Вопрос № 403463 - Английский язык

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Bankcards
Bankcards are accepted 26 ____ millions of businesses in the United States and abroad. They can be used at hotels, restaurants, department stores, theatres, airline ticket offices – just almost everywhere. Visa and MasterCard are the best-known bankcards. 27 ____ are also most established, having been first offered to consumers more than 25 years ago. The Discovery Card is the 28____. Consumers have been drawn to the Discovery Card by 29____ discounts (up to $150 on certain purchases) and an annual rebate (1 percent of the amount charged against the card). A 30 ____ works much like a revolving charge account. 31 ____ the balance is not paid in full, a finance charge 32 ___. The minimum monthly payment, set by the bank, is often quite low – 4 or 5 percent. The finance charge, on the other hand, can be quite high – up to 22 percent. In addition, for the convenience of being able to charge purchases anywhere, the cardholders must, in most cases, 33 ____ the bank an annual membership fee of $25 to $30. Bankcard charges rose sharply in the early 1980s and remained high, despite falling interest rates. Criticism of this fact has led some banks to begin lowering their 34 ____.
35 ____ should therefore shop for bank card credit by looking for a card that has lower finance charge and/or no annual fee.

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Bankcards
Bankcards are accepted 26 ____ millions of businesses in the United States and abroad. They can be used at hotels, restaurants, department stores, theatres, airline ticket offices – just almost everywhere. Visa and MasterCard are the best-known bankcards. 27 ____ are also most established, having been first offered to consumers more than 25 years ago. The Discovery Card is the 28____. Consumers have been drawn to the Discovery Card by 29____ discounts (up to $150 on certain purchases) and an annual rebate (1 percent of the amount charged against the card). A 30 ____ works much like a revolving charge account. 31 ____ the balance is not paid in full, a finance charge 32 ___. The minimum monthly payment, set by the bank, is often quite low – 4 or 5 percent. The finance charge, on the other hand, can be quite high – up to 22 percent. In addition, for the convenience of being able to charge purchases anywhere, the cardholders must, in most cases, 33 ____ the bank an annual membership fee of $ 25 to $ 30. Bankcard charges rose sharply in the early 1980s and remained high, despite falling interest rates. Criticism of this fact has led some banks to begin lowering their 34 ____. 35 ____ should therefore shop for bank card credit by looking for a card that has lower finance charge and/or no annual fee.

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Channel Tunnel
The construction of the Channel Tunnel, also called the Euro Tunnel or Chunnel, is one of the  26______ technological and engineering feats of the 20th century.
In 1986, after almost 200 years of debate and planning (the idea of an undersea tunnel linking Britain with France was first 27______ in talks with Napoleon), the governments of both countries finally 28_____ to start construction and signed a treaty.
Engineers 29_____  a huge challenge. Not only would they have to build one of the longest tunnels in the world; they would have to convince the public that passengers would be 30_____ in a tunnel this size. Tunnel fires were common at this time. How did the engineers 31_____ this problem? They built an escape route.
The Channel Tunnel, actually consists 32_____ three tunnels. In between the two full-sized train tunnels there is a smaller service tunnel that can be used as an emergency escape route. There are connections between 33____ and the train tunnels every 375 meters. Just one year after the Chunnel opened, this engineering design was put to the test. Thirty-one people were trapped in a fire that broke out in a train 34_____ from France. The design worked. Everyone was able 35____ through the service tunnel.

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London Underground
The London Underground, known as the Tube, was the world’s FIRST electric underground railway. The City and south London Railway opened 26____ December 1890 and was the first to use the new technologies of deep tube tunneling and electric traction for power. Now, that’s almost 115 years ago! And if that’s not enough, for many years before that the London Underground worked on underground steam trains! Together, this 27___ the London Underground a fantastic example of brilliant Victorian engineering.
Of course, the technology was not nearly 28___ sophisticated ___ it is today. Hydraulic (water powered) lifts transported passengers from ground level to the platforms. Trains 29___ only three carriages and were attached to electric locomotives. The locomotives were powered by the 30____ power generating station in the country.
The first carriages were long and narrow with padded high-cushioned seats, and no windows! The designers thought that passengers wouldn’t have 31____ interesting to 32____ in the tunnel. That is why people started calling those carriages “padded cells”. On platforms, at the end of each carriage, there was a “gateman” to call out the names of the stations and to open doors 33_____ passengers. The trains could only carry 96 people.
Over time, more lines and trains were introduced 34____ the complicated tube network we know today. The London tube is not nearly as 35____visually as the Moscow one.

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NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL
Notting Hill Carnival is held in London each August bank holiday, and is the largest and 26______ street event in Britain. The festival celebrates the 27______ of the British black community, who emigrated to Great Britain from the West Indies in the 1950s. They brought with 28______ the Caribbean idea of the carnival, with processions, colorful costumes, steel bands and street dancing. 29______ for the carnival begin many months beforehand. Costumes have to be made and float built, 30______ for the street procession. Steel bands practice traditional Caribbean music on instruments made from old oil drums. Shortly before 31______ festival, the streets are decorated with red, green and yellow streamers. The carnival lasts 32______ three days, and is full of music and colour. Processions of floats, steel and brass bands, and dancers in exotic costumes make their way through the narrow London streets, watched by thousands of people. The streets are lined with stalls 33______ tropical fruits, such as fresh pineapple, watermelons and mangoes. 34______ dances - black and white, young and old - and even the policemen on duty 35______ in the fun. For these three days in August, a little Caribbean magic touches the streets of London.

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Why laughter is the best medicine?
Laughter helps you fight 26 _____ and gets you fit. But how it works is still being puzzled out.
Doctors are starting to believe that laughter not only improves your state of mind, but actually affects your entire 27 _____ well-being. A French newspaper found that in 1930 the French laughed on average for 19 minutes per day. By 1980 this had 28 _____ to 6 minutes. Eighty per sent of the people questioned said they would like to laugh more.
William Fry – a psychiatrist from California – 29 _____ the effects of laughter on the body. He got patients to watch Laurel and Hardy films, and monitored their blood pressure, heart rate and muscle tone. He found that laughter has a 30 _____effect to physical exercise. It speeds up the heart rate, increases blood pressure and quickens breathing. Laughter can even  provide a kind of pain relief. Fry has proved that laughter produces endorphins – chemicals in the body that 31 _____ pain.
Researchers found that if they produced pain in the students, those who had listened to the humorous tape 32 _____ tolerate the discomfort for much 33_____.
Patch Adams is both a doctor and a performing clown in Virginia. “There’s evidence to suggest that laughter stimulates the immune system”, says Adams, “yet hospitals and clinics are well-known 34 _____ their atmosphere”. He usually puts on a red nose when 35 _____ patients.