MINISTERUL EDUCAŢIEI ȘI CERCETĂRII

OLIMPIADA NAŢIONALĂ DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ – ETAPA

JUDEȚEANĂ
19 MARTIE 2022
CLASA a XII-a, SECŢIUNEA B, VARIANTA 2

 All subjects are compulsory.

 All answers must be written on the answer sheet.
 There will be no granted points.
 Allotted time: 180 minutes.

SUBJECT A – USE OF ENGLISH (40 points)

I. Choose the most suitable word for each gap. (10x1p=10p)
1. Much of the neighbourhood was demolished in the 1940s when living ______had deteriorated.
a. situations b. conditions c. circumstances d. states
2. Scientists are yet to understand the full nutritional ________ of the humble olive.
a. favours b. helps c. goods d. benefits
3. You can come and ________ us performing this operation, if you want.
a. discover b. gaze c. observe d. look
4. Bears used to be very ________ in this part of the country, but nobody has seen one for ten
years.
a. sparse b. broad c. thorough d. widespread
5. Ben was ________ to the court for jury duty, but took a doctor's note with him and was
excused.
a. pulled b. assembled c. summoned d. requested
6. The police ________ four states in pursuit of the bank robber.
a. crossed b. journeyed c. chased d. travelled
7. After three years of ________, the country's economy is finally looking a lot healthier.
a. let down b. demise c. overdraft d. recession
8. We altered our final ________ of yearly profits due to more accurate advertising and
marketing costs.
a. forecast b. expectancy c. expectation d. wishes
9. What angered me wasn't his resignation but the ________ in which he did it.
a. method b. manner c. aspect d. bearing
10. If you can't make ________ what's written, change the zoom level and it'll become clearer.
a. for b. off c. up d. out

II. Read the text and think of the word which best fits into the space. Use only one word for
each space (10x1p=10 p)
Exploring the Heavens
Many people look up at 1………. night sky and become fascinated by the wonders of the
universe. 2………. that sounds like you, then maybe it's time you got your own telescope.

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Astronomy is a great hobby and here are a few tips for 3………. of you who are thinking of
taking it up.
If you don't have enough money to buy your 4………. telescope try a pair of binoculars.
You can still see a lot, as 5……… as you don't expect to see so much detail. Explore the moon
and the stars. You may even discover a comet. Remember, 6………., that you must never look at
the sun directly because it can damage your eyesight.
If you do have the money to buy a telescope, you need to choose 7………… a refracting
and a reflecting telescope. A refracting telescope is a great way of quickly finding your way
around the heavens. As well as more stars 8……… you can imagine, there are also the planets to
explore! You should have 9……… difficulty finding Mars and even Saturn with its famous
rings. But, if you really want to explore the universe, then you will need a reflecting telescope.
These telescopes are much 10……… at collecting light and will allow you to see things in detail.

III. Use the words in capitals to form a word that fits in the gap. (10x1p=10p)

1. Many people often make …………. a between London and New York COMPARE
2. This book ………as a series of lectures about shipwrecks, which were given two ORIGIN
decades ago.
3. There are power stations across Europe that use the …. rise and fall of the ocean DAY
tides.
4. If you weren't so ……………... of Ben, he'd be happier to spend time with you. CRITIC
5. Don't you find it ………. how Jeremy always comes to work looking so untidy? INTRIGUE
6. Doctors say a glass of warm milk before bedtime can result in a more…. night’s REST
sleep.
7. Tim-Berners Lee has received many awards as the ….…of the world wide web. INVENT
8. On the final day, we visited the ………. Victoria Falls and then flew home. MAJESTY
9. The book, like the movie, tracks the anxiety and ……. pains of a teenager in GROW
1970s Germany.
10. This wine has a very fruity flavour to it and a ………. after-taste. I really like it. PLEASE

IV. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. You
must use between three and six words, including the words in capitals, without changing it.
(10x1p=10p)

1. None of the phones were left when we got to the shop.

TIME ……………………………………………. the shop, all the phones had been sold.
2. I didn't know it was Carl until he took off his hat.
WHEN Only ……………………………….…………………. his hat did I recognise
Carl.
3. Don't waste your time asking Bryan to come with us.
WORTH It's …………………………………….………………………….to come with us.
4. Perhaps John heard the story from Jane.
HAVE Jane might …………………………….……………………………………. story.
5. Until they fire me as manager here, I'll run the company my way.
LONG ……………………………………….…... the boss, I'll run the company my way.
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6. They'll blame the failure of the festival on the weather.
DOWN The failure of the festival ………………………….…………………. the
weather.
7. I'd prefer you not to stay out so late.
RATHER I'd ………………………………………………….………………stay out so late.
8. I don't think it's important how fast we drive, we're going to be late.
MATTER We're going to be late ………………………………...……………………...drive.
9. Please do those photocopies whenever you have the time.
HAPPEN Please do those photocopies if ……………………………………………the time.
10. The shop was closed for a week while they decorated it.
DONE While it …………………………………….…..., the shop was closed for a week.

SUBJECT B – INTEGRATED SKILLS (60 points)

Read the text below and do the tasks that follow.

Chinese and Canadian scientists working in the Gobi Desert have stumbled across a series of 80-
million- year-old dinosaur colonies – including one with a dozen 150-centimetre long babies, and
another with five tiny embryos. These perfectly preserved, uncrushed skeletons are now experts
study the range of facial and other physical differences displayed by dinosaurs within a single
species. Because all the babies are of the same colony, they are certain to be of the same species
and must therefore have a common gene pool. Detailed examination is revealing marked
differences between individual colony members, with some of them having broader or larger
faces than others.

The new data emerging from this and related research have serious implications for dinosaur
studies in general. In the past, differences in head size and shape have often led paleontologists
to conclude that they had discovered new species. But now that it is known that great physical
variations can occur within a single dinosaur colony, experts fear that many of the 500 listed
dinosaur species on the fossil record may not be separate species after all.

The Gobi Desert colony discovered this year is of a species of vegetarian armoured dinosaur
known as an ankylosaur. Find so far include a large number of eggs, the babies, some adults and
a group of embryos – each only 36 centimeters long. Excavations have provided snapshots of
daily life in an ankylosaur colony, including what appears to have been an attack by a
carnivorous dinosaur on the ankylosaur nest full of eggs. The fossilised predator is preserved
lying on top of the egg-filled nest, and seems to have perished as a result of a sand storm which
buried both the hunter and its pray.

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The Sino-Canadian team excavating several Gobi sites has unearthed eggs belonging to
numerous dinosaur species. Some appear to have produced the strangest of eggs in the strangest
of ways. Ankylosaur eggs, for example were neither round nor oval, but long and thin – around
180 centimetres long and 60 centimetres in diameter. Ankylosaur females seem to have laid them
with great efficiency, two at a time. One extraordinary nest, containing thirty of these eggs, has
yielded some clues about laying techniques. The eggs were arranged in the nest in a multi-layer
spiral, resembling a pyramid. It seems that the female dug the nest with her hind legs, then laid
pairs of eggs as she proceeded around it.

The team has also unearthed the skull and vertebrae of what seems to be the Old World’s largest
dinosaur. From the remains unearthed, the paleontologists have been able to calculate that the
creature was 31 metres from head to tail – ten percent longer than any other Old-World dinosaur
found so far. Related to a dinosaur called mamenchisaurus – but as yet unnamed in its own right
– it lived around 140 million years ago, was vegetarian, weighed up to forty tonnes and would
have probably walked at less than sixteen kilometres per hour.

China’s dinosaur discoveries cover the entire epoch of dinosaur prevalence on Earth – from
around 225 million to 65 million years ago. In the end they were wiped out by a natural disaster,
possibly caused by meteorite impact. Detailed study from fossil material found in China, and
North America, is helping to prove that many of the later dinosaurs had comparatively large
brains, mammal-style binocular vision and more complex behaviour than previously thought.
They were not, it seems, always the dumb giants they are normally portrayed as being.

I. For each question choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. (5x2p=10p)

1. The dinosaur finds mentioned in paragraph one are yielding new information
because
A they contain baby dinosaurs.
B the skeletons are undamaged.
C they are 80 million years old.
D the dinosaurs are exceptionally large.

2. According to paragraph two, what are the implications for dinosaur research?
A for the first time head size and shape can be studied.
B a new species has been identified.
C the estimated number of dinosaur species will be modified.
D the idea of how dinosaurs looked is being changed.

3. Which of the following is true of the ankylosaur?

A it ate eggs as a basic part of its diet.
B it produced eggs of an unusual shape.
C males and females incubated the eggs.
D it defended its eggs against attack.

4. What did the ankylosaur do when producing its young?

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 A it improved on a nest already made by other dinosaur species.
B it used its back legs to produce a hole in the ground.
C it positioned its eggs carefully with the use of its front legs.
D it laid each egg on top of another.
5. The scientists have discovered a large dinosaur which is
A about to be given a new name.
B the biggest ever found outside America.
C complete except for the head and tail.
D related to another Chinese dinosaur.

I. Write a 280-330-word reflective essay on Exploring (50 points)

CLASA a XII-a, SECŢIUNEA B, VARIANTA 1