Упражнения для подготовки к ЕГЭ по английскому языку. № 17. Текст о зависимости от покупок в интернете.

Прочитайте текст о зависимости от покупок в интернете и выполните задания A15-A21, вставив цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую номеру выбранного вами варианта ответа.

The eBay Addicts

Katie is sitting at her computer, eyes glued to the screen. It's 2 am and the eBay auction is about to end. Within minutes the 25-year-old events manager from London will know if she has won another pair of Gucci shoes to add to her collection.
The scene may sound familiar. Indeed, eBay - the Internet auction site - has become a modern phenomenon, with 10 million British users, 135 million worldwide and up to 600,000 joining every month.

The other side-effects of her self-confessed addiction are far more alarming. Katie has spent so much of her substantial J50,000-a-year salary on eBay since discovering it in November that she is already J10,000 in debt.
It is not just her finances which are feeling the strain. Her health is also deteriorating under the stress of owing so much, and she has been to see her GP. What horrifies Katie even more is the fact that she can see her personality changing as a result of her addiction: she admits she is now prepared to lie to cover the extent of her problem.

Natalie, 27, from London, who works for a casting agency, also finds taking part in the eBay auctions and hunting for bargains addictive.
'I admit that I am an addict and I probably do need professional help,' she says. 'Every day I wake up and say that today I am not going on eBay. But I can't stop myself. It started as my stress-buster from work and now it's the cause of my stress. The thrill of the auction is like a gambling rush.'

These young women are not isolated cases. David Nott, Addictions Programme Manager, is seeing an increasing number of patients with eBay addiction, which he says is a very real condition.
While shopaholism has been recognized as a problem for years, he believes eBay addiction is different because of the combination of shopping and gambling which makes it so compelling and potentially more addictive.

'While a lot of people claim that the possibility of picking up a bargain is what attracts them to eBay, the single biggest thing that tends to keep them coming back is not what they buy, but how they buy it,' he says. 'The whole thing is geared around anticipation, winning and losing - it's a very emotive process.'

He says eBay addiction should be treated as seriously as any other.
'It is potentially life-destroying. While it doesn't have the immediate health implications, it can lead to disrupted sleep, the same types of adrenaline highs and lows and obviously the overspending and consequent financial problems that this entails.'

A15 Why does the author in the second paragraph say that "the scene may sound familiar"? Because people taking part in the eBay auctions are:
1) a rare case
2) ordinary buyers
3) spread all over the world
4) decreasing in number

A16 People visiting eBay auctions are:
1) gamblers
2) addicts
3) shopaholics
4) lonely people

A17 According to the author what attracts people in eBay auctions?
1) the rush of excitement
2) anticipation, winning and losing
3) the heed to by things
4) the possibility to pick up a bargain

A18 EBay addiction is different from shopaholism because:
1) there is no human interaction
2) it is a combination of shopping and gambling
3) it is more addictive
4) you buy things online

A19 David Nott says that the side effects of eBay addiction are:
1) destroyed relationship and stress
2) financial problems
3) deteriorating health and change of personality
4) adrenaline rush, disrupted sleep and financial problems

A20 EBay addiction according to David Nott should be treated seriously because:
1) you get hooked
2) it has immediate health implications
3) bidding is exciting
4) it may destroy your life

A21 Natalie thinks that her addiction:
1) is self-destructing
2) influences her relationship with parents
3) is the cause of her stress
4) is just a hobby