Чтение. ЕГЭ по английскому языку (ФИПИ 2021 – 2022)

A. Most of Africa's rural peoples use natural resources that are locally available for their homes. In grasslands, people typically use grass to cover the walls and roofs. In forested areas, they use hardwoods as well as bamboo and raffia palm. Earth and clay are also major resources used in construction. In areas with few natural resources, people often live as nomads, moving from place to place. Instead of making permanent homes, they usually use simple shelters or tents made of animal skins and woven hair.

B. An architect must consider how a structure will be used and by whom. An apartment building, a palace, a hospital, a museum, an airport, and a sports arena all have different construction requirements. Another factor is the ideas the structure should communicate. For example, some buildings are made to impress people with a display of power and wealth; others — to make everyone feel welcome. Other things to consider are the location and surrounding environment, including weather, and the cost of materials.

C. Did you know that an eleven-year-old child first created the Popsicle? The boy's name was Frank Epperson. In 1905, Frank left a mixture of water and powdered soda out on his porch by mistake. It also contained a stir stick. That night, fortunately for Frank, the temperatures fell to a record low. As a result, he discovered the substance had frozen to the stick, and a frozen fruit flavoured ice treat was created. He decided to call it the epsicle, which was later patented by him and named as Popsicle.

D. As Earth goes around the sun, the North Pole points to the same direction in space. For about six months every year, the North Pole is tilted towards the sun. During this time, the Northern Hemisphere gets more direct sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere and more hours of daylight. During the other six months, the North Pole is tilted away from the sun. When the Northern Hemisphere gets the most sunlight, it experiences spring and summer. At the same time, the Southern Hemisphere gets autumn and winter.

E. In southern Peru, there is an isolated plateau where the wind almost never blows. Here, around the year 400 to 650 AD, the people of the Nazca culture created the famous Nazca lines, by removing the red stones covering the ground so that the white earth beneath was visible. These Nazca lines are actually portraits of animals such as monkeys, birds or fish. It is a mystery how such a primitive civilization could create such artwork with precision when they had no means of viewing their work from the air.

F. Antarctica, which is the southernmost and fifth largest continent, does not have twenty-four-hour periods divided into days and nights. In the South Pole, the sun rises on about September 21 and moves in a circular path until it sets on about March 22. This “day”, or summer, is six months long. During this period, if the weather conditions are good, the sun can be seen twenty-four hours a day. From March 22 until September 21, the South Pole is dark, and Antarctica has its “night”, or winter.

G. Any ship that hits an iceberg can be damaged. The most famous iceberg in history sank the “Titanic”, a ship travelling in the northern Atlantic Ocean, on April 15, 1912. The ship's side scraped the iceberg, which tore holes in the hull. Within three hours, the ship was at the bottom of the ocean. After the loss of the “Titanic”, several nations worked together to establish the International Ice Patrol. Today the U.S. Coast Guard runs the patrol, which warns ships about icebergs floating in Atlantic shipping routes.

Russia is famous for its diversity, as well as its hospitality. The best way to show Russia to someone is to bring home something special. Matryoshka and balalaika are quite stereotypical presents. There are many other goods 1
Woolen shawls have always been popular in Russia because of the cold winters. The shawls made in Pavlovsky Posad, 5 , are considered to be a traditional Russian gift. Woolen shawls and scarves have been made there since 1795. A wide shawl with a beautiful original pattern on it may be used like a blanket. It is nice to cover oneself up with it sitting in the armchair, watching a movie, 7 .

The Pavlovsky Posad manufacture produces scarves for men as well. They can be bought through the Internet, or in brand stores, 2.
Belyovskaya pastila is a souvenir 3. It has been made since the 19th century in the town of Belyov near Tula. This is a very special kind of Russian confection. Though it is called “pastilla”, it is not a marshmallow-style delicacy. Belyovskaya pastilla is made of dried apples. After they have been dried, they are mixed with egg whites and sugar and whipped. Belyovskaya pastilla is similar to a cake, 4 of apples. It is considered to be a natural product, and it is not of average price. Tourists can buy this kind of sweet at some confectioner's shops throughout Moscow.

One day last summer, around noon, I called Athena, a 13-year-old who lives in Houston, Texas. She answered her phone — she has had an iPhone since she was 11 — sounding as if she'd just woken up. We chatted about her favorite songs and TV shows, and I asked her what she likes to do with her friends. “We go to the mall,” she said. “Do your parents drop you off?” I asked, recalling my own middle-school days, in the 1980s, when I'd enjoy a few parent-free hours shopping with my friends. “No, I go with my family,” she replied. “We'll go with my mom and brothers and walk a little behind them. I just have to tell my mom where we are going. I have to check in every hour or every 30 minutes.”

Those mall trips are infrequent — about once a month. More often, Athena and her friends spend time together on their phones, unchaperoned. Unlike the teens of my generation, who might have spent an evening tying up the family landline with gossip, they talk on Snapchat, a smartphone app that allows users to send pictures and videos that quickly disappear. They make sure to keep up their Snapstreaks, which show how many days in a row they have Snapchatted with each other. She told me she had spent most of the summer hanging out alone in her room with her phone. That is just the way her generation is, she said. “We didn't know any life other than with iPads or iPhones. I think we like our phones more than we like actual people.”

Some generational changes are positive, some are negative, and many are both. More comfortable in their bedrooms than in a car or at a party, today's teens are physically safer than teens have ever been. They are markedly less likely to get into a car accident and, having less of a taste for alcohol than their predecessors, are less susceptible to drinking's attendant ills.
Psychologically, however, they are more vulnerable than Millennials were: rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It is not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.

However, in my conversations with teens, I saw hopeful signs that kids themselves are beginning to link some of their troubles to their ever-present phones. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their devices instead of at her. “I'm trying to talk to them about something, and they don't actually look at my face,” she said. “They're looking at their phone, or they're looking at their Apple Watch.” “What does that feel like, when you're trying to talk to somebody face-to-face and they're not looking at you?” I asked. “It kind of hurts,” she said. “It hurts. I know my parents' generation didn't do that. I could be talking about something super important to me, and they wouldn't even be listening.”

Once, she told me, she was hanging out with a friend who was texting her boyfriend. “I was trying to talk to her about my family, and what was going on, and she was like, ”Uh-huh, yeah, whatever.” So I took her phone out of her hands and I threw it at the wall.”
Though it is aggressive behavior that I don't support, on the other hand — it is a step towards a life with limited phone use. So, if I were going to give advice for happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.