OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ– LICEU
ETAPA PE ȘCOALĂ – 18 IANUARIE 2024
CLASA a XII-a, SECȚIUNEA A
Varianta 3
SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH (40 points)
I. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word
given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and six words, including the word
given: (5 x 1p = 5p)
1. I can’t work because Joey won’t leave me alone! KEEPS
Joey I can’t work!
2. ’You really must stay and have dinner with us!’ said Laura. STAYING
Laura for dinner.
3. I don’t want to be disturbed at all this morning! ACCOUNT
On disturbed this morning!
4. If Maurice hadn’t told Beth about that letter, we wouldn’t have argued. FOR
Had telling Beth about the letter, we wouldn’t have argued.
5. We’re going to miss the start of the film if we don’t hurry. TIME
Unless we hurry, the film we get there.
II. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each sentence: (10 x 1p = 10p)
Elite (1) ……... (COMPETE) like the Jamaican Usain Bolt have regularly been clocked
running at nearly 45 kilometres per hour. Such speed would have seemed (2)...............(BELIEVE) not
so long ago. Scientists now suggest that humans can move (3) …….... (CONSIDER) faster than even
that, perhaps as fast as 65 kilometres per hour.
For years, it was assumed that simple muscle power determined human speed, but recent research
suggests otherwise. The most important (4)..................(LIMIT) factor appears to be how quickly the
muscles can contract and thus (5)................(MINIMUM) the time a runner’s foot is in contact with the
ground.
Is our athletic ability inherited? Researcher Alun Williams has (6)................(IDENTITY) twenty-three
inherited factors that influence sporting performance, such as the (7)................(EFFICIENCY) use of
oxygen, and strength. As world population rises, predicts Williams, the (8) ……….(POSSIBLE) of
there being someone with the right genes for these twenty-three (9).................(CHARACTER) will
increase noticeably and thus faster runners are (10)..............(LIKE) to emerge in future.
Probă scrisă la limba engleză clasa a XII-a secțiunea A
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III. Read the text below and write the word which best fits in each space. Use only one word in each
space. (10 x 1p = 10p)
What do Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway have in common? The answer is that, along (1)............many
other famous novelists, their writing careers began on a local newspaper. Today, (2) ...........its somewhat
tarnished reputation, journalism still remains one of the few career paths open to the budding writer (3).......his
or her best to earn a living. (4)..........is more, many aspiring novelists are to be found biding their time on the
staff of regional newspapers.
It is (5) ............exaggerating, however, to say that good writers are of (6).......or no value to a newspaper
(7)...........they do not know how to set about finding stories. Junior reporters have to devote hours to cultivation
of contacts who will (8) .......... them supplied with the type of stories their readers have become (9)....to seeing
in print.
Newspapers also require a particular style. The graduate entrant to journalism, all of (10)
........experience and training is based on essay writing, may find the discipline required in writing a news
report rather a daunting prospect. The philosophy of the newspaper is quite simple, by the fact that there are
thousands of words competing in a limited number of columns.
IV. Read the following text and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each gap. (10 x 0,5p = 5p)
The joy of photography
Photography is a hobby with wide (1)… . And I don’t mean taking photos on your mobile phone, though it
cannot be (2)……. that such pictures can be surprisingly good these days. Serious photography means taking
the (3)…….. to do some research, exploring the technical (4) of the subject and investing in what might
be quite expensive equipment. So why take up photography? Firstly, it allows you to (5) special moments
that you want to remember forever. In addition, it (6)…… your imagination because you are always in search
of ideas for original and out of the ordinary photos.
However, a lot of practice is required before you (7) to take really good pictures on a regular basis. When
you finally do it, it will be a (8)..........of great satisfaction for you. Photography can also transform the way you
look at the world. You start to see details that in the past you used to miss (9)............All in all, it’s a highly
……(10) hobby.
1. A taste B appeal C interest D attraction
2. A rejected B contradicted C denied D refused
3. A trouble B care C effort D concern
4. A characteristics B forms C qualities D aspects
5. A seize B capture C grab D catch
6. A motivates B renews C stimulates D reacts
7. A manage B succeed C achieve D reach
8. A reason B cause C source D means
9. A utterly B completely C fully D absolutely
10.A absorbing B very C absolutely D utterly
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V. Translate the following text into Romanian. (10p)
“Someone gurgled and moaned […] ‘Was that Grace Poole? And is she possessed by the devil?’ thought I. I
must go to Mrs. Fairfax. Hurried on my frock and shawl; I withdrew the bolt and opened the door with a
trembling hand. There was a candle burning just outside in the gallery. I was surprised at the circumstance: but
still more was I amazed to perceive the air quite dim, as if filled with smoke; and, while looking to the right
hand and the left, to find where the smoke issued, I became further aware of a strong smell of burning.
(Charlotte Brőnte, Jane Eyre)
SUBIECTUL B –INTEGRATED SKILLS (60 points)
Read the text below and do the tasks that follow:
If your view of the world comes from watching the news and reading newspapers, you could be forgiven
for lying awake at night worrying about the future. Apparently, rising violence and population rates mean
humans are both killing each other in ever larger numbers and being born at rates the world's resources can't
sustain. To make matters worse, all the wealth is concentrated on a handful of people in the world's richest
countries. People in low-income countries live in poverty while the West gets richer. Depressing, isn't it? But do
the statistics support our negative world view or is the world actually improving?
Let's take global population first. It's around 7 billion now, in line with figures predicted by the UN in
1958. By the year 2100, the same experts predict it will be around 11 billion. But did you know that 11 billion is
probably as high as that number will get? The rate of increase will slow down in the second half of this century
thanks to falling birth rates today. Falling birth rates? Yes, that's right. In the last two centuries, improvements
in technology and health meant fewer children died young, fuelling rapid population growth. These large
families produced even more children who survived into adulthood and had their own children. But with the
wider availability of contraception in the 1960s, the global average number of babies per woman has
declined from six babies per woman to as low as two.
The biggest factor in child mortality is poverty. And while it's still true that only 20 per cent of the world
takes about 74 per cent of the world's income, 60 per cent of the world now falls into a middle-income group,
with 11.6 per cent – the smallest amount of people in history – still living in conditions of extreme poverty. If
the majority of the world's people have money, international aid could realistically achieve the UN target of
eradicating poverty by 2030. As poverty goes down, life expectancy goes up, birth rates go down because
parents can expect their existing children to survive, and the global population stabilises.
As for news stories that make us think the world is an increasingly violent place, there is cause for some
optimism too. Between the end of World War II and 1990, there were 30 wars that killed more than 100,000
people. Today there are still civil wars, but countries are mostly co-existing more peacefully than in the past.
However, terrorism has shot up in the last few years and, since World War II, wars have killed many more
civilians than soldiers. Even for civilians, though, the statistics are not all bad. Although deaths are nine times
more likely to be a result of violent crime than political conflict, the global murder rate fell slightly, from 8 per
100,000 people in 2000 to about 5.3 in 2015.
Of course, none of this means the world is perfect, and whether you personally are affected by war and
poverty is often down to the lottery of where you're born. Also, we still face huge problems of our own making,
particularly environmental ones like global warming, and wealth and natural resources need to be distributed
more fairly. But not all the news is bad news, whatever the TV and newspapers might say.
Probă scrisă la limba engleză clasa a XII-a secțiunea A
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I. For each question choose the correct answer A, B, C or D. (5 x 2p = 10p)
1. What does the word ‘apparently’ in the first paragraph tell us about the rise in violence we see
in the news?
A. The rise is obviously true.
B. The rise seems to be true but evidence might show it isn’t.
C. The rise seems false but evidence might show it’s true.
D. There is no actual rise in violence in the world.
2. Which statement about population levels is correct?
A. About two hundred years ago, the child mortality rate dropped significantly.
B. The rate is growing steadily now.
C. The rate will start to drop in the year 2100.
D. The rate will start to drop by the year 2100.
3. Which factor does NOT cause the birth rate to fall?
A. Improvements in healthcare.
B. The availability of contraception.
C. Poverty.
D. Divorce.
4. One of the UN’s targets for 2030 is to …
A. end poverty.
B. increase life expectancy.
C. make population levels stable.
D. stop violence in the world.
5. There is reason to be optimistic because…
A. you might win the lottery.
B. there is no progress related to global murder rate.
C. we are making progress with environmental problems.
D. there are some positive despite what the newspapers report.
II. Write an opinion essay on the following topic: Are nations ever justified in going to war?
(250-280 words) (50 points)
TOTAL: 100 PUNCTE
TOATE SUBIECTELE SUNT OBLIGATORII. TIMP DE LUCRU: 3 ORE.
NU SE ACORDĂ PUNCTE DIN OFICIU.
Probă scrisă la limba engleză clasa a XII-a secțiunea A
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