Задания на разные виды чтения по теме "Изобретения"

1. Заполните пропуски подходящими по смыслу словами из рамки.

Yesterday was my father’s birthday. My mother asked me to help her with the preparations. When I returned home from school, first of all I decided to watch TV. I jumped onto the couch, took a (1)_________ (this device helps me to change channels without standing up) and was prepared to watch something. But a horrible thing happened, the electricity went off. So all (2)_________ outlets didn’t work. We have a (3)____________ in the house because it is very convenient, you can speak from any place in your flat, but it doesn’t work when there is no electricity. So my mother had to call on my (4)____________. She wanted to make sure that everything would be ready for the party. I didn’t want to disappoint her and started to work. I couldn’t use a (5)____________ to clean the carpet, so I had to take a brush and do it with hands. Mum told me to put what she had prepared into a (6)___________ to heat. Fortunately we had our good old (7)___________, in other way everybody could remain hungry! After the party I washed all the dishes without the help of the (8)____________ but again with my own hands! In the morning I woke up early because of the terrible noise. At first I couldn’t make out what it was but when I looked out of the window I saw our neighbour cutting the grass with his (9)__________. So today everything was in order with the electricity. I rushed to my (10)__________ to check (11)____________ messages and surf the (12)______________. I would like to visit some (13)____________ there and play an (14)__________ game. After that I looked through the TV program and saw that there were two films on different channels I wanted to see, so I had to set my (15)_____________ in order to have the possibility to watch one of the films later. All of a sudden I understood that these (16)___________________ have changed our lives and now we can’t do without
them.

2. Прочитайте текст и пропущенные в нем предложения A–E. Выберите из этих предложений то, которое лучше всего подходит в пропуски.

REMOTE CONTROL

It was in June of 1956, that the practical television remote controller first entered the American home. Remote control technology was developed for military use (the Germans used remote control motorboats during W.W.I.) and in the late 1940’s the first non-military usage for remote controls appeared (i.e. automatic garage door openers).
Zenith Radio Corporation created the very first television remote control in 1950, called “Lazy Bone.” (1)__________. The Lazy Bone remote control was attached to the television by a bulky cable, which consumers did not like.
(2)_________. The Flash-matic operated by means of four photocells, one in each corner of the TV screen. The viewer used a directional flashlight to activate the four control functions, which turned the picture and sound on and off and turned the channel tuner dial clockwise and counter-clockwise. However, the Flash-matic had problems working well on sunny days, when the sunlight could change channels randomly.
The improved “Zenith Space Command,” remote control went into commercial production in 1956. Zenith engineer, Dr. Robert Adler who based his invention on ultrasonics, designed the Space Command. (3)___________.
(4)____________. In the early 1960s, after the invention of the transistor, remote controls came down in price and size, as did all electronics. Zenith modified the Space Command remote control creating small hand-held and battery-operated remote controls. (5)__________.

Infrared devices replaced ultrasonic remote controls in the early 1980s.

photocell фотоэлемент

ultrasonics ультразвуковая техника

infrared ультракрасный, инфракрасный

A. Ultrasonic remote controls remained the dominant design for the next twenty-five years, and as the name suggests they worked using ultrasound waves.

B. Zenith engineer, Eugene Polley created the “Flash-matic,” the first wireless TV remote invented in 1955.

C. Over nine million ultrasonic remote controls were sold.

D. Lazy Bone could turn a television on and off and change channels, however, it was not a wireless remote control.

E. The first Space Command units were expensive due to the necessary use of six vacuum tubes in the receiver units that raised the price of a television by thirty percent.

Keys:

1. 1. remote control; 2. electrical; 3. cordless telephone; 4. mobile phone; 5. vacuum cleaner; 6. microwave oven; 7. gas stove; 8. dishwasher; 9. mower; 10. computer; 11. e-mail; 12. Internet; 13. sites; 14. on-line; 15. video recorder 16. inventions

2. 1. D; 2. B; 3. A; 4. E; 5. C