Главная страница «Первого сентября»Главная страница журнала «Английский язык»Содержание №11/2005

TESTS

Going through Customs

АУДИРОВАНИЕ

1. Прослушайте текст Immigration and Customs и заполните пропуски недостающей информацией.

Customs Officer: Next. Uh, your (1) _____________ please.
Woman: Okay.
Customs Officer: Uh, what is the purpose of your (2) __________?
Woman: I’m here to (3) _________ a teaching convention for the first part of my trip, and then I plan on touring the capital for a few days.
Customs Officer: And where will you be staying?
Woman: I’ll be staying in a room at a hotel (4) __________ for the entire week.
Customs Officer: And uh, what do you have in your (5) _________?
Woman: Uh, well, just, just my (6) __________ belongings, um, ... clothes, a few books, and a CD player.
Customs Officer: Okay. Uh, please open your bag.
Woman: Sure.
Customs Officer: Okay … Everything’s fine. [Great]. Uh, by the way, is this your first visit to the (7) __________?
Woman: Well, yes and no. Actually, I was born here when my (8) ________ were working in the capital many years ago, but this is my first trip back (9) _________ then.
Customs Officer: Well, (10) __________ your trip.
Woman: Thanks.

2. Выберите правильный вариант ответа.

1. What is the purpose of the woman’s visit?

a) business; b) pleasure; c) business and pleasure

2. Where will the woman stay during her trip?

a) at a friend’s home; b) at a hotel; c) at a university dormitory

3. About how long will the woman be in the country?

a) one or two days; b) three or four days; c) more than four days

4. What things are in the woman’s luggage?

a) clothing, computer, and books; b) CD player, clothing, and books;

c) books, gifts and computer

5. What other piece of information do we learn about the woman?

a) Her parents are on the same trip.

b) She enjoys traveling to different countries.

c) She was born in that country.

ЧТЕНИЕ

1. Определите, в каком из текстов (1–4) вы можете найти следующую информацию (A–E). Одно утверждение лишнее.

In which text can you find …

A. a general instruction about going through the Customs?

B. information about passing the border of a particular country?

C. information about the general purpose of the Customs?

D. a funny story?

E. information about corruption in Indian Customs?

1. A nation’s customs service has many responsibilities. At its most basic level, its purpose is to regulate what comes into and goes out of a country. The foremost element of this regulation is controlling international trade. To tilt the balance in favor of domestic businesses, governments impose tariffs, also called duty, on foreign goods coming into the country. In addition to encouraging domestic trade, duty also gives the nation a “piece of the action” when somebody buys something produced overseas. Customs agencies are often major sources of revenue for the government. Customs agencies also monitor what is being exported from a country.

2. After an overnight flight to meet my father at his latest military assignment, my mother wearily arrived at Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany with my eight siblings and me – all under age 11. Collecting our many suitcases, the ten of us entered the cramped customs area. A young customs official watched our entourage in disbelief, “Ma’am,” he said, “do all these children and this luggage belong to you?”
“Yes, sir,” my mother said with a sigh, “they’re all mine.”
The customs agent began his interrogation: “Ma’am, do you have any weapons, contraband or illegal drugs in your possession?”
“Sir,” she calmly answered, “if I’d had any of those items, I would have used them by now.”

3. In the arrivals hall of the airport you will be requested to fill in a customs declaration form. Respecting the Russian customs is advisable, because breaking customs regulations may result in divestment of your belongings, plus you might have to pay fines measuring in 100 to 300 percent of their cost. If you have more than $1500 in cash, you should go through the red “to declare” channel and get your customs form stamped by a customs officer (especially if you are intending to leave Russia with a large amount of cash). If not, then you may proceed through the green channel. However, in any case be sure to keep your customs declaration form as you may be asked for it when leaving the country.

4. After passing through Immigration Control, you will be able to collect your luggage. You must then pass through Customs Control. Go through the green channel if you have nothing to declare. Go through the red channel if you have goods to declare. Go through the blue channel if you have arrived from an airport within the EEA where your luggage has already been cleared through Customs Control. The notices in the customs area will tell you if you need to declare anything you have brought into the country. You can also check with one of the customs officers before passing through customs control. Even if you pass through the green channel the Customs Officer may ask you to open your luggage for checking.

2. Подберите к каждому тексту (1–6) подходящий заголовок (A–E). Один текст лишний.

A. China, the target of relic smugglers

B. Flushing out smugglers

C. Death for smugglers

D. Festival unlocks port’s dark past

E. Car sellers tied to smugglers

1. A Vietnam court has sentenced six people to death and three others to life in prison for trafficking $1.6 million worth of ecstasy pills and heroin from Cambodia to Vietnam. Another man was sentenced to six years in jail on Friday at the end of a three-day trial of the gang, who are all Vietnamese, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said.

2. A historic prison where smugglers were held in appalling conditions is to open its doors to offer the public a glimpse of Leith’s dark past. The 19th century police station in the port’s Queen Charlotte Street is inviting visitors in for one of a host of events over the coming week to celebrate the Leith Festival. Smugglers, murderers and thieves were thrown into communal station cells in the mid-1800s. Warders would lead new prisoners to a shower area, where they were scrubbed with long-handled brushes and carbolic soap to get rid of any disease and their clothes were burned.

3. PHOENIX – Twenty-one employees of used-car lots were indicted on charges they helped sell vehicles to smugglers who sneak drugs and illegal immigrants into Arizona from Mexico, prosecutors said yesterday. The dealers put false names on the titles of vehicles sold to smugglers and created fake liens so that automobiles seized near the border would revert back to dealers, authorities said.

4. NEW YORK – A dispatch to the Times from Key West, Florida, says: The Angeltia, a ship flying the Spanish flag, was captured off the west coast of Florida by the United States revenue steamer, McLave. She was found off Sanibel island. The captain had no papers, except a bill of provisions purchased on the Florida coast. This did not satisfy the boarding officer, who at once directed a search of the ship. No contraband stuff was found, but the character of the vessel seemed so certain that after consultation it was decided to seize it.

5. BEIJING – Cultural relics in China are under critical threat from tomb raiders and thieves supplying a booming domestic and overseas market, one of the country’s top relics officials warned. Relics that are illegally excavated, stolen from museum collections or smuggled used to flow mainly to Europe, Japan and the United States but are now also turning up in private art collections in major Chinese cities.

6. The unit’s goal is to find clues that will lead them to the “big fish” – smugglers who coordinate the transport of illegal immigrants into the United States. The Border Patrol’s Tucson sector Disrupt unit is one of six major operations in the sector. Each border sector has its own Disrupt unit. Since October, Disrupt agents have been involved in more than 150 arrests and prosecutions of suspected smugglers. Immigrant smuggling carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

3. Прочитайте отрывок из романа Артура Хейли Аэропорт, а затем выберите правильный вариант ответа.

Meanwhile, inspector Standish was trying to clear up a tiresome problem.
“Madam,” he said quietly to the haughty, angular woman whose several suitcases were spread open on the Customs inspection table between them, “are you quite sure you don’t wish to change your story?”
She snapped back, “I suppose you’re suggesting I should lie, when I’ve already told you the truth”.
The woman, whose American passport showed that she was Mrs. Harriet Du Barry Mossman who lived in Evanston, and had just returned from a month in England, France and Denmark, replied acidly, “No, I don’t.”
“In that case, I wonder if you’d mind signing this form. If you like, I’ll explain it to you.”
Most of other passengers, who had arrived aboard a Scandinavian Airlines DC-8 from Copenhagen, had cleared Customs and had left. Only this well-dressed American woman posed a problem, insisting that all she had bought in Europe was some perfume, costume jewelry, and shoes. The total declared value was ninety dollars – ten dollars less than the free exemption she was allowed.
“Why should I sign anything?” Mrs. Harriet Du Barry Mossman demanded.
He answered patiently. “To make things easier for yourself, madam. We’re merely asking you to confirm in writing what you’ve already told us. You say the dresses were purchased...”
“How many times must I tell you? They were bought in Chicago and New York before I left for Europe; so were the sweaters. The coat was a gift – purchased in the United States. I received it six months ago.”
Why, Harry Standish wondered, did people do it? All the statements just made, he knew with certainty, were lies.
“To begin with, the dresses – six, of good quality – had had their labels removed.”
Mrs. Mossman asked, “What happens if I sign the form?”
“Then you may go, madam.”
“And take my things with me? All my things?”
“Yes.”
“Supposing I refuse to sign?”
“Then we shall be obliged to detain you here while we continue the investigation.”
Then was the briefest hesitation, then: “Very well. You fill out the form; I’ll sign.”
“No, madam; you fill it out. Now here, please describe the items, and alongside where you say they were obtained. Please give the names of the stores; also from whom you received the fur coat as a gift...”
He waited while Mrs. Mossman completed the form and signed it.

1. Mrs. Mossman seemed suspicious to inspector Standish because …

a) she had too many suitcases
b) she didn’t want to declare new goods
c) she didn’t have a passport

2. Mrs. Mossman arrived from …

a) Denmark
b) France
c) England

3. Inspector Standish suspected that Mrs. Mossman bought new clothes in …

a) the USA, France, Denmark
b) Denmark, England, Russia
c) France, England, Denmark

4. Inspector Standish asked Mrs. Mossman to …

a) pay the Customs duty
b) fill in the form
c) leave all her things at the Customs

5. Mrs. Mossman insisted that she had bought only some perfume, costume jewelry and shoes because she ...

a) didn’t want to pay the Customs duty
b) was afraid that all her goods would be confiscated
c) didn’t want to tell the names of the shops where she had bought all those things

4. Прочитайте приведенный ниже текст. Преобразуйте слова, напечатанные заглавными буквами так, чтобы они грамматически и лексически соответствовали содержанию текста.

Customs duty is a tariff or tax on the import or export of goods. Traditionally in England, it was part of the customary revenue of the king, and therefore did not need (1) _________ PARLIAMENT consent to be levied, unlike excise duty, land tax, or other (2) ________. IMPOSE So Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for (3) ________ customs duty and for COLLECT controlling the flow of people, animals and goods, as well as personal effects and (4) _________ items, in and out HAZARD of the country. (5) ________ on local DEPEND legislation and regulations, exporting or (6) _______ of some goods may IMPORT be restricted or forbidden, and the Customs agency is enforcing (7) ___________ rules. The Customs THIS agency also monitors persons (8) _________ and entering the LEAVE country, checking for appropriate documentation and trying to capture persons identified by international search warrants. As well as increasing the population of a particular country a person may be carrying an (9) ___________ disease or may INFECTION pose a threat to that country.

5. Прочитайте текст с пропусками и обведите выбранный вами ответ.

In airports, boat ports and other entryways into a country, you may find duty-free shops. These stores (1) __________ special exceptions to a country’s customs regulations: They (2) ____________ to import goods into the country without paying duty on them. Since they (3) ____________ duty, they (4) ____________ sell the goods at a lower price, which is a good deal for travelers.
The duty exemption only (5) ____________ to the importer, not to the customer. If you (6) ____________ home and buy a bottle of wine at the duty-free shop in your own country, you (7) ____________ pay any duty – you (8) ____________ the one who imported the wine. But if you (9) ____________ the wine at a duty-free shop in the country you were visiting, the standard duty applies when you return home with it. Items purchased in a duty-free shop are treated just like any other goods once they leave the store.

1. A. have been B. is C. were D. are

2. A. licensed B. license C. are licensed D. have been licensed

3. A. aren’t paying B. don’t pay C. haven’t been paying D. doesn’t pay

4. A. could B. are able to C. can D. will be able

5. A. apply B. applies C. applied D. is applying

6. A. come B. are coming C. comes D. will be coming

7. A. doesn’t have to B. didn’t have to C. doesn’t have to D. won’t have to

8. A. weren’t B. aren’t C. haven’t been D. wasn’t

9. A. buy B. buys C. will buy D. bought

Passing through the Customs. One of you will be a customs officer, the other will be a visitor arriving in our country.

ГОВОРЕНИЕ

What advice would you give to a friend when preparing to pass through an airport in your country:

  • what documents he/she should have ready;

  • if he/she can buy souvenirs at the airport;

  • where he/she needs to go to find public transportation info

I. 1. passport; 2. visit; 3. attend; 4. downtown; 5. luggage; 6. personal; 7. country; 8. parents; 9. since; 10. enjoy

II. 1. c; 2. b; 3. c; 4. b; 5. c

Чтение

I. A. 4; B. 3; C. 1; D. 2; E. -

II. 1. C; 2. D; 3. E; 4. – ; 5. A; 6. B

III. 1. b; 2. a; 3. c; 4. a; 5. a

IV. 1. parliamentary; 2. impositions; 3. collecting; 4. hazardous; 5. depending; 6. importing; 7. these; 8. leaving; 9. infectious

V. 1. D; 2. C; 3. B; 4. C; 5. B; 6. B; 7. D; 8. A; 9. A

Customs Officer: Next. Uh, your passport please.

Woman: Okay.

Customs Officer: Uh, what is the purpose of your visit?

Woman: I’m here to attend a teaching convention for the first part of my trip, and then I plan on touring the capital for a few days.

Customs Officer: And where will you be staying?

Woman: I’ll be staying in a room at a hotel downtown for the entire week.

Customs Officer: And uh, what do you have in your luggage?

Woman: Uh, well, just, just my personal belongings um, ... clothes, a few books, and a CD player.

Customs Officer: Okay. Uh, please open your bag.

Woman: Sure.

Customs Officer: Okay ... Everything’s fine. [Great]. Uh, by the way, is this your first visit to the country?

Woman: Well, yes and no. Actually, I was born here when my parents were working in the capital many years ago, but this is my first trip back since then.

Customs Officer: Well, enjoy your trip.

Woman: Thanks.

By Natalya Plyugina, School No. 44, Kaliningrad