Olimpiada de limba engleza, faza pe scoala

Clasa a XI-a, 11 decembrie 2108

I. Use of English 75 points

1. Fill in the blanks with ONE word that fits each gap. (10x1.5p=15 points)
Charles Schulz
The cartoonist Charles Schulz created the daily lives of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and the
other inhabitants of the Peanuts strip. Schulz, (1) .......................... to his friends as 'Sparky',
drew the daily strip for almost 50 years. (2) ..................... distinctly American culture (3)
.......................... nothing to hamper its universal success. It was said to have 355 million
readers in 75 countries, and it (4) .................. Schulz very rich, (5) .................... an income
eventually of perhaps 20 million a year. There are Peanuts enthusiasts (6) .................. over the
world, and no American politician (7) .................... dream of saying he did not much like the
strip.
Schulz insisted he had (8) .................. systemised psychological or philosophical insights, but
he displayed unflaggingly sharp observation and a fairly gentle, if sometimes downbeat,
humour. He was given (9) ................... anxiety and low spirits, and (10) ............... was an
underlying sadness in his stories, a bitter-sweet quality that clearly fascinated many of his
fans. In the 1950s, the strip had a vogue following among intellectuals, but Schulz was happy
to point out that he himself had flunked algebra, Latin, English and physics at school. When
someone called him an existentialist, he had to ask what the word meant.

2. For each of the sentences below, write a new sentence as similar as possible in
meaning to the original sentence. You must use between three and eight words,
including the word given. The word must not be altered in any way. (10 points)

1. What the lecturer said was not very clear at times. LACK
There ....................in what the lecturer said at times.
2. Although she didn’t agree with the management’s decision, Chloe was forced to accept it.
CHOICE
Much as she disagreed with it, Chloe.................... the management’s decision.
3. I ought to have had the roof repaired in the summer rather than leaving it until the autumn.
BETTER
It ....................had the roof repaired in the summer rather than leaving it until the autumn.
4. Visitors can only enter the exhibition if they have booked online. RESTRICTED
Entrance ....................have booked online.
5. The role played by the PR company in securing the government contract was never
acknowledged officially. OFFICIAL
At no time ....................the role the PR company played securing the government contract.

3. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each sentence (10 x 2p = 20 p)
THE WEALTHIEST OF THE WEALTHY
Every year, Forbes magazine puts out its famous list of (1 – BILLION) …………………… . The
list provides people with an inside look at how much money the world‟s most (2 - PROSPER)
…………………… people possess. Names such as computer software giant Bill Gates and
Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, an investor and stock (3 - TRADE) ……………………, seem
to appear at the top of the list year after year.
The list is important because it is a(n) (4 - LEAD) ……………………indicator of global wealth.
For example, in 2008, when the world was suffering from a devastating (5 - ECONOMY)
…………………… crisis, these wealthiest people did in fact „suffer‟. In 2009‟s list, there was a net
(6 - LOSE) …………………… in the number of people on the list, the first time the list had seen
such a (7 - GRADE) …………………… in five years. Since then, the very affluent have seen the
value of their assets rise again as (8 - FINANCE) …………………… markets have generally
improved. So what does the wealthiest person‟s bank (9 - STATE) …………………… look like?
This man, the aforementioned Carlos Slim, has assets worth US $73 billion. We don‟t know what
he actually has in (10 - SAVE) …………………… , but you can be assured it‟s probably a lot!
5. Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D (1 x 10 p = 10 p)
1. Se uita la mine ca și cum ar fi vrut să-și amintească fiecare amănunt.
a. He looked at me as if he wanted to remember every detail.
b. He was looking at me as if he would have wanted to remember every detail.
c. He has been looking at me as if he had wanted to remember every detail.
d. He was looking at me as if he wanted to remember every detail.

2. Nici n-am intrat bine in club, că mi-am dat seama că mi-am uitat legitimatia acasă.
a. No sooner had I entered the club, than I realized that I had forgotten my I.D. card at home.
b. No sooner I had entered the club, when I realized that I forgot my I.D. card at home.
c. I hardly entered the club when I had realized that I had forgotten my I.D. card at home.
d. Hardly I have entered the club when I realized that I have forgotten my I.D. card at home.

3. Which of the sentences best rephrases the original sentence?

People believe that this novel was written when its author was very young.
a. The novel is believed to being written when its author was very young.
b. The author was believed to have written the novel when he was very young.
c. The novel is believed to have been written when the author was very young.
d. It‟s believed the author to have written this novel when he was very young.

4. She doesn‟t know me … her.

a. neither do I
b. so do I
c. nor do I
d. no does I

5. “How long have the children been painting icons?” I inquired.

a. I inquired how long have the children been painting icons.
b. I inquired how long had the children been painting icons.
c. I inquired how long the children had been painting icons.
d. I inquired how long were the children painting icons.

6. Kennedy's handsome profile was a favorite to photographers.

In the sentence above the word written in bold means:
a. bravery
b. courage
c. personality
d. side view of the head

7. Choose the correct explanation of the expression written in bold: “You certainly couldn't call him
modest because he's always blowing his own trumpet.”
a. saying how fit he is
b. saying how healthy he is
c. saying how clever he is
d. saying how tall he is
8. Choose the correct explanation of the expression written in bold: “I knew when Sandra told the
lie that she would be eating her words later.”
a. talking in the cafeteria
b. admitting to her untrue claims
c. very hungry
d. having dinner

9. The situation has become difficult to … .

a. come up against
b. cope with
c. support
d. get along

10. Choose the suitable ending for the following sentence: “Tom's been feeling under the weather
for a couple of days, so he's … .”
a. going to see a doctor.
b. going to see a lawyer.
c. going to see a priest
d. going to see a mechanic.

6. Translate the following text into Romanian (10p)

Now I stared at this sudden apparition with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in
astonishment. Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region.
And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting
from fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear. Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the
middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation. When at last I was able to speak,
I said to him:
"But- what are you doing here?"
And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great
consequence:
"If you please- draw me a sheep . . ."
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey. Absurd as it might seem to me,
a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death, I took out of my pocket a sheet
of paper and my fountain-pen. But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on
geography, history, arithmetic and grammar, and I told the little chap (a little crossly, too) that I did
not know how to draw. He answered me:
"That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep . . ."
But I had never drawn a sheep. So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so
often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside.

II. Writing 25 points

Write a 180-200 word opinion essay on TATTOOS.