2.03 Задания 12-18. Задания на полное понимание прочитанного текста

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

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Preschool education

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The overwhelming need for preschool teachers in America is a result of a preschool teacher's pay which is comparatively low. In the country nearly 15 million children are living in poverty, whose mothers and fathers are wrestling with low wages and low socio-economic status. They are trying to make a way for their children to have the opportunity to succeed in the school system, and a large role in the success of a child's future is the promise of preschool.

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But with preschool teachers still deemed as nothing more than babysitters, the undervaluing of proper education is profound. About half of the children under the age of five are living below the poverty line and need preschool to pull them from the cycle of poverty and prepare them for a life of possibility.

\n\n

From birth to the age of five, people's brains develop more than they will at any other time in their lives. And the way the minds are molded during these first five years affects the way children will navigate their further education, and then their lives. The countless experiences encountered by children during these first five years of life — regardless of whether they are positive or negative experiences — shape developing brains. And by the time a child enters kindergarten, 90 percent of their brains have developed.

\n\n

Preschool teachers are the hands shaping millions of minds during the most influential and delicate period of a person's life. And therefore, preschool teachers are much more than babysitters and deserve to be treated as such by society and paid decent salaries.

\n\n

In those first five years of life, our brains develop so intricately and intensely. According to First Things First, what allows the brain to develop, think, communicate, and grow is the connections our brain cells make during those first few years. These connections are cultivated over the course of those years, and every experience is documented by our developing brains. So when children are entering into preschool, they are being profoundly shaped into the kind of person they will be for the rest of their life, because of the messages and connections in their brains. 

\n\n

The fragility of children's lives is astounding, and preschool teachers instill patience in their lessons as they introduce children to reading, writing, storytelling, social studies, creative arts, vocabulary expansion, math, and science for the first time. All the while, they allow children room to grow, ask questions, and discover.

\n\n

Children without preschool enter the education system heavily unprepared and devastatingly disadvantaged, lacking in areas such as social and cognitive development. Children without preschool are less likely to graduate — or if they do graduate, they are less likely to pursue college, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Education. But children with preschool are less likely to repeat a grade and are more likely to succeed in whatever career they choose.

\n\n

Preschool teachers give children a platform for a successfully patterned life and deserve pay reflecting such. Because when they are paid so little — when they are surviving on the brink of the poverty line — it is overwhelmingly difficult to continue pursuing a career as preschool teachers. America needs preschool. And preschool teachers need adequate and fair pay. 
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Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

\n\n

Preschool education

\n\n

The overwhelming need for preschool teachers in America is a result of a preschool teacher's pay which is comparatively low. In the country nearly 15 million children are living in poverty, whose mothers and fathers are wrestling with low wages and low socio-economic status. They are trying to make a way for their children to have the opportunity to succeed in the school system, and a large role in the success of a child's future is the promise of preschool.

\n\n

But with preschool teachers still deemed as nothing more than babysitters, the undervaluing of proper education is profound. About half of the children under the age of five are living below the poverty line and need preschool to pull them from the cycle of poverty and prepare them for a life of possibility.

\n\n

From birth to the age of five, people's brains develop more than they will at any other time in their lives. And the way the minds are molded during these first five years affects the way children will navigate their further education, and then their lives. The countless experiences encountered by children during these first five years of life — regardless of whether they are positive or negative experiences — shape developing brains. And by the time a child enters kindergarten, 90 percent of their brains have developed.

\n\n

Preschool teachers are the hands shaping millions of minds during the most influential and delicate period of a person's life. And therefore, preschool teachers are much more than babysitters and deserve to be treated as such by society and paid decent salaries.

\n\n

In those first five years of life, our brains develop so intricately and intensely. According to First Things First, what allows the brain to develop, think, communicate, and grow is the connections our brain cells make during those first few years. These connections are cultivated over the course of those years, and every experience is documented by our developing brains. So when children are entering into preschool, they are being profoundly shaped into the kind of person they will be for the rest of their life, because of the messages and connections in their brains. 

\n\n

The fragility of children's lives is astounding, and preschool teachers instill patience in their lessons as they introduce children to reading, writing, storytelling, social studies, creative arts, vocabulary expansion, math, and science for the first time. All the while, they allow children room to grow, ask questions, and discover.

\n\n

Children without preschool enter the education system heavily unprepared and devastatingly disadvantaged, lacking in areas such as social and cognitive development. Children without preschool are less likely to graduate — or if they do graduate, they are less likely to pursue college, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Education. But children with preschool are less likely to repeat a grade and are more likely to succeed in whatever career they choose.

\n\n

Preschool teachers give children a platform for a successfully patterned life and deserve pay reflecting such. Because when they are paid so little — when they are surviving on the brink of the poverty line — it is overwhelmingly difficult to continue pursuing a career as preschool teachers. America needs preschool. And preschool teachers need adequate and fair pay. 
\n 

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Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

\n\n

Preschool education

\n\n

The overwhelming need for preschool teachers in America is a result of a preschool teacher's pay which is comparatively low. In the country nearly 15 million children are living in poverty, whose mothers and fathers are wrestling with low wages and low socio-economic status. They are trying to make a way for their children to have the opportunity to succeed in the school system, and a large role in the success of a child's future is the promise of preschool.

\n\n

But with preschool teachers still deemed as nothing more than babysitters, the undervaluing of proper education is profound. About half of the children under the age of five are living below the poverty line and need preschool to pull them from the cycle of poverty and prepare them for a life of possibility.

\n\n

From birth to the age of five, people's brains develop more than they will at any other time in their lives. And the way the minds are molded during these first five years affects the way children will navigate their further education, and then their lives. The countless experiences encountered by children during these first five years of life — regardless of whether they are positive or negative experiences — shape developing brains. And by the time a child enters kindergarten, 90 percent of their brains have developed.

\n\n

Preschool teachers are the hands shaping millions of minds during the most influential and delicate period of a person's life. And therefore, preschool teachers are much more than babysitters and deserve to be treated as such by society and paid decent salaries.

\n\n

In those first five years of life, our brains develop so intricately and intensely. According to First Things First, what allows the brain to develop, think, communicate, and grow is the connections our brain cells make during those first few years. These connections are cultivated over the course of those years, and every experience is documented by our developing brains. So when children are entering into preschool, they are being profoundly shaped into the kind of person they will be for the rest of their life, because of the messages and connections in their brains. 

\n\n

The fragility of children's lives is astounding, and preschool teachers instill patience in their lessons as they introduce children to reading, writing, storytelling, social studies, creative arts, vocabulary expansion, math, and science for the first time. All the while, they allow children room to grow, ask questions, and discover.

\n\n

Children without preschool enter the education system heavily unprepared and devastatingly disadvantaged, lacking in areas such as social and cognitive development. Children without preschool are less likely to graduate — or if they do graduate, they are less likely to pursue college, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Education. But children with preschool are less likely to repeat a grade and are more likely to succeed in whatever career they choose.

\n\n

Preschool teachers give children a platform for a successfully patterned life and deserve pay reflecting such. Because when they are paid so little — when they are surviving on the brink of the poverty line — it is overwhelmingly difficult to continue pursuing a career as preschool teachers. America needs preschool. And preschool teachers need adequate and fair pay. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

\n\n

Preschool education

\n\n

The overwhelming need for preschool teachers in America is a result of a preschool teacher's pay which is comparatively low. In the country nearly 15 million children are living in poverty, whose mothers and fathers are wrestling with low wages and low socio-economic status. They are trying to make a way for their children to have the opportunity to succeed in the school system, and a large role in the success of a child's future is the promise of preschool.

\n\n

But with preschool teachers still deemed as nothing more than babysitters, the undervaluing of proper education is profound. About half of the children under the age of five are living below the poverty line and need preschool to pull them from the cycle of poverty and prepare them for a life of possibility.

\n\n

From birth to the age of five, people's brains develop more than they will at any other time in their lives. And the way the minds are molded during these first five years affects the way children will navigate their further education, and then their lives. The countless experiences encountered by children during these first five years of life — regardless of whether they are positive or negative experiences — shape developing brains. And by the time a child enters kindergarten, 90 percent of their brains have developed.

\n\n

Preschool teachers are the hands shaping millions of minds during the most influential and delicate period of a person's life. And therefore, preschool teachers are much more than babysitters and deserve to be treated as such by society and paid decent salaries.

\n\n

In those first five years of life, our brains develop so intricately and intensely. According to First Things First, what allows the brain to develop, think, communicate, and grow is the connections our brain cells make during those first few years. These connections are cultivated over the course of those years, and every experience is documented by our developing brains. So when children are entering into preschool, they are being profoundly shaped into the kind of person they will be for the rest of their life, because of the messages and connections in their brains. 

\n\n

The fragility of children's lives is astounding, and preschool teachers instill patience in their lessons as they introduce children to reading, writing, storytelling, social studies, creative arts, vocabulary expansion, math, and science for the first time. All the while, they allow children room to grow, ask questions, and discover.

\n\n

Children without preschool enter the education system heavily unprepared and devastatingly disadvantaged, lacking in areas such as social and cognitive development. Children without preschool are less likely to graduate — or if they do graduate, they are less likely to pursue college, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Education. But children with preschool are less likely to repeat a grade and are more likely to succeed in whatever career they choose.

\n\n

Preschool teachers give children a platform for a successfully patterned life and deserve pay reflecting such. Because when they are paid so little — when they are surviving on the brink of the poverty line — it is overwhelmingly difficult to continue pursuing a career as preschool teachers. America needs preschool. And preschool teachers need adequate and fair pay. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

\n\n

Preschool education

\n\n

The overwhelming need for preschool teachers in America is a result of a preschool teacher's pay which is comparatively low. In the country nearly 15 million children are living in poverty, whose mothers and fathers are wrestling with low wages and low socio-economic status. They are trying to make a way for their children to have the opportunity to succeed in the school system, and a large role in the success of a child's future is the promise of preschool.

\n\n

But with preschool teachers still deemed as nothing more than babysitters, the undervaluing of proper education is profound. About half of the children under the age of five are living below the poverty line and need preschool to pull them from the cycle of poverty and prepare them for a life of possibility.

\n\n

From birth to the age of five, people's brains develop more than they will at any other time in their lives. And the way the minds are molded during these first five years affects the way children will navigate their further education, and then their lives. The countless experiences encountered by children during these first five years of life — regardless of whether they are positive or negative experiences — shape developing brains. And by the time a child enters kindergarten, 90 percent of their brains have developed.

\n\n

Preschool teachers are the hands shaping millions of minds during the most influential and delicate period of a person's life. And therefore, preschool teachers are much more than babysitters and deserve to be treated as such by society and paid decent salaries.

\n\n

In those first five years of life, our brains develop so intricately and intensely. According to First Things First, what allows the brain to develop, think, communicate, and grow is the connections our brain cells make during those first few years. These connections are cultivated over the course of those years, and every experience is documented by our developing brains. So when children are entering into preschool, they are being profoundly shaped into the kind of person they will be for the rest of their life, because of the messages and connections in their brains. 

\n\n

The fragility of children's lives is astounding, and preschool teachers instill patience in their lessons as they introduce children to reading, writing, storytelling, social studies, creative arts, vocabulary expansion, math, and science for the first time. All the while, they allow children room to grow, ask questions, and discover.

\n\n

Children without preschool enter the education system heavily unprepared and devastatingly disadvantaged, lacking in areas such as social and cognitive development. Children without preschool are less likely to graduate — or if they do graduate, they are less likely to pursue college, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Education. But children with preschool are less likely to repeat a grade and are more likely to succeed in whatever career they choose.

\n\n

Preschool teachers give children a platform for a successfully patterned life and deserve pay reflecting such. Because when they are paid so little — when they are surviving on the brink of the poverty line — it is overwhelmingly difficult to continue pursuing a career as preschool teachers. America needs preschool. And preschool teachers need adequate and fair pay. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

\n\n

Preschool education

\n\n

The overwhelming need for preschool teachers in America is a result of a preschool teacher's pay which is comparatively low. In the country nearly 15 million children are living in poverty, whose mothers and fathers are wrestling with low wages and low socio-economic status. They are trying to make a way for their children to have the opportunity to succeed in the school system, and a large role in the success of a child's future is the promise of preschool.

\n\n

But with preschool teachers still deemed as nothing more than babysitters, the undervaluing of proper education is profound. About half of the children under the age of five are living below the poverty line and need preschool to pull them from the cycle of poverty and prepare them for a life of possibility.

\n\n

From birth to the age of five, people's brains develop more than they will at any other time in their lives. And the way the minds are molded during these first five years affects the way children will navigate their further education, and then their lives. The countless experiences encountered by children during these first five years of life — regardless of whether they are positive or negative experiences — shape developing brains. And by the time a child enters kindergarten, 90 percent of their brains have developed.

\n\n

Preschool teachers are the hands shaping millions of minds during the most influential and delicate period of a person's life. And therefore, preschool teachers are much more than babysitters and deserve to be treated as such by society and paid decent salaries.

\n\n

In those first five years of life, our brains develop so intricately and intensely. According to First Things First, what allows the brain to develop, think, communicate, and grow is the connections our brain cells make during those first few years. These connections are cultivated over the course of those years, and every experience is documented by our developing brains. So when children are entering into preschool, they are being profoundly shaped into the kind of person they will be for the rest of their life, because of the messages and connections in their brains. 

\n\n

The fragility of children's lives is astounding, and preschool teachers instill patience in their lessons as they introduce children to reading, writing, storytelling, social studies, creative arts, vocabulary expansion, math, and science for the first time. All the while, they allow children room to grow, ask questions, and discover.

\n\n

Children without preschool enter the education system heavily unprepared and devastatingly disadvantaged, lacking in areas such as social and cognitive development. Children without preschool are less likely to graduate — or if they do graduate, they are less likely to pursue college, according to a 2015 study from the U.S. Department of Education. But children with preschool are less likely to repeat a grade and are more likely to succeed in whatever career they choose.

\n\n

Preschool teachers give children a platform for a successfully patterned life and deserve pay reflecting such. Because when they are paid so little — when they are surviving on the brink of the poverty line — it is overwhelmingly difficult to continue pursuing a career as preschool teachers. America needs preschool. And preschool teachers need adequate and fair pay. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа.

iGeneration: teenagers affected by phones

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 phone. Athena told me that when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device 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 a happy adolescence, it would be straightforward: put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something — anything — that does not involve a screen.

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному вами варианту ответа. 

\n\n

After graduating from medical school, Eugene Alford built a lucrative career as an ear, nose, and throat specialist and a facial plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital. In the summers, he and his wife Mary, a dentist and former paediatric nurse, would join a church-sponsored medical mission to Honduras, where he operated on the needy in a rural clinic.

\n\n

At home, Alford treated many prominent Houston residents, but he also waived his fee for less fortunate patients. Carolyn Thomas, for instance, went to see him with a large gauze bandage over a cavity in her face. She had been shot by her boyfriend, who had also killed her mother. The bullet had blown away Thomas's nose, upper jaw, and right eye. Reconstruction would have cost a million dollars, but Alford, his medical team, and his hospital did it for free.

\n\n

Whenever Alford needed to relax after a particularly gruelling period of work, he'd drive to his ranch in Bellville and lose himself in farm chores. He didn't make it out there as often as he would have liked. As a plastic surgeon at Methodist Hospital, he had performed 800 operations over the previous year and was booked solid for months ahead. So on a chilly Sunday a few days after Christmas, Alford headed out through the pine bush, intending to clear a trail for deer hunting. As he cut through underbrush in the south pasture, Alford brought the tractor to a halt in front of a dead white oak standing in his path. He nudged the trunk with the tractor's front-end loader, expecting the tree to topple neatly to the ground. Instead the top half of the oak swayed towards him. In seconds, more than a ton of hardwood slammed down on him, crushing his spine.

\n\n

Pinned to the steering wheel, Alford could barely breathe. He tried to hit the brakes, but his legs failed to respond. When he found he could move his hands, he turned off the ignition, then with great effort pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and called his wife on speed dial. 'Mary,' he gasped, 'a tree fell on me. I'm going to die.'Don't quit!' she shouted. 'We're coming to get you!' Alford was still conscious when his neighbours Kevin and Snuffy, alerted by Mary, hauled the tree off him. A rescue helicopter touched down minutes later, and Alford advised the paramedics on which drugs to administer to him. Then he blacked out. 

\n\n

He was flown to the trauma unit at Medical Centre in Houston, then quickly transferred to Methodist. The operation was successful, but the patient was still in danger. After almost two weeks in the ICU, Alford awoke, and his condition improved enough for him to be taken to a rehabilitation unit, where he began physical therapy and learned to use a wheelchair. In February 2008, six weeks after the accident, Alford returned to his 100-year-old home in Houston. At first, he was so weak that he could sit up only when strapped into a wheelchair.

\n\n

Before the accident, Alford had been a solidly built six-footer and was used to being in charge. Now, entirely dependent on others, he fell into despair. `If it weren't for my wife and kids, I would have killed myself,' he says. But then the love started pouring in. Alford's brother maintained a blog to provide updates about Alford's recovery. Over the next three months, he received 40,000 messages from colleagues, former patients, acquaintances, even strangers. The outpouring raised his spirits. It also gave Mary a new perspective on him. For years, Alford's schedule of 15-hour days hadn't left him much time for her and the kids. 'I'd just about decided you liked work more than us,' Mary told him one day over lunch. 'But now I realize you didn't want to leave the hospital because there were so many folks that needed you. You couldn't just abandon them.'

\n\n

The couple refurbished their house with ramps, a wheelchair-accessible bathroom, and an elevator. They bought an extended-cab pickup truck and fitted it with a wheelchair hoist, a swivelling driver's seat, and hand controls so Alford could drive himself.

\n\n

But Alford's goal was to make such adjustments temporary. After a month of physical therapy, he graduated from an electric to a manual wheelchair. The daily workouts built strength in his back and abdominal muscles, improving his ability to hold himself upright. Soon he was able to stand with the aid of a tubular steel frame; seated in his chair, he could now draw his legs toward his chest.

\n\n

In May, Alford began the next phase of treatment. By putting a paralyzed patient through his paces, therapists hoped to grow new neuromuscular connections. After three months of this routine, Alford's coordination had improved markedly. He felt ready to pick up a scalpel again, with the hospital's approval. Alford still goes for four hours of rehab every morning and spends his evenings stretching and riding a motorized stationary bike to keep muscle spasms at bay. But in the hours between, he sees patients or performs surgeries—as many as five a week.

\n\n

He's eager to do more complex surgeries and plans to increase his workload. Walking remains uncertain. 'I always tell him if I had a crystal ball, I'd be a millionaire,' says Marcie Kern, one of his physical therapists. Still, the doctor considers himself a lucky man. 
\n 

\n