CZYTANIE 1 EN [#37]

#36 ( 032 )#35 ( 031 )#32 ( 025 )#31 ( 024 )#17 ( MOD )#16 ( 023 )#15 ( 022 )#14 ( 021 )#13 ( 020 )#12 ( 019 )#11 ( 018 )
ZADANIE 1
Przeczytaj teksty i wybierz prawidłową odpowiedź a, b lub c
Tekst 1

American composer and pianist Thomas Wiggins was born into a slave family in 1849. When Tom was three, he and his parents were sold to General Bethune. However, Tom wasn’t treated like other slaves. He didn’t have to work on the general’s plantation. That was because the boy was born blind. He couldn’t see, but his hearing was excellent. He loved the singing of birds and the sound of rain landing on a roof. One day, Tom heard a piano in the Bethunes’ house. He secretly started going inside the house to play the instrument. It was soon discovered that Tom had a natural talent for music. At the age of five, he composed his first songs. He began playing in public at the age of eight. Two years later, when he was ten, Tom became the first Black musician to perform at the White House.
The boy's talent was amazing. He could play any song after just one hearing. His memory was so great that he could easily repeat not only music pieces but also long texts in different languages. It was extraordinary, because the only language he knew was English. To develop Tom’s talent, General Bethune found a music professor for the boy. Soon, Tom could play difficult works of Bach, Chopin or Beethoven.
So, it’s not surprising that Tom became the most famous music star of his time. He toured Great Britain, Canada, and even South America. Tom earned up to $100,000 a year for his concerts. Unfortunately, he got very little of the money. It was because his parents signed an unfair contract with the Bethunes. As a result, most of the money was taken by the general and his family. But, money wasn’t important to Tom. He continued giving concerts until his death in 1904.
1. Tom started giving concerts when he was ...
2. Tom ...
3. Most money from the concerts went to ...
Tekst 2

When Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine, young Agnessa Bezhenar and her family had to run away from their hometown of Odessa. They left just about everything behind – their business, their home, and even their pets. The Bezhenars thought of going to western Ukraine, but in the end they decided it was too dangerous. They went to Romania instead. However, they could stay there only for three months. The Bezhenars didn’t want to stay long in Romania anyway, as they had always dreamt of living in the U.S. Thanks to a website called UkraineTakeShelter.com, the family found housing in Cloverdale, California.
Life in the U.S. seemed wonderful. Everybody tried to help. The neigbours brought furniture and all the equipment for the Ukrainian family’s new home. Agnessa loved her American school. Her father, Aleksander, found a good job. They even adopted a new pet. Agnessa, however, was still unhappy. She cried every day and wanted to go back to Ukraine to see her favourite cat, Arsenii.
Fortunately, Harnish, a flight attendant who the family met on their way to America, offered to help. She contacted her friend Viola, who knew how to transport animals across countries. Viola organised the whole plan. But getting Arsenii to the U.S. was a long process. Problems started at the very beginning. Getting the cat out of the war area proved very difficult. Fortunately, Agnessa’s uncle, who was looking after the cat in Ukraine, took Arsenii across the border to Moldova. Then, he passed the cat to a driver, who took Arsenii to Romania. Here, however, there were even more serious complications. All because of paperwork. The cat’s Ukrainian documents weren’t enough to put Arsenii on a flight from Romania. It took over a month to get all the necessary documents. Luckily, after that, things went well. The cat made his way to Greece, Montreal, Seattle and San Francisco. After travelling 70,000 miles and crossing 5 countries, Arsenii finally met with his beloved Agnessa and her family.
4. The family finally found a new home in ...
5. Agnessa felt unhappy in the new place because ...
6. Who prepared the plan to get Arsenii out of Ukraine?
7. The most complicated part of the journey was ...
ZADANIE 2
Przeczytaj historie na następnej stronie i zdecyduj, które stwierdzenia umieszczone poniżej najlepiej przedstawiają ich treść. Tylko 5 stwierdzeń jest prawdziwych. Wybierz odpowiadający tytuł.
HISTORIA 1
The Siege of Sarajevo was the longest military occupation of a city in modern history. It lasted much longer than World War II’s Battle of Stalingrad. Between 1992 and 1996, Sarajevo was an extremely dangerous war zone – buildings were burning, bombs were falling, and women and children were shot dead in the streets. In the middle of that hell, in 1995, Iron Maiden’s legendary frontman, Bruce Dickinson, went to Sarajevo and gave an unforgettable concert there. No other artist was brave enough to visit the city during the war. The famous U2 concert took place in Sarajevo in 1997, when the war was over and it wasn’t risky anymore.
8. HISTORIA 1
HISTORIA 2
A surprising video of a Ukrainian musician playing the violin on the frontline has now gone viral on the Internet. The video was posted on Twitter by Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko. While sharing the post, he wrote: "Moisey Bondarenko, who now serves in the Army, is a professional violinist. He is not well-known, but something’s telling me he will become famous one day. Just listen!" Bondarenko is part of the Cultural Forces – soldiers who play music for the people of Ukrainian towns and villages in the most difficult of times.
9. HISTORIA 2
HISTORIA 3
Veteran Dennis MacKenzie had always been a music fan and a passionate guitarist, but he never thought that music would save his life one day. After a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan in 2007, MacKenzie came back to his home Canada, but he wasn’t the same person anymore. Diagnosed with PTSD, he took anti-depressants, tried almost every therapy that existed, but still felt so bad that he needed alcohol just to function. Then he started playing music and that made him feel so much better! He has even released his own album, “The Guardian Angel Platoon”, available through Bandcamp and Spotify.
10. HISTORIA 3
HISTORIA 4
Lt. Angela May DiMattia was the first active-duty soldier to win the title of Miss Colorado after competing in a "United States of America Pageant" in March. She was very happy to win the crown of Colorado’s most beautiful girl, but she used her success to talk about military service. "I am doing this so I can earn respect for soldiers and their families. I hope young girls will take my example and choose a career in the Army." DiMattia received a prize of $15,000 and sent all this money to K9s For Veterans (an organisation that trains service dogs for disabled ex-soldiers).
11. HISTORIA 4
HISTORIA 5
Many people ask me if soldiers listen to music when they are in a war. I think it’s an idiotic question. The success of a mission is effective communication and teamwork. Music makes it harder for soldiers to concentrate and communicate with each other. With headphones on, you can’t hear what’s happening, you have no idea where the fire is coming from, and you can’t hear orders from your leaders. As a commander, I saw new soldiers who were sure they would go into battle to the sound of Metallica’s greatest hits. None of them completed basic training.
12. HISTORIA 5
ZADANIE 3
Przeczytaj poniższe teksty i zdecyduj czy zdania są prawdziwe [P] czy fałszywe [F]
Tekst 1

One of the deadliest school mass shootings in U.S. history happened on December 14th 2012 in Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty-eight people died on that day and two were injured. The name of the killer was Adam Lanza. Just before the attack at the school, Adam had murdered his own mother, Nancy. He shot her four times while she was sleeping in her bed. Before leaving the house, Adam destroyed his computer’s hard drive. That made the police work very difficult.
Adam didn't have his own car so he drove his mother’s Ford to Sandy Hook Elementary, five miles away. The school staff knew him, because his mother was a teacher there. At 9:30 a.m. Adam arrived at the school. About seven hundred students were present that day. The head teacher, Dawn Hochsprung, had installed a new security system and every visitor had to ring the front door bell to come inside the building. But, Adam didn’t ring the bell; he fired his gun at the door a few times and it opened. Then, the massacre began. He shot dead twenty children and six adults before killing himself. On the whole, the attack lasted less than 11 minutes. The police say that Adam had mental problems. He believed that his mother loved her first-grade students more than him.
13. Nancy was killed in her bed.
14. Adam drove his own car to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
15. Nancy worked at the school.
16. The head teacher opened the school for Adam.
17. One of the police officers shot Adam dead.
Tekst 2

Would you like to go on holiday to Italy? If so, why not stay at a campsite in Grado? It is located in the north of Italy, close to the border with Slovenia. Don’t mix it up with Slovakia! In Grado, you can stay at one of many mobile homes they offer. They are only 24m² but 6 people can stay in each home. They are too small for six adults. However, they will be ideal for parents with even four children. The mobile homes have air conditioning, which is a must in hot Italy. There is also a small patio with garden furniture outside each home. The most important thing is that the campsite isn't expensive. The homes there are fully equipped. The only thing they don't have is a coffee maker. But don't worry, the campsite restaurant sells a tasty latte macchiato.
18. The campsite is near Slovakia.
19. The mobile homes are perfect for six adults.
20. You can drink a good latte macchiato at the campsite restaurant.