379, 4) to undertake the upkeep of the ancient wall before the city fathers would allow him to build his school. To this day the mayor of Oxford, in full regalia, visits the college each year to ensure that the present warden is 5) the promise. Along "the High," Oxford's main thoroughfare, the panorama is very much as it 6) been for centuries. Beside the River Cherwell stands the 15th-century Magdalen College, where "Shadowlands," the 1993 movie about the love story of writers C.S. Lewis and his American wife, Helen Joy Davidman, was filmed.

It is at the foot of the college's well-known tower that thousands of students and others gather on May 1 at sunrise to celebrate the arrival of summer, a tradition hundreds 7) years old. The Magdalen College boys choir assembles at the 8) of the tower and as the sun tips the college spires with early morning light, a hush falls over the crowd and the clear bell-like voices of the boys drift down. They begin 9) a traditional Latin hymn and then break into a lively rendition of "Summer Is a Coming In."

As the last 10) fades, the peals of the church bells signal the start of the celebrations. Morris dancers in their traditional costume of white, with bells around their ankles and 11) decorating their hats, go through their repertoire of English folk dances. Fire eaters and jugglers entertain the crowds. Gypsy bands with fiddle, 12) , and tambourine perform on the steps of noble buildings, and students still clad in their gowns and black ties from balls the night before mingle with the crowds.

Read the following text. Choose the best word from the list (A-O) for each gap (1-12) in the text, and write its letter in the gap. There are TWO EXTRA words that you do not need to use. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

Playing golf can 'damage hearing'
Keen golfers are being warned by doctors that they could be risking their hearing for their sport.

Players who use a new (0) of thin-faced titanium drivers to propel the ball further should consider wearing (1) plugs, experts advise. Ear specialists suspect the "sonic boom" the metal club head makes when it strikes the ball damaged the hearing of a 55-year-old golfer they 2) .

They outline the details of this case in the British Medical Journal. The man had been playing with a King Cobra LD titanium club three times a week 3) 18 months and commented that the noise of the club hitting the ball was "like a 4) going off". It had become 5) unpleasant that he decided to stop using the club, but by 6) time he had already suffered some hearing loss.

Doctors at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital carried out tests 7) the keen golfer after he attended their clinic with unexplained tinnitus and reduced hearing 8) his right ear. The tests 9) that his hearing problems were typical of 10) seen with exposure to loud noises.

The doctors trawled the web for reviews of the King Cobra LD club and said they found some interesting comments. One player reported: "Drives my mates crazy with that distinctive loud 'BANG' sound." Another said: "This is not so much a ting but a sonic boom which resonates across the course!"

The doctors decided to get a professional golfer to hit shots with six thin-faced titanium clubs from manufacturers 11) as King Cobra, Callaway, Nike and Mizuno. All produced a louder noise 12) standard thicker stainless steel drivers. The worst offender was the Ping G10 at over 130 decibels.