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 Tesla angle
There is one picture of Nikola Tesla that has charmed me since I was a child. Tesla is calmly sitting under a large Faraday cage with a Tesla coil on top of it, as if it's just another Sunday morning, doing a crossword puzzle. I can imagine the whirring and sizzling of the coil above him, filling the thick silence with electricity. How did Tesla get there? And was he really safe under the electric shower of his invention? I later found out that this picture was taken using double exposure, overlaying Tesla's portrait with the activity of his machine. Even knowing that, I still found the photograph fascinating.
From first seeing that picture, I was hooked on Tesla. I wanted to know everything about him, and his all-too-famous rivalry with Thomas Edison. There was one thing that seemed to be missing from my research. What happened to Tesla after his moments of fame? He seemed to just vanish after his famous debut at the first Chicago World's Fair, demonstrating the powers of electricity.
I did some digging, and found various articles on the mysteries surrounding Tesla's death. My pulse quickened as I scrolled through the article on History.com. It turns out that Tesla spent his last few decades living in one hotel room in New York City. He became more deranged as his health declined, becoming obsessed with the number three, and constantly washing himself and his clothes. The few times when he wasn't in his hotel room, he was out feeding, and (as he claimed) communicating with the pigeons of New York. It seemed to me that Tesla may have been hiding something during this time period, perhaps a new invention.
Tesla died on January 7th, 1943 in his hotel room, and rumours swirled that immediately after his passing, the U.S. Office of Alien Property broke into his safe and took all his work. I had to reread the sentence in the article. The U.S. Office of Alien property? What could Tesla be working on that this government office had to immediately take away all his work? I scrolled down hastily, and almost missed the next paragraph in the article. As my eyes ran over the page, I held my breath.
Tesla had apparently invented a sort of "death ray" that would have been used to fight enemy forces during World War II. The government didn't want the invention falling into the wrong hands, and immediately took possession of Tesla's technology. The U.S. government has held Tesla's work ever since. It was only recently that they planned to ship it back to Belgrade in Serbia, Tesla's hometown, for the Nikola Tesla Museum. The article stated that apparently 80 boxes of Tesla's notebooks, lab journals, and other documents had been shipped, but only 60 boxes actually made it. My eyebrows furrowed. What happened to the other 20?
The article seemed to finish in a questioning tone, and I scrolled up frustrated that there weren't more answers. At the top of the page was a link to an article titled "The Missing Tesla Files: the FBI declassifies…". Curious, I clicked, and was brought to a new article explaining that in 2016, the FBI declassified some of Tesla's work according to the Freedom of Information Act. I gasped as I found full PDFs with Tesla's handwriting, scribbles, and notes from J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, himself, discussing Tesla's work. For the next two hours I scrolled through the FBI files, trying to find some mention of Tesla's "death ray" or any other reason that these secrets were being held. But I failed.
The documents within the FBI files ranged from 1945 to approximately 1969. A lot of them were blacked out with markers or written over with notes. The parts I could read discussed the use of the Tesla "death ray", but no mention of whether such an invention was working. I tried to read these documents, but the printing was smeared. Perhaps that's why the FBI released these documents after all. You can barely read them. I can only imagine Tesla having a laugh as he watches the government struggle to understand his work.
12. What was so appealing about the photo of Nikola Tesla, described by the author in the first paragraph?
1) Tesla seemed to be a great man in this photo.
2) The photo caused a lot of questions about the circumstances surrounding the taking of it.
3) The photo was taken by putting two pictures together.
4) The photo caused a lot of other images in the author's mind.
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13. What part of Nikola Tesla's life was the most interesting to the author?
1) His life after he became famous.
2) The facts of the famous competition between Thomas Edison and Tesla.
3) How he got to the first World's Fair in Chicago.
4) How he created his famous inventions.
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14. According to the text, which of the following sentences is TRUE?
1) Tesla liked puzzles and mysteries.
2) Tesla began to love nature, animals and birds.
3) Tesla lived in the house in America before his death.
4) Tesla went mad at the end of his life.
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15. Which adjective can describe the author's feelings when they found out that Nicola Tesla was somehow connected to the U.S. government?
1) Happy.
2) Annoyed.
3) Excited.
4) Worried.
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16. What does the word "it" in the 5th paragraph refer to?
1) "Death ray".
2) Tesla's work.
3) Tesla's invention.
4) Tesla's tools.
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17. When the author clicked on the link about the Tesla files, they found...
1) that all the files had been destroyed.
2) copies of Tesla's documents.
3) a lot of information about Tesla's "death ray".
4) that most of the notes were still secret.
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18. Why, according to the author, does the FBI allow access to Tesla's notes?
1) Because they don't contain important information.
2) Because people won't understand the scientific language of Tesla's notes.
3) Because they are almost impossible to read.
4) Because Tesla's work is no longer important.
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