Задание
Прочитай текст и выполни задания 12–18. В каждом задании запиши в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному варианту ответа.
The driving lesson
"The El" runs from Yankee Stadium ten miles North to Woodlawn. A railway on stilts, it stands on 25-foot-tall, rivet-studded metal girders that trisect the entire length of Jerome Avenue. From the air, it might look like some enormous, grime-encrusted, cast-iron millipede, preying on the spine of the Borough. At least, that's the way I remember it on this particular day. And I was only being tormented by one of its million legs.
I was ready to take my driving test. Even in New York, where a car was a mixed blessing, getting a driver's license was a huge rite of passage for a boy. In preparation, my father had taken me on the last practice run. All had gone well — until the final moment.
Jerome Avenue is a wide six-lane concourse. The two rows of the El's legs straddle the middle traffic lanes, leaving two additional lanes on either side — one for traffic and one, next to the curb, for parallel parking.
Finding a parking spot in the Bronx took an extraordinary amount of luck. Actually, getting into one took the skill of a neurosurgeon. Parkers used every available inch, and it was not uncommon for a car to be trapped in a parking spot, locked between the bumpers of those in front and behind. Squeezing into a vacant space was the most dreaded part of the driving test.
Returning from our jaunt, my father and I had discovered a parking spot directly in front of our building. Jubilant, I pulled next to the car in front, and started to back into the spot. That's when my war with the El started. As the rear of the car slid into the space, the nose of the car swung to the left — where one of the pillars blocked it. I stopped, and pulled forward to try again. Again, I edged the car backwards into the space. Again, the pillar was in the way. I tried pulling further up. Now, the rear of the car wouldn't clear the parked car on my right. I tried pulling further back, but now couldn't cut the rear far enough into the gap.
My father watched patiently, as sweat started to run down my cheeks from my sideburns. I made repeated attempts. The geometry just wouldn't work!
Finally, I turned to him and said, "I can't do it."
Wordlessly, he got out of the passenger door and walked around to the driver's side. I slid over; he got in. He put the car in gear, pulled forward a few feet, and greased into the parking spot. I heaved a sigh of relief as he switched off the engine. I opened the passenger door to get out. He didn't move.
Still looking forward, he said, "You know, I never thought I'd see that."
"What?" I asked.
"As long as I've known you, I've never seen you give up. I never thought you would."
Maybe it was just a simple statement of fact. In my memory, it rings like a death knell. Whatever it was, I said to him, "Dad, could you pull out again?"
Wordlessly, he started the car. I shut my door, and he pulled out into the traffic lane — right back to where we'd started. I got out and we switched seats. I put the car in gear, took a deep breath, and carefully backed into the parking spot.
We got out of the car, and I handed him the keys. As we walked to our building, he put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed, just a bit.
As I write this, I suddenly realise that it's been half a century since that day. I won't pretend that, in the fifty long years since, I've been successful at everything I've attempted. But I can't count the times that, when things have been going badly, I've heard his voice in my ear, "You know, I never thought I'd see that," and tried just once more.
12.What does the word "it" (paragraph 1) refer to?
1) Jerome Avenue.
2) Woodlawn.
3) "The El".
4) a railway.
13. What do we learn from the second paragraph?
1) The author describes his driving test.
2) The author's father was a driving instructor.
3) The author was going to take his driving test.
4) The author passed the driving test.
14. According to the author, what was the most difficult part of the driving test?
1) To find a free parking space.
2) To park the car.
3) Not to get trapped in a parking space by other cars.
4) To drive the car on Jerome Avenue.
15.What did the author do when he saw a vacant parking spot?
1) He immediately gave up parking the car and asked his father to do it.
2) He managed to park the car on the first try.
3) He decided to look for another vacant parking spot.
4) He tried to park the car in a vacant parking spot but did not succeed.
16.When his father told the author that he had given up, the author…
1) decided to park the car again.
2) worried about how he would park a car in the future.
3) was upset but did nothing.
4) became angry with his father.
17.Which phrase is closest in meaning to the phrase "to ring like a death knell" ("...it rings like a death knell…") in the 12th paragraph?
1) To remain forever.
2) To be a sign of the end of something.
3) To be an announcement of failure.
4) To change one's mind.
18.Thanks to his father's words, the author…
1) has become successful.
2) has lived for over 50 years.
3) has become a writer.
4) has never given up.