Angielski rozszerzony czytanie 3 matura próbna grudzień 2014 – trzecie zadanie na rozumienie tekstu czytanego na poziomie rozszerzonym.
Zadanie 6 – czytanie ćwiczenie 3. Język angielski poziom rozszerzony.
Przeczytaj dwa teksty związane z drapaczami chmur. Z podanych odpowiedzi wybierz
właściwą, zgodną z treścią tekstu. Zakreśl literę A, B, C albo D.
Text 1
CLIMBING SKYSCRAPERS
“I couldn’t get here sooner, Peak,” Mom said. “With the twins, and the attorneys, and…”
“Never mind,” I interrupted.
Juvenile Detention Center was an hour-and-a-half drive from our house. In addition
to everything else, Mom worked full-time at the bookstore she owned. Still, I would have
liked to have seen her sooner. She walked over to me and looked at the stitches on my face.
“Ugly,” she said.
“Thanks.”
She started pacing.
“How are the twins?”
“They haven’t stopped crying since you got arrested.”
I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. It was one thing to upset my mom,
but I didn’t like upsetting Patrice and Paula. “Two peas in a pod,” as Mom and Rolf
(my stepfather) called them.
“You’ve really done it this time, Peak. Six skyscrapers! They’re going to get you. Rolf
got your first trial in the court delayed, and tried for a second delay hoping that the publicity
would die down, but after last night that’s all in the media.”
“Wait,” I said. “What happened last night?”
“You didn’t hear?”
I shook my head.
“A boy fell from the Flatiron Building. He’s in hospital.”
I stared at her.
“What does that have…”“To do with you?” she yelled. “It’s because of you, Peak. The boy had all your news
articles pinned up in his bedroom. He’d never been climbing in his entire life, which explains
why he only made it up seventy-five feet. But the fall was enough to nearly kill him,
and enough to keep you in jail for the next three years.”
“What do you mean ‘three years’?”
“That’s when you’ll be eighteen.”
I started pacing now. All I did was climb the Woolworth Building. I didn’t boast about it
or post it on the Internet. It was only my way of … Well, I didn’t know exactly why I had
done it. I was sorry for the other kid, but it wasn’t my fault.
“Did you tell Dad?” I asked, meaning my real dad, not Rolf.
This made her laugh harshly.
“He’s in Nepal. I left him a message with a Sherpa who barely spoke a word of English.”
She took a deep breath.
“Look, I’ve got to go. Rolf and I are meeting with the attorneys.”
“Attorneys?” I hoped Rolf would be my attorney.“Two of them. Rolf can’t represent you. He’s your stepfather. Conflict of interest.”
“Do you think…?”
Her whole demeanor changed when she noticed how scared I was. She softened and her
eyes filled with tears.
“I hope so, Peak,” she said quietly. “But I’m not optimistic. The city wants to make
an example out of you.” She turned away and wiped her eyes.adapted from Peak by Roland Smith
6.1. How did Peak feel about his mother’s visit? (He wished she had visited him earlier.) (!He didn’t want her to see him in detention.) (!He was irritated by her unfair comments.) (!He was angry she hadn’t brought the twins with her.)
6.2. Which is TRUE about Peak? (!He felt responsible for causing another boy’s accident.) (He discovered that he had become someone’s role model.) (!He gained publicity after getting injured in a terrible fall.) (!He was detained immediately after climbing his first skyscraper.)
6.3. Peak learns from his mother that (!his dad refused to return for the trial.) (!his stepfather decided to testify against him.) (he won’t be defended by the person he expected.) (!his parents can’t afford to hire a professional lawyer.)
Text 2
RACING TO THE TOP
Stair-climbing races have been around since 1977, when 15 competitors ran up 86 floors
in the Empire State Building. In the past few years the activity has exploded. Last year there
were more than 200 races with about 105,000 participants.
But what is so appealing about stair-climbing? It seems that many people want extreme
fitness challenges. “I guess we are tired of the same old workouts and want to be challenged
in new and interesting ways,” says JR Haines, a personal trainer, “It seems that running on
the treadmill just might not be doing it for people anymore.” The racers are certainly not
doing it for the scenery because there isn’t any. Stairwells have little, if any, ventilation, so
fresh air is not a big draw, either. And because most of the events are staged as fundraisers,
there aren’t any prizes. It’s rather the other way round. In the great majority of events in order
to take part runners have to make donations to the sponsoring charities as part of their entry
fees. Many people participate in them for fun, but surveys show that the races are increasingly
attracting participants who are there primarily to compete and win at all costs. In fact,
stair-climbing reached something of a dubious milestone when the winner of a charity event
in Los Angeles was disqualified after security cameras caught him riding an elevator part of
the way.
Challenging yourself is a major part of the races’ appeal, particularly for those runners who
want to lose weight. Research shows that you burn more calories with 10 minutes of
stair-climbing than with 10 minutes of jogging because you’re carrying your body weight
vertically. “It’s high intensity workout,” one of the experts said, “It’s just much easier and
quicker to lose weight in this way.”
Speed stair-climbing races are not an endeavor for people who don’t like pushing
themselves. The Empire State Building climb still uses a massed start. However, more
and more often races use computer chips to time staggered starts, with racers leaving
the starting line at 5 or 10-second intervals. As a result of this procedure, racers have no way
of knowing how they are doing compared with their competitors and the stairwell gets eerily
quiet as each climber focuses on the next flight of stairs.adapted from www.startribune.com
6.4.Which of the following is stated in the text as an opinion, not a fact? (!Stair-climbing is a more efficient method of losing weight than jogging.) (!The participants of stair-climbing races have become more competitive.) (!Collecting fees from participants of stair-climbing events is a standard procedure.) (The boredom associated with traditional workouts makes stair-climbing popular.)
6.5. In the last paragraph, the author (outlines a new trend in the organisation of stair-climbing events.) (!encourages organisers to stick to the idea of a massed start.) (!compares a variety of strategies for winning the race.) (!describes a procedure for selecting participants.)
