Variant 1 You could have come first and won the race if you … faster

21. What is the main idea of the text?
A) Some trees have very broad needle-shaped leaves.
B) Timber is used in papermaking and construction industry.
C) Forests, which grow worldwide, are very different.
D) There are many birds and animals who live in rainforests.
22. Which tree has broad leaves?
A) Maple B) Pine C) Fir D) Spruce
23. According to the text conifers are … ?
A) seeds of hardwoods B) ripen fruits C) seeds of trees in boreal forests D) grow in rainforests
24. Forests are essential for …
A) both people and animals B) people to get timbers C) birds to make a nest D) give much paper


As soon as Picasso was able to talk, he began demanding his father`s paintbrushes. By the age of 15 his work was appearing in top exhibitions and his realistic paintings were causing quite a great excitement. Art historians have said that Picasso discovered his talent for painting at young age. However, he didn`t have a chance to understand what kind of artist he wanted to be. By the time of his death, he had produced more than 22,000 pieces of art, ranging from realistic portraits to Surrealism to collages.
25. What is TRUE according to the text?
A) Picasso produced all his paintings with his father`s paintbrushes.
B) Picasso created paintings of different types.
C) From his childhood Picasso knew his favourite type of art.
D) Historians are interested in Picasso`s early works.
26. What does the word TOP in the text mean?
A) very important B) the highest point of a building
C) upper part of something D) done more times than anything else
27. Picasso never had an opportunity …
A) to make a fortune B) to realize his style of painting C) to choose a wife D) to organize an exhibition


There are around 1,500 species of cacti. The best known are prickly pears, which have a sweet juicy fruit and often large, colourful flowers. The biggest cactus is the saguaro, which can grow to 12 meters and live for more than 200 years. Woodpeckers and desert owls often live in holes of the saguaro. Close relatives of the saguaro include the organ-pipe cactus, which looks like a church organ. Barrel cacti can reach a height of 3.6 meters and over 1 meter in diameter. They store water in their trunks. The small hedgehog and pincushion cacti are frequently grown as decorative plants in gardens and homes.