👾A Listening task for you 👾

With the Regional stage looming, let's practice the second task from the Listening part there 🤩

For items 1–5 listen to the conversation. Choose the correct answer (A, B or C) to answer questions 1–5. You will hear the text only ONCE.

1️⃣What does Rachel say about her job title?
A. It makes her feel more important than she is.
B. It gives people the wrong idea about her work.
C. It is appropriate for most of the work she does.

2️⃣What is the most common reason for the gallery not exhibiting an artist’s work?
A. The subject matter is unsuitable.
B. It is not of a high enough quality.
C. The gallery manager doesn’t like it.

3️⃣Why does Rachel include a commentary in the catalogue?
A. It gives background information about the artist.
B. It encourages people to buy paintings over the phone.
C. It tells people what experts think of the work.

4️⃣What does Rachel say about administrative work?
A. She is able to leave a lot of it to others.
B. She would like to have an assistant to help with it.
C. She finds it hard to get it all organised.

5️⃣What does Rachel find most enjoyable about her job?
A. meeting interesting people
B. the fact that it’s unpredictable
C. being close to works of art

👾 To get the most practice, use your last chance to sign up for our intensive course. In the 12 seminars, you'll get familiar with all the Regional stage tasks and strategies of solving them. There is a morning and an evening group. The course starts tomorrow!
👾 For those who can't fit online seminars into their schedule, we have a series of pre-recorded lectures. After watching them, you can do the practice tasks and get feedback from our teachers
👾Lastly, for the most independent learners, we offer a set of practice exercises in the Regional stage format

🤩 Source of the task

⬇️As usual, share your thoughts in the comments!⬇️

#final_countdown@level_APO

📕 A pun vocabulary task: Vol 3 📕

Here’s another fun task for you!

For items 1–5, complete the puns. The number of letters is given in brackets to help you and there is an example (0) done for you.

0. What do you call fake spaghetti? An _ (7).
Answer: impasta

1️⃣ I once tried to catch fog. _ (4).

2️⃣ Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They’d _ each other _ (5, 2).

3️⃣ I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. Then it _ _ me (6, 2 or 4).

4️⃣ What do you call a factory that makes okay products? A _ (12).

5️⃣ I used to play piano _ _, but now I use my hands (2, 3).

Guess in the comments 👇

#final_countdown@level_APO

⚡️ Открыта регистрация на закл «Ломоносова» ⚡️

Успейте зарегистрироваться до утра 12 февраля.

👉🏻 А чтобы лучше подготовиться к заключительному этапу, успейте записаться на наш интенсив, который пройдет уже на этих выходных 👈🏻

#the_olympiad_times@level_APO

💜Cultural Competence Task💜

In the "Lomonosov" Olympiad, there is a task where you need to identify the author of a speech or text. Let's practice for it together!

You are going to read an excerpt from a famous speech. Analyse the language and facts presented in it.
Prove that the person this speech is hypothetically attributed to was NOT the person who gave it in reality.
Guess and write who WAS the real author. Make sure you spell the name correctly.
Write 70-80 words using 2-3 facts or language peculiarities from the text showing that it is not possible that this speech was given by the said person.

Was this speech given by Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013)?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

#final_countdown@level_APO

💜 Sample answers for today's task 💜

To get full marks, you could write something like this:

This speech wasn't given by Margaret Thatcher. Firstly, the speaker describes herself ploughing fields, bearing the lash, and having thirteen children sold into slavery, which does not fit Thatcher’s background as a 20th‑century British prime minister. Secondly, the colloquial, repetitive phrasing “And ain’t I a woman?” also contrasts with Thatcher’s formal, parliamentary style. These features indicate the real author was the African American abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.

However, if you don't know the name of the person, you can still get 8 out of 10 points, for instance:

Margaret Thatcher couldn't have given this speech, and there are several reasons for that. First of all, the speaker talks about "carriages", which suggests an older, pre‑car setting. Secondly, she also mentions slavery, which was prominent in the 19th century. References to "the lash" also point to an enslaved or formerly enslaved woman. Thirdly, the word "ain't" is typical for American English, not the British version. All in all, I suppose that this speech was given by a woman who lived in the 19th century, was enslaved (at least for some part of her life) and was an abolitionist.

💜Sign up for our Lomonosov intensive course happening this weekend! If you're still thinking about it, here's a message for you from the teacher, Kseniya Adeeva:

😀 More speaking 😀

🥰 We've noticed that you liked our free task samples for the Regional stage, so here are 4 speaking sets. Find a friend and practice together. Twice!

🇬🇧 What is more, for these sets we've selected a topic that allows you to revise for Country Studies part as well: US and UK museums!

🖇 The full PDF is in the comments 👇🏻

#final_countdown@level_APO

🐘A fun tusk for you🐘

Do you know those kind of annoying words that sound the same but are spelled differently? Yeah, let's test that ⤵️

For items 1–8, think of a word pair to fill the gaps in sentences. The words in each pair are spelled differently but sound similar. There is an example (0) done for you.

Example:
0. A polar bear drifted past on a sheet of ice called a _.
The river will _ faster after the rain.
Answer: floe, flow

1️⃣The _ in my jacket is coming apart.
You _ happy today.

2️⃣The ship anchored in a sheltered _ along the coast.
Don’t let the dog _ the mail carrier!

3️⃣The _ of my shoe is worn out.
She put her heart and _ into the performance.

4️⃣The grocer subtracted the _ before weighing the apples.
Be careful not to _ the paper.

5️⃣Farmers _ sheep in the spring.
It was _ luck that we caught the train.

6️⃣The _ moved silently through the forest.
The website has useful _ to other resources.

7️⃣The criticism didn’t _ him at all.
We are entering the final _ of the project.

8️⃣The country agreed to _ the territory.
She planted a sunflower _ in the garden.

#final_countdown@level_APO

🇬🇧 The British Empire 🇬🇧

Today we have a difficult country studies task for you 😈

For items 1–5, match the name of a former British colony with the current name of the country where it was situated. Two modern countries are extra.

Colonies:
1. Rhodesia
2. Northern Rhodesia
3. Ceylon
4. Swaziland
5. British Honduras

Modern countries:
A. Sri Lanka
B. Belize
C. Zimbabwe
D. Zambia
E. Gambia
F. Eswatini
G. Nigeria

🌍 Share your guesses in the comments! 🌍

#final_countdown@level_APO
#sun_never_sets@level_APO

🍽A Short History of the English Breakfast Tradition🍽

Read the text below and do the task afterwards👇

The English breakfast is an iconic element of British culinary culture, shaped by centuries of change and continuity. Its modern form is often described through a technical framework known as the five pillars of identity. The idea of a distinctive English breakfast likely emerged after the Norman Conquest, when food became a way for locals to assert cultural resistance. Before 1066, breakfast foods were simple, but the clash with Norman traditions encouraged people to preserve what they saw as their own. Over time, this sense of a special morning meal became part of national identity.

From the 14th century onward, the landed gentry embraced the breakfast as a symbol of heritage and hospitality. In their country houses, lavish pre-hunt spreads displayed estate produce, culinary skill, and regional pride. Many ingredients familiar today, such as sausages and bacon, began to anchor the meal during this period.

The Victorians adopted and elaborated on the tradition, turning breakfast into a marker of wealth, though it remained beyond most working people. In the Edwardian era, the meal reached a golden age and began to standardise around core components like bacon, sausages, eggs, blood pudding, and fried bread, spreading through hotels and rail travel. Industrialisation later made these foods affordable to the masses, and the greasy spoon café carried the custom nationwide.

Late in the 20th century, declining industry and globalised supply chains eroded quality and regional variation, often replacing heritage ingredients with cheaper imports. In response, the English Breakfast Society formed to document standards and promote British sourcing. By 2026, a revival is underway, with chefs and enthusiasts restoring provenance, celebrating tradition, and presenting the Full English as a respected cultural export rather than a bargain fry-up.

🧐 Now find words from the text that mean the following:
🔘the state of something remaining consistent or connected over time
🔘a structured system or set of rules that supports or shapes something
🔘to state or show something confidently and forcefully, often to defend a right or identity
🔘people of high social class who own land, traditionally just below the nobility
🔘the origin or source of something, especially as evidence of authenticity or quality

❓ Did you know that looking for words in the Reading part is a classic task in «Высшая Проба»? Our students certainly did, but in case you've missed the intensive course last weekend you can now get access to the recordings!

#final_countdown@level_APO