A. Elizabeth, England’s most popular ruler, had a difficult childhood, having been declared illegitimate after the fall of Anne Boleyn. Under Mary she was a prisoner, held briefly in the Tower, as a likely focus of Protestant plots. She proved to be a ruler of quality: courageous, shrewd and possessing a potent way with words, although she was politically indecisive. Her aim was stability and concord, but administration was neglected. Crown was losing money, corruption crept into government, and disagreements between Crown and parliament were becoming sharper and shaper.
B. Language has its own force and works to demands and impulses which cannot always prove the received idea that economic and military superiority alone produce linguistic dominance. Pressure groups and revolutionaries can play a part. African American English came from a minority, mostly poor, often oppressed, all of whom were descended from a different language pool than English, and yet their expressions colonized the English language and not only of youth.
C. Of all the sciences psychology was then the youngest and least scientific which most captivated the general public and had the most destructive effect upon religious faith. Psychology was king. Freud, Adler, Jung and Watson had their tens of thousands of fans; intelligence-testers invaded the schools; psychiatrists were
installed in business houses to hire and fire employees and determine advertising policies; and one had only to read the newspapers to be told with complete assurance that psychology held the key to the problems of misbehavior, divorce, and crime.
D. It is hard to overemphasize how important bread was to the English diet through the nineteenth century. For many people bread wasn't just an important accompaniment to a meal, it was the meal. Even middle-class people spent as much as two-thirds of their income on food, of which a fairly high and sensitive proportion
was bread. For a poorer family, the daily diet was likely to consist of a few ounces of tea and sugar, some vegetables, a slice or two of cheese and, just occasionally, a very little meat. All the rest was bread.
E. Successful paragraphing is essential to good writing. Do not use too many paragraphs. If paragraphs are very short, this may mean that the writer has either introduced ideas without developing them, or separated one idea over several paragraphs. If paragraphs are very long, there is likely to be more than one idea in the
same paragraph. Poor paragraphing is considered poor style and will result in a lower grade. As a general rule, a paragraph should use a minimum of three sentences to develop an idea.
F. The links between smoking and major illnesses such as lung cancer and respiratory disease have been well-known for several decades. The laws governing the sale of cigarettes and the places where people are allowed to smoke have become stronger in response to people’s growing fears. It is believed that these
more gradual changes in the law are preferable to a complete ban.
G. American football is one of the most popular sports in the United States. It is a very physical game and the players wear helmets and special protective clothes. Baseball is a popular summer sport and there are two major leagues. Basketball is the third most popular sport; and top basketball players can earn millions of dollars.
Football, or soccer, is only a minority sport in the USA, though the national team has qualified for World Cups recently. In Britain the most popular sport in winter is
definitely football. Rugby is another popular winter sport.
и текстами A—G.