My name is Police Constable Robinson, sir, driver of police car GKY 5431L. At 22.30 hours on the night of November the sixth I was introduced by radio to proceed to Smith Street, a turning off the A40 Road, where the residents had complained of a disturbance caused by a car parked at the roadside. When I arrived I found the car, number HIM 9191K, parked with its rear lights on, its headlight at full beam, the offside warning lights operating, all its four doors open and boot-lid raised. After I parked the police car at a safe distance, I approached the car HIM 9191 and found the accused apparently asleep with his head and arms resting on the steering wheel and the horn and windscreen wipers operating. I succeeded in waking the accused, sat him upright in the driving seat, cautioned him and proceeded to switch off the ignition, dip on headlights, cancel the ignitions, and to engage the handbrake. I noticed an empty bottle on the passenger seat. The bottle was marked Fine Old Malt Whisky; and a crate on the rear seat had a similar label. When I returned to the accused I noticed he had gone off to sleep again. I therefore roused him, checked his driving-licence, insurance certificate and the road fund licence of the car in question. I then began to interrogate him. The accused’s replies were slurred but were to the affect that he was surprised that a policeman had managed to smuggle himself aboard the Concorde, and he asked how I had been enjoying the flight so far. I assumed the accused had been drinking, helped him to alight from the vehicle and to stand against a nearby lamppost. I then explained I wanted him to breathe into the breathalyser bag and asked him if he would agree to do so. He replied to the effect that he would do so if I would do so, too. It was shortly afterwards when my sergeant found us sitting on the kerb blowing up the breathalyser bags.
1. The constable sat the driver upright to …… .
A) stop the horn operating
B) keep the driver awake
C) inspect the bottle in the passenger seat
D) check his breath
E) check his driving licence
2. The driver ….. .
A) was actually a pilot
B) imagined he was on a plane
C) was on his way to the airport
D) had been flying with a policeman
E) thought the policeman was a uniformed pilot
3. The constable got the man out of the car because ….. .
A) he wanted to interrogate him
B) he wanted to see who the driver was
C) the driver might drive off
D) he wanted to find out if the driver was really drunk
E) he wanted to wait for his sergeant to arrive
I am speaking to you tonight from Downing Street after a meeting with my colleagues of the Cabinet. I thought I should explain the reasons for the course of action we have adopted with regard to the temporary pollution of areas in the South East of Britain. You will all have read or heard of the disagreement with our essentially wise and cautious policy to preserve our most precious asset, England’s green and pleasant land. Your government has taken bold measures to contain an explosive situation developed by extremists from the dissatisfied fringe of our society. Through deceit and falsehood these extremists have persuaded some of our fellow-countrymen to take part in mass-meetings, marches and other forms of protest against government measures. Of course, a democracy thrives upon a variety of opinion and nobody should be afraid to air their views. But a democracy also requires common sense and moderation, a recognition of duty to others as well as personal rights and self-interest. Recently it was discovered that certain areas constituted a public danger because of toxic substances in the air and soil. These substances were traced to possible sources including neighbouring industries. Accordingly residents were rehoused and those areas closed so that a full inquiry could be made. There followed an unpardonable and vicious campaign, mostly in the national press, exaggerating the small but understandable grievances of the evacuees, and advocating the relocation of industries and of their waste products.
4. The speaker is explaining that the government has ….. .
A) relocated industries
B) moved people from certain areas
C) reacted against the national press
D) put extremists in prison
E) taken measurements against pollution
5. Some people are protesting about ….. .
A) unemployment in the South East of Britain
B) the government’s policy of economic expansion
C) the complains of those who have had to leave their homes
D) insufficient control over the negative effects of industries
E) the government’s policy against the extremists
6. According to the speaker, the situation has become explosive because ….. .
A) there is a variety of opinion
B) poisonous substances are in the air and soil
C) an energetic campaign has begun
D) workers have been made redundant
E) certain areas have been evacuated
You see, unlike most of the people on this programme, I don’t think that television has contributed much to our lives; in fact it gives us by its own nature a wrong slant. Perhaps the cardinal weakness in its development arose from its concern with entertainment rather than with information. Pictures on the screen have been used more to affect than to instruct. Even the news programmes set out to encourage more reaction and less reflection. Pictures shown briefly do not make you think, they merely invite you to look for the sequel, the next picture. The more you see the less you remember; you see too much to remember anything specific. It’s the same with documentaries; they leave you with a feeling rather than stimulate you to take action. The process of viewing is passive and the result of viewing is passive, too. Also TV transmits vicarious feelings. I mean, you are persuaded to react to experiences which are unfamiliar to you in your everyday life. And persuasion is an important word here because you are persuaded also to react in certain ways and to a degree that will not disturb you or your expectations too much.
7. Television’s weakness lies in ….. .
A) its emphasis on visual images
B) its unnatural development
C) its unrealistic presentation
D) the fact that the news programmes are too reactionary
E) the pictures shown on the news
8. The viewer is not stimulated to think because ….. .
A) he is not active enough
B) the programmes are merely affective
C) the programmes are mainly news-based
D) there are too many documentaries
E) he is persuaded to overreact to some experiences
9. Television is dangerous because it ….. .
A) transmits feeling indirectly
B) dissuades viewers from reactions
C) uses words wrongly
D) makes people expect too much
E) entertains viewers too much
KEY
1-a 2-b 3-d 4-b 5-d
6-c 7-a 8-a 9-b
