Variant 1 You could have come first and won the race if you … faster

19. Nora asked Bill: “Where did you hide my purse?”

Nora asked Bill where … her purse.

A) did he hide B) he hid C) he hide D) he had hidden

20. The weather had turned … stormy.

A) unexpected B) unexpect C) unexpecting D) unexpectedly

Palmistry is the practice of reading hands, of gaining knowledge about personality, past individual history, and likely future events by examining shape and size of the fingers and, most important, the lines and bumps on the palms themselves. There is some evidence that palmistry may have begun in the Stone Age. Hand outlines can be seen in black and red pigments on the walls of the ancient caves of Almira in Spain and in other European caves. Palmistry as it exists today probably had its origins in ancient India long before recorded history and found its way into western Europe through nomadic bands of Gypsies, who made contact with Europe in the 15th century.

21. Of the following, the one not mentioned in the passage as part of palmistry is …

A) changing the events of the future. B) exploring people`s pasts.

C) foretelling the future. D) learning about character.

22. It is stated in the passage that the most essential thing for a palm reader to do is …

A) to inspect the fingers carefully. B) to practice by “reading” many palms.

C) to learn about different personality types. D) to look closely at the surface of the palm.

23. The passage explains that it is most likely that palmistry as we know it began …

A) in caves of western Europe B) in caves of Spain C) in various parts of Europe D) in India in ancient times