19.

The Giant Panda

The giant panda, called panda, is the ________ member of the RARE bear family. Pandas live in forests high in the mountains of southwest China, where they survive almost entirely on bamboo.

20.

Pandas eat a lot. They spend about 12 hours a day doing it because they digest only about a ________ of what they eat. Besides, bamboo is not very nutritious.

21.

With its distinctive black and white coat, the giant panda is considered a national treasure of China. This bear also has a special significance for leading global conservation organization because it ________ their logo since 1961.

22.

Embarrassing Incident

I grew up in New-York City, so I had no opportunity of learning to 22 swim. After graduating from high school, I ________ to spend a day with my friend on board his father’s boat in Sheepshead bay.

23.

We had lunch and then started to play Frisbee in the ocean. Suddenly I stepped off an underwater ledge and fell in over my head. I panicked and swallowed some water. Luckily, a lifeguard ended up towing me ten ________ towards the shore where I could just walk out.

24.

I felt embarrassed being the only one of my friends not knowing how to swim. After that incident, I could only swim in pools. Sometimes I wish I ________ swimming as a child.

Текст

The Best Job in the World

Have you ever heard of the Great Barrier Reef? It is the world’s largest coral reef system along the eastern coast of Australia. In February 2009 an extraordinary position was advertised by the Australian Tourism Office. The advertisement ran that the Great Barrier Reef needed a caretaker for half a year. It was for a special person who would look after the Reef.

The job offered a large salary, free accommodation in a luxury villa, and transportation there and around the islands. All expenses would be paid: the winner wouldn’t need to spend any extra money on anything.

The job’s duties were pretty simple. You could only dream of such requirements. First, the person had to speak English and swim well. Second, on the island his responsibility included writing a weekly Internet blog. The job description also required the successful applicant to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, make friends with the locals and generally enjoy the tropical climate and lifestyle. A real dream!

Within the first 2 days of the contest, the tourism office received more than seven thousand online applications. All told, 34,000 people of all different nationalities applied. The candidates were interviewed and the winner was Ben Southall from the UK.

Ben greatly enjoyed the dream job he had got. He realised that people knew very little about our planet and its treasures. Living in big cities, they forgot how important the flora and fauna of this world were. Every time Ben went outdoors, he could discover something new. Ben's life on the island was not just fun. It was very busy, busier than most people imagined. He worked seven days a week and up to 19 hours a day. The Best Job included travelling to over 60 islands of the Reef almost every day. It was not just looking after the Reef, Ben had a lot of meetings, press conferences and interviews. He was getting a lot of attention all the time and he couldn’t get away from it. That was probably the hardest part of the job.

Moreover, any adventure has a certain degree of risk. Swimming and diving on the Great Barrier Reef was not different. Ben had to deal with whales, sharks and other huge sea creatures. Surprisingly, the most dangerous thing was a small jellyfish about the size of a little finger. It’s considered to be extremely poisonous and Ben was stung by it. He had to spend a couple of days in hospital but luckily recovered after a course of antibiotics.

Ben often says that the project has taught him a few valuable lessons. He said, “I’ve learned that we get one life on earth so we have to use it. There’ll always be other countries to visit, other people to meet and other adventures to have. This is what I wish to do. I’m planning to go to Asia in a few years’ time.”

"Where is it?" Max's voice sounded irritated, even angry, "I _____(LEAVE) it on the chair yesterday but it's not there now!" 

 "Have you lost something, darling?" The mother's voice, on the contrary, was cheerful. She _____ (WATER) flowers on the terrace but heard his shouting anyway. 

 In fact, she was the ___ (OPTIMISTIC) person in the world.

 "Are you sure it is not in your wardrobe?" his mum said entering the room She opened the wardrobe and dragged the the T-shirt from the depth. "Here you are!" Max ____ (EYE) became wide with surprise. 

 "I've searched the wardrobe. I ____ (NOT SEE) it there, Mum."

"I wish you ____ (BE) a little more attentive," said his mum lightly, "but never mind. Your grandparents are coming for dinner tonight. Please, don't be late!"

"I won't, Mum. I ___ (COME) on time." Max promised firmly.

His mum said that she still ____ (HAVE) a lot of things to do and left the room

We launch space craft and know a lot about our universe, the nearest planets and stars. However, we know surprisingly little about the place we live in, and one of the (GREAT) mysteries of the planet is the ocean.

It (OCCUPY) a vast area and there are still so many mysteries hidden in its depths!

Everyone knows that life first appeared in the water. Later some of the creatures  (COME) out of the ocean on to the land, and the others stayed there.

The ocean (CHANGE) a lot since those prehistoric times but it is still a place where life is rich and diverse.

Nowadays the ocean (INHABIT) by millions of amazing creatures too.

They are tiny and huge, and some of (THEY) look as fantastic as aliens from other planets.

Marine researchers wish they (CAN) get to the bottom of the ocean to explore it, but unfortunately it is not possible now.

There (BE) no technology yet that can allow people to go so deep under the water.

The ocean is still keeping (IT) secrets.

Have you ever heard about the Klingon language? If you ___ (NOT/LIKE) science fiction films, you probably haven’t.

The language ___ (CREATE) at the end of the 20th century specially for the films about aliens from other planets. In the StarTrek films, Klingon is the language of the warrior race (A warrior race — племя воинов).

Nowadays there ___ (BE) about 3000 words in the language.

Most of ___ (THEY) refer to space craft and weapons but it’s also possible to use Klingon for everyday conversations.

Mark Okrand, one of the people who created this language, said that soon Klingon ___ (BECOME) very popular.

“Very soon, science fiction fans ___ (ACCEPT) Klingon for communication within their community,” he once predicted. But it never happened. At the present time there might be only twenty or thirty people who are able to speak Klingon fluently.

То most people, it ___ (SOUND) strange and ‘alien’. It’s not easy to learn.

I personally ___ (TRY) to learn it several times, but without much success yet.

I wish I ___ (HAVE) partners for conversations but for obvious reasons there are not many around