An embarrassing experience

For a long time I had been looking for a ___ as a bank clerk. At last I’d maid an ____ with my prospective employer. I’d never met him before and I was a little nervous. I was lucky enough to find a ____outside the bank. I just started parking into the ___ place when a car drove into it. I was furious! I opened my window and shouted at the other driver. He ignored me and walked away. It ___ me twenty minutes to find another space. I was ten minutes late for my appointment. I went to the Manager’s office, knocked and walked in. The ___ was sitting behind hid desk. He was the man who had taken my parking space!

& READING

Задание 19. Прочтите текст, переведите письменно отрывок, выделенный курсивом.

Are Cars Driving Us Crazy?

A. Many people have cars and many dream of the day when they learn to drive and have their own car. There are plenty of reasons why. They will be able to go out where they like and to give their friends a lift. Cars are also a big status symbol. If somebody has a big, fast car, he or she must be successful.

B. Of course, it is convenient to have a car, but what price do we all pay for it? Can’t it be so that the mass-produced car, which was born at the beginning of the current century, will strangle us in the next?

C. Just consider the awful impact that the car has had on modern life. Many big cities face lots of problems caused by cars. The most pressing ones are traffic jams and air pollution. On hot, sunny days air pollution in cities in many Western countries gets very bad. Many people suffer from asthma and other breathing problems more often than before. In Britain, about 10,000 people die every year because of car fumes.

D. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly injured each year, and we are quietly sitting back letting it happen. It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a wheel. They can be ill-mannered, aggressive and selfish.

E. The surprising thing is that society smiles on the motorist and seems to encourage his behaviour. Traffic in big cities is too heavy, towns are made, ugly by huge car parks and countryside is spoiled by road networks.

F. Environmental experts all agree that the only way to stop this is to reduce the number of cars on the roads. How can we do that? First of all, we should change our mentality and not to think of a car as a status symbol. Next, we should change our lifestyle and walk or use bicycles for shorter journeys. If we don't change our attitude to a car, it can turn into a monster which will destroy everything.

Задание 20. Найдите в тексте ответы на вопросы; поставьте в конце предложения букву, обозначающую абзац, в котором содержится ответ на вопрос:

Do car parks make our towns more beautiful?

What problems are caused by cars?

How should we change our mentality and lifestyle?

What influence does a car have on a personality of the driver (car owner)?

Why many people dream of their own cars?

Задание 21 Выпишите из текста предложения, подтверждающие эти утверждения.

1. The car has had an awful impact on modern life.

3. Car fumes are bad for health.

4. A car is an extension of man's personality.

5. Man is losing a battle against car.

Задание 22. Запишите три аргумента «за» и три - «против» личного автомобиля; вам поможет таблица.