Test 14

Read the text and choose the one best answer to each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the text. Mark the answer on your answer sheet.

Задания: (1—10)

Прочитайте текст и ответьте на вопросы, следующие за текстом, выбрав один из предложенных вариантов ответа.

His Wedded Wife

(a fter Rudyard Kipling)

In the regiment stationed in a little town in India there was a young officer known as the Worm. He was a very pretty boy, tall and slender, without a hair on his face. In that regiment one had to do things well to get on with the men; but the poor boy could neither play the banjo, nor sing, nor ride a horse well, and, of course, he was not at all popular with the other officers. Everyone played jokes on the Worm, at first, but he was so good-natured, and wanted to learn so much, that soon it became monotonous, and the officers decided to let him alone. The only one who continued play jokes on him was the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant really meant no harm, but he did not understand where to stop. The Lieutenant wanted to become a captain for a very long time, and his temper has grown very bad. Also, the girl he was in love with had refused to marry him, and that made it worse.

One day when the Lieutenant had been very unpleasant to the Warm and was making different remarks at his expense at dinner the Warm said suddenly:

"Look here! I'll bet you a month's pay that the day you become a captain I'll pay a joke on you that you will remember

for the rest of your life, and that the regiment will remember after you are dead."

Everyone shouted with laughter. The Lieutenant looked at the Worm with contempt, but he accepted the bet, and the Worm went away with a sweet smile on his face.

Two months passed. Everyone had forgotten the bet.

It was a hot evening. The officers of the regiment were sitting outside the dining-room. The officers' wives were there too. Everyone was listening to the Lieutenant, who was making speeches about the girl he was going to marry. Suddenly a tearful voice was heard: "Where is my husband? Where is my husband?"

A woman whom no one knew came out of the darkness and walked towards the Lieutenant. She was dressed in a grey travelling dress. She was tall, very lovely, with long black hair and grey eyes filled with tears. She stretched out her hands to the Lieutenant and cried: "My darling, at last!" She threw her arms around his neck and called him "My dearest!" and "My beloved husband." She said that she could not stay waiting alone in England, that his letters had become so short and cold, and she asked him to forgive her for coming.

The officers' wives stared in shocked horror at the Lieutenant, and the Colonel's voice became stern and cold as he said, "Well, sir?" The Lieutenant was half shocked by the woman's arms around his neck, but he shouted out, "It's a damned lie! 1 never had a wife in my life"

"Don't swear," said the Colonel. "Come inside."

We all went inside and there, under the full lights, we saw how beautiful the woman was. She stood in the middle of the room and talked. At first she looked hard and proud, then she wept and held out her arms to the Lieutenant. She told us that the Lieutenant had married her when he was in England on leave two years before. She seemed to know his family, and his past life. The longer she talked the more the Lieutenant looked like a criminal.

The officers' wives looked at the Lieutenant as if they had already convicted and sentenced him. There was a look of horror on the Lieutenant's face as he tried to interrupt the woman. Finally the woman ended up by saying that a Lieutenant had a tattoo on his left shoulder.

At that the woman became excited. She called the Lieutenant a dog and cursed the Colonel and all of us. Then she pulled a paper from her breast saying proudly: "Take that! And let my husband — my lawful husband — read it aloud — if he dare!"

There was a silence as the Lieutenant came forward in a confused manner and took the paper. The woman turned and ran out, weeping as if her heart would break. The Lieutenant's face was white when he began to read the paper. But suddenly he started to laugh with relief, and shouted at the woman: "You young scoundrel!"

It was written on the paper:

"This is to show that I, the Worm, have one the bet. According to the agreement made on February 21st the Lieutenant now owes me one month's salary, which is to be paid immediately."

Half the regiment rushed off to the Worm's room. Wfe found him taking off his silk stockings. Although he was still wearing the grey travelling dress, we made him come back with us. The regiment shouted until the whole division came to share the fun.

The Worm was made president of the dramatic club, and he used the money he had won from the Lieutenant to buy dresses and costumes for the actors.

1. Where was a young officer known as the Worm serving?

A In the regiment stationed in a big city in England.

В In the division stationed in the capital of India.

С In the regiment stationed in a small town in the English colony.

What did he look like?

A He was an ugly, short and fat boy. В He was a handsome young man. С He looked like a child.

The officers

A played jokes on him. В never dealt with him. С decided not to let him alone.

Who was unpleasant to him?

A the Colonel В the officers' wives С the Lieutenant

What bet did the Worm offer the Lieutenant at dinner? A to play a joke on him the day he would marry

В to play a joke on him the day he would become a captain С to play a joke on him the day he would become a colonel

The Lieutenant

A accepted the bet. В only laughed at the Worn. С was very angry with him.

The woman came out of the darkness and walked towards the Lieutenant. Why?

A The Lieutenant was her lawful husband. В She brought him news from England. С The Worm really played a joke on the Lieutenant.

When the Colonel asked for her marriage certificate

A the young woman laughed. В the lady pulled the paper out. С she refused to show it.

The Worm

A was considered to have great ability for acting. В was made a director of the local theatre. С played a bad joke.

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