Alexander Bondarev, the Chief manager of a Russian trade firm, traveled to the USA on business last week. He had arrived at the airport an hour before the plane was due to take off. He had his ticket registered, filled in a declaration form and joined the passengers in the waiting room. When they heard the announcement, «Attention, please. Will passengers for New York join flight 225, at gate 14? » the passengers had their luggage X-rayed and boarded the plane. The stewardess gave each passenger an arrival card to fill in. There he wrote in block letters his full name, home address and the purpose of his visit. After the sign «Stop smoking. Fasten your seatbelts. » had appeared, the plane took off. Although it was flying at a high speed, the flight lasted 12 hours, which was rather tiresome. When he was going through the Customs, he met his former co-worker, Yuri Ivlev. They hadn’t seen each other for ages and had a lot of news to discus, but, unfortunately. Alexander was very pressed for time, so they decided to meet later the next evening. At the hotel he filled in a check-in card and got the key fr om his single room on the 11th floor, he took a shower, got into bed and slept like a log. Next morning after breakfast he called for a taxi, because he had an appointment with the director of the American trade company, who was expecting him at 10:30 a.m. They discussed a lot of business problems, shared some new ideas and signed a contract. Alexander was quite satisfied with these business talks. When he was going to the hotel he remembered that he had agreed to meet Yuri in the evening. They met in a hotel restaurant and told each other much interesting about their work experience in the USA. It appeared that Yuri had signed a long –term contract and was going to stay there for a year and asked Alexander to take a parcel for his family. Alexander spent a week in New York, wh ere he his business partners and made profitable transactions. He returned to Russia in high spirits, because the trip had been very successful. Задание к тексту. Ответьте на вопросы. 1. What was the purpose of Alexander Bondarev’s visit to the USA? 2. Why had he arrived an hour before the plane was due to take off? 3. How long did the flight last? 4. Whom did he meet at the Customs? 5. Why did they have to put off the conversation till next evening? 6. Whom did Alexander have an appointment with? 7. Why was Alexander satisfied with the business talks? 8. What did Alexander learn about Yuri? 9. Why did Alexander come black to Russia in high spirits?