Аудіювання, 11 клас

Аудіювання, 11 клас. Текст

A HELPING HAND

By J.Laird

It was a pretty autumn morning. Sunny and quiet on the tree-lined resi­dential street in a nice middle-class neighbourhood. Just the kind of day that made it a pleasure to be out working.

Anthony smiled to himself as he took a pile of protective mats and wrapped them carefully around the ornate antique credenza he had just loaded into the truck. Yes, the weather was much more pleasant today than it had been the last week or two — working in the rain was a real drag. He and his partner, Billy Joe, were just about finished loading up the contents of the first house on their route when he suddenly heard a voice calling out to them.

“Excuse me, boys. Yoo-hoo — over here!”

A small, plump, elderly woman was hurrying across the street, coming toward them as fast as she could manage with her cane. “Could you please give me a hand with something? I feel like such an old fool, but I’ve somehow managed to lock myself out again and I was wandering if one of you, strong fellows, could help me get back into my house.” Seeing their perplexed looks, she continued. “I’m a neighbour. My name is Mildred Wilson. I live only a few doors away... just across the street near the corner.”

Billy Joe stuck his head out of the back of the truck. “You better call a locksmith, lady. We got no time to help you. We’re on a tight scheduler today,” he said coldly. He jumped down from the moving van and headed back toward the house, leaving Anthony alone in the back of the truck to deal with the woman.

“Oh, dear. Yes, yes... I suppose I should call the locksmith,” Mildred stammered, “But you see... Oh, this is so embarrassing! I just can’t afford to call for help. I don’t have the money. The last time I called a locksmith, it cost a hundred and sixty-eight dollars. I’m on a fixed income and...oh, dear,... my medicine is in the house and I was supposed to take it an hour ago... and...” She pulled a faded handkerchief out of her pocket and began wiping tears from her eyes.

“Aw, come on, lady, don’t cry,” Anthony said uncomfortably. “Don’t you have someone else you can call for help? Go ahead and use my cell phone.” He pulled his flip phohe out of his back pocket and held it out toward her.

“No, my daughter and her family are in Hawaii for two weeks.” She con­tinued to sniffle and dab at her eyes. “I guess I could call the fire depart­ment... or the police department, couldn’t I? Thank you, young man. I’ll take your advice, and if you don’t mind I will use that phone of yours. It’s very nice of you to offer.” She reached for the phone.

Billy Joe had returned to the truck just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation, and he snatched Anthony’s phone away before the old lady could get her hands on it. “Hey, no need to do that,” he said, putting the phone into his shirt pocket. “I’m sure we can get you into your house a lot faster than if you waited for the police or someone to drive all the way over here.”

“Oh, but what about your schedule? It would be a shame if you were late for your next job.”

“No problem, lady,” Billy Joe said as sweetly as he could manage. “Come one, Anthony. This should only take a couple of minutes.”

The two men followed Mildred across the street and down to her house. The house was very well-locked with double dead bolts on all the doors and reinforced window locks. It didn’t look as though it would be an easy house to break into.

“This place is like a fort,” Anthony whispered to his partner as they walked around to the side of the house in search of a better spot to make an entry.

“Looks like we might have to break a window to get in here, lady,” Billy Joe said. “No, wait a minute... hey, Anthony, get over here.”

Anthony came around to where Billy Joe was standing below a high, nar­row bedroom window at the side of the house. Billy Joe was examining the window frame closely.

“Yep, I’d say this one should do it.”

“What is it?” said Mildred, who had come up behind Anthony.

“This kind of window is pretty easy to get open — it just takes a little work. Hey, Anthony, hand me that big flat-head from your tool belt.”

Anthony pulled a large screwdriver from his belt, and Billy Joe went to work on the window frame. In only a few moments, the window began to move, then it slid open.

“Allow us to compliment you on your good work, boys,” a strange voice said from behind the two men. They spun around to see two police officers watching them with amused grins.

“I guess you two don’t know very much about the Neighbourhood Watch programme, do you?” Mildred asked calmly. “We all know each other around here. And I knew well the Thompsons weren’t moving. Herb and Rita from across the street are feeding their cats while they’re away on vacation this week. That was a smart move using a van with a name on it … looks just like the real thing. But the phone number on the side is a phony. No such moving company. I checked when I saw the truck pull into the driveway.” She turned to the officers and scolded, “You could have gotten here a little sooner. I had to rack my brain to figure out how to keep these guys here. But I guess things worked out okay.”

Turning to Billy Joe and Anthony, who were being led in handcuffs to the police car, Mildred added, “And thanks, boys. Now I know where the weak spot in my house is. I’ll get that window taken care of in a jiffy.”

Аудіювання, 11 клас

Directions:

In this Test you will carefully listen to a text read aloud twice. The text is followed by 20 tasks. You should do tasks 1 through 10 following the first reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. The text will be read a second time and you should do tasks 11 through 20 following the second reading of the text on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. For each task you will choose from four possible answers (a, b, c or d), or two letters (T/F (True or False) as specified prior to each task.

Завдання 1.

Directions:

Statements 1 through 10 (decide if the statements are True or False):

1. Anthony and Billy Joe just began to load up the contents of the first house on the route when they suddenly heard a voice calling out to them.

2. A small, portly woman could persuade real professionals to help her.

3. It was a nasty autumn morning.

4. Billy Joe took a pile of protective mats and put it into the track.

5. The Thompsons had cats.

6. Due to the guys Mildred found the weak spot in her house.

7. The house was very well locked with double dead bolts on all the windows and reinforced door locks.

8. Anthony kept his tools in a special pocket.

9. Herb and Rita from across the street were away on vacation that week.

10. Thompsons’ house was like a fort.

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