Hollywood’s First Child Star

Reading

Task 1

Read the texts below. Match choices (A-H) to (1-5). There are three choices you do not need to use. Write your answers on the separate answer sheet.

A prominent physicist and skeptic of global warming spent two years trying to find out if mainstream climate scientists were wrong. In the end, he determined they were right: Temperatures really are rising rapidly.

The most widely used flu vaccine in the United States is only about 60 percent effective in healthy adults, new research indicates.

The US and Chinese diplomats also "discussed ways in which the two countries can work together" on regional and international challenges in places like Afghanistan, North Korea, Iran and the Middle East.

The Jersey Boys show, a documentary-style musical, is based on the popular 60s group the Four Seasons. Fans young and old are buying up tickets in an effort to experience the heart-rending tale of the iconic 60s group.

In a speech at New York University, Dennis Walcott said the new schools would open over the next two years and would include both charter schools and traditional school

Which piece of news deals with_________________?

Аpolitical life

Bmovie industry

Ceducational issues

Dentertainment

Ebusiness life

Fsporting events

Ghealth care

Henvironmental

Task 2

Read the text below. For questions (6-10) choose the correct answer (А, В, C or D). Write your answers on the separate answer sheet.

Hollywood’s First Child Star

At the height of her career, “Baby” Marie Osborne was one of the most popular actresses in the world, said The Times. Driven round Hollywood in a limousine, she earned every few weeks what the average American took home annually. She was just five years old. Arguably the first significant child star in movie history, she struggled (like those who came after) to adjust to adult life, and found herself reduced to poverty as quickly as she had risen to riches. Or as Osborne herself once noted, “I set the trend for virtually every other child star who followed.”

She was born Helen Alice Myers in Colorado, and was adopted at the age of three months. Her new parents took her to Los Angeles, where they worked in the movie industry. Little Marie, as they called her, was spotted on set by the actor and director Henry King, who cast her in a string of films that exploited her winsome charms. The most famous was Little Mary Sunshine (1916). The film was a hit with both cinema-goers and critics, one of whom was so moved by Osborne’s performance that he called it “a revelation in art.”

Osborne’s life had as many reversals as her films’ plots, said The New York Times. On retiring at eight, she discovered her parents had blown her fortune. But while working as a shop-assistant in her 20s, she learned her real father had left her a large sum of money. With the help of King, she re-entered the movie business, acting as a stand-in for stars such as Ginger Rogers. Later, she reinvented herself as a costumer - work she far preferred, she said, to being an actress. Films on which she earned a credit included Cleopatra and The Godfather Part II.

6Which of her occupations did Marie like best?

Ashop-assistant

Вactress

Cstand-in

Dcostumer

7According to the text, everything is true, EXCEPT____________ .

AMarie inherited a fortune

ВMarie’s acting career ended early

CMarie gave impulse to fan culture

DMarie had a large income as a child star

8The phrase “her parents had blown her fortune” (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to__________

Athey’d ruined her career