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.
Banding together
Paul O'Sullivan lounged around his Baltimore apartment one evening in 2014, feeling bored. So, like a lot of people with nothing better to do, he logged on to Facebook to find out just how many others on the social network shared his name. Moments later, Paul O'Sullivans from around the world filled his screen. The then-27-year-old human resources employee decided to send friend requests to them all.
Many of his fellow Paul O'Sullivans ignored him, but a few felt too curious to pass up his invitation. As Baltimore Paul scrolled through the other Paul O'Sullivans' profiles, he noticed something that four of them had in common: they were all musicians. Like Baltimore Paul, Rotterdam Paul from the Netherlands sings and plays the guitar. Another Paul in Manchester, England, plays bass. And Paul from Pennsylvania is a drummer. Four men with the same name who all love making music? Baltimore Paul had an idea. Wouldn't it be funny, he asked the other musical Pauls, if they formed a band called The Paul O'Sullivans? Yes, it would be, they all agreed. And so they did.
Starting a band across multiple time zones proved to be tricky. Shaky Wi-Fi and other computer difficulties meant they were often out of sync. To fix this, they created a sort of musical assembly line. Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul write and record a basic track, then email it to Manchester Paul.
"I listen to the song over a few days," says Manchester Paul, "to get a feel for what bass arrangement seems most appropriate." Once he records a bass track, he e-mails it back to Baltimore Paul, who then builds it into the main song. Later, Pennsylvania Paul adds the drumbeat. Round and round the track goes, with each member adding on his own layer until they achieve the sound they want.
The Paul O'Sullivan Band released its first original song, "Namesake", in March 2016. It's an upbeat track about long-distance relationships — not romantic ones, but friendships like those they had begun to develop.
But just months after the song's release, Baltimore Paul began experiencing health issues that forced him to take time off from making music. The other Pauls decided to take a break too. But they didn't press pause on their friendship. Instead of supporting one another on bass and drums, they supported one another more generally. The other Pauls made sure Baltimore Paul never felt alone, even with the miles (and ocean) between them. They shared family pictures, chatted live on Instagram, and checked in on Baltimore Paul and on one another.
It was about four years before Baltimore Paul was well enough to start making music again. The first thing the band did was create a music video for "Namesake", which debuted on YouTube in February 2020. In its first two weeks online, the video pulled in more than 20,000 views.
And when COVID-19 slowly shut down the world just weeks later, the Pauls didn't miss a beat. After all, the band had already got the hang of remote work. They used their time during the pandemic to record their first short album. Titled "Internet Famous: A Retrospective", it was released in April 2020.
Half of the proceeds from their first album was donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which supports the World Health Organization's work. "Life is tough sometimes," says Pennsylvania Paul. "When you have an opportunity to generate joy, you have to put aside the other stuff."
A new source of joy for the Pauls is spending time with each other in person. In autumn, 2020, Baltimore Paul surprised Pennsylvania Paul at his home after coordinating with his fiancée. It was the first time any of them had met face-to-face without a computer screen in the way. Now, when schedules allow, they plan to embark on a four-stop world tour — one concert in each of their hometowns.
"What are the odds," says Baltimore Paul, "that a random Facebook request would lead not only to new music but to lasting friendships as well? Some things are just meant to be."
12.Why did Paul O'Sullivan from Baltimore decide to find his name twins?
1) He wanted to communicate with someone similar to him.
2) He wanted to invite his name twin to his apartment.
3) He did it out of boredom.
4) He wanted to find employees with his twin names.
13.Baltimore Paul decided to start a music band with his name twins because…
1) he wanted to be popular.
2) they were all from different countries with different musical backgrounds.
3) he had no one else to start the music band with.
4) three other Paul O'Sullivans could play musical instruments as well as he could.
14. What difficulties did they face?
1) Desynchronisation due to technical problems destroyed their sound.
2) They couldn't sync their musical tastes.
3) They couldn't adjust to the time because of the different time zones.
4) Their computers were out-of-date to make music.
15.How did other Pauls support Baltimore Paul when he was sick?
1) They came to Baltimore to check on him.
2) They kept in constant contact with him via the Internet.
3) They wrote a song for him.
4) They sent him presents.
16.Which phrase is closest in meaning to the idiom "not to miss a beat" ("...the Pauls didn't miss a beat...") in the 8th paragraph?
1) Not to fail to make a regular rhythm in music.
2) Not to slow down or pause despite difficulties.
3) Not to be sad about the melody.
4) To do something without mistakes or failures.
17.Why did the Paul O'Sullivan Band donate money from their first album?
1) They thought it would make them happy.
2) It was a common practice at the time of COVID-19.
3) They thought it would make other people happier.
4) They were asked to do this.
18.According to the article, what immediate plans does the Paul O'Sullivan Band have?
1) To give several concerts in different cities.
2) To travel around the world.
3) To write more songs.
4) To spend more time with their families.