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Vittorio Merloni (¹found) ________ Merloni Elettrodomestoco in 1975. The company (²take) ________ just 25 years to become Europe’s third-biggest maker of fridges, cookers and washing machines. It (³not start) _______ as a gig company; it was a small white-goods firm which later (⁴buy) _______ the Ariston brand. Mr Merloni (⁵develop) __________ the firm by buying up his competitors and expanding his markets to other countries. He also (⁶invest) ________ a lot in research and development, and he (⁷be) _____ one of the first to use electronics in fridges and washing machines. The business (⁸grow)______ and its sales (⁹increase) _________ reaching ?2.5 billion in 2002.

3. Выберите один из вариантов слов, выделенных курсивом.

1. It’s dangerous to drive when you are very tired. You could / will have an accident.

2. People might travel to Mars one day, but it could / won’t be tomorrow.

3. We may not / couldn’t have enough time to finish the work today.

4. If you’re looking for a smart dress, go to Marcey’s. You might / will find what you want.

5. I’m sorry, but I won’t / may not be able to meet you in Paris tomorrow. I’ll be in London.

4. Прочитайте текст и выберите один из предложенных вариантов ответа, выделенных курсивом.

When Kodak ¹launch / launched the Brownie in 1900, photography ²become / became a popular hobby. With the Brownie, you ³didn’t have / hadn’t to be ab expert to take photos. One hundred years later, the industry ⁴taken / took another big step forward with the introduction of digital photography. Even the ⁵most cheap / cheapest digital cameras are easy to use and produce good images. So now, everyone wants one. In 2004, digital cameras ⁶sell / sold more than film cameras for the first time. Analysts expect that the market for digital cameras ⁷will / is able to double in the next year to £85 million. But an even ⁸greater / greatest change in the photographic industry is now taking place: mobile phones equipped with cameras are also becoming popular. In 2004, sales of camera phones ⁹reach / reached 190 million. This is more ¹⁰than / as the sales of digital cameras and film cameras together. Some analysts think that sales of camera phones ¹¹able to / could reach 500 million a year in the next year or two. At present, camera phones are not as high in quality ¹²than / as digital cameras. But people carry their phones with them all the time, and a poor picture is ¹³better / more good than no picture. But ¹⁴could / did the technology of camera phones improve so that they start to compete with digital cameras for quality? Analysts think this is unlikely. But the quality ¹⁵is / will probably be good enough for most people.

5. Выберите верный вариант ответов (a-c).

Pro-Chic was a ¹____________ company with a customer base of about 250. Its founder, Biruta Zilinskiene, was a ²__________ fashion desighner with a lot of good ideas. She specialized in smart, practical clothes that could ³__________ to business women. Her customers were too busy to go shopping, so Biruta visited them in their office or home. It was a clever plan and Pro-Chic started to make a good ⁴________ . The company had a brand with a good ⁵_________ , but it needed more ⁶__________ to reach a wider market. Biruta wanted the company to grow, and for that she needed to ⁷_________ her designs in magazines. To begin with, Biruta used her own money to ⁸_________ the venture. But to run a big advertising ⁹_________, she needed a lot more ¹⁰________ . So she went to a group of venture ¹¹_________ to try to raise more money. The group liked her ideas and saw that the business had a lot of ¹²________ . Biruta was able to ¹⁵_________ the money she needed.