Упражнения уровня TOEFL по английскому языку. № 6.

Wealth means different things to different people. For some people still living in tribes, money has little meaning. It is tribe that they value. The community at Gudalur, South India, is extremely poor. The members used to live in the forest but could not prove ownership of any land. In their culture, there was no conception that land could be owned. Land, water and air are regarded as available for all to use.

The government sold the forests in which the tribal community lived to a multinational tea corporation. It was assumed that the forests were empty and the company acquired large tracts of them as tea plantations. Members of the tribe continued to live on the edges, but how could they secure their rights? They decided that the only way to strengthen the community was to obtain a tea plantation. They prepared a business plan and obtained a loan to buy one. The plantation is now their own. In two years the yield doubled, and it now supports a school and a hospital.

From being virtual outcasts, the tribe is now respected. Their tea fetches high prices because of its quality, but rather than dividing the profits among the group working on the plantation, the pickers themselves said that any extra earnings should go to the tribal community. They said that if they became wealthy while others remained poor, their community would fall apart. The tribe didn't see themselves as poor. They saw themselves as people without money.

(1) 'conception' is closest in meaning to:
a) birthright /
b) notion /
c) law /

(2) 'one' refers to:
a) a bank loan /
b) a business plan /
c) a tea plantation /

(3) 'outcasts' is closest in meaning to:
a) social rejects /
b) homeless people /
c) beggars /

(4) The thing the tribe care about most is:
a) Their tea plantation /
b) Their wealth /
c) Their community /

(5) Which of the following adjectives best describes the tribe?
a) Worthless /
b) Avaricious /
c) Altruistic /
d) Gullible /