OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

ETAPA LOCALǍ - 16.02.2019

CLASA a XI-a – Secțiunea B
VARIANTA 1
I. Use of English (40 points)

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the verbs given. (10 points)
I think it is the year 1909. I feel as if it I 1) BE in a moving-picture theatre, the long arm of the light
crossing the darkness and spinning, my eyes fixed on the screen. It is a silent picture as if an old Biograph
one, in which the actors 2) DRESS in ridiculously old-fashioned clothes, and one flash succeeds another,
and the actors, too, seem to jump about, walking too fast. The shots are full of rays and dots, as if it 3)
RAIN when the picture was photographed. The light is bad.
It is Sunday afternoon, June 12th 1909 and my father 4) WALK down the quiet streets of Brooklyn on
his way to visit my mom. He 5) JINGLE the coins in his pocket, thinking of the witty things he 6) SAY.
He pays no attention to the houses he 7) PASS, in which Sunday dinner 8) EAT.
I feel as if I 9) RELAX by now entirely in the soft darkness of the theatre. I am anonymous. I 10)
FORGET myself. It is always so when one goes to a movie, it is, as they say, a drug.
(In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, Delmore Schwartz)

2. Use the word given in capitals to form a word that fits the space. (10 points)
The world-renowned Cambridge University is considering 1...ABOLISH handwritten exams after 800
years. University 2...OFFICIAL may ask students to type their exam answers on a computer rather than
use a pen. The move follows 3...COMPLAIN from examination 4...MARK who say they are finding test
papers increasingly 5...LEGIBLE due to poor handwriting. Academics say today's students
6...PRIMARY use in lectures tutorials instead of pens. Students are losing the 7...ABLE to write by
hand. One academic said asking students to hand-write exams 8...ACTUAL causes them physical
9...DIFFICULT. The muscles in their hand are not used to writing 10...EXTENSIVE for prolonged
periods of two to three hours.

3. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word
given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and six words, including the
word given. (10 points)
1. Is it all right if I turn the television off? MIND
Would ……………………………………… the television off?
2. We're not going to have our car washed because it costs too much. AFFORD
We ……………………………………………… our car washed.
3. Grace knows a lot about Web design, even though she has never studied it. HAVING
……………………………………………, Grace knows a lot about Web design.
4. Damon looked so funny in his brother's tracksuit that we laughed. HELP
We …………………………… Damon because he looked so funny in his brother's tracksuit.
5. An electric fence kept visitors away from the animals. PREVENTED
An electric fence …………………………………………… close to the animals.

4. Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. (10
points)
1. Modern art exhibitions sometimes ____ people feeling that they have been cheated.
a. let b. allow c. make d. leave

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 2. Some modern authors rely excessively __ writing style and tend to forget the importance of the
plot.
a. by b. on c. over d. with
3. Many records of this type are now being ____.
a. made out b. published c. released d. done out
4. ____ than going to the gym, many people now prefer to exercise at home.
a. Rather b. Instead c. Other d. More
5. We need to look at the problem from a new ____.
a. vista b. view c. side d. perspective
6. The story functions on a number of different ____.
a. stages b. levels c. aspects d. areas
7. Life often doesn't ____ up to our expectations.
a. live b. look c. get d. go
8. His jacket was torn and had two buttons ____.
a. lacking b. missing c. absent d. lost
9. He interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous actor ____ politician.
a. converted b. become c. turned d. changed
10. The book is ____ on a true story.
a. set b. situated c. concentrated d. based

II. Integrated skills (60 points)

Read the text and choose the best answer:
Physicist Steven Desch has come up with a novel solution to the problems that now beset the Arctic. He
and a team of colleagues from Arizona State University want to replenish the region's shrinking sea ice by
building 10 million wind-powered pumps over the Arctic ice cap. In winter, these would be used to pump
water to the surface of the ice where it would freeze, thickening the cap.
The pumps could add an extra metre of sea ice to the Arctic's current layer, Desch argues. The current cap
rarely exceeds 2-3 metres in thickness and is being eroded constantly as the planet succumbs to climate
change. Thicker ice would mean longer-lasting ice. In turn, that would mean the danger of all sea ice
disappearing from the Arctic in summer would be reduced significantly.
Hence Desch's scheme to use wind pumps to bring water which is insulated from the bitter Arctic cold by
its icy surface, where it will freeze and thicken the ice cap. Nor is the physicist alone in his Arctic
scheming. Other projects to halt sea-ice loss include one to artificially whiten the Arctic by scattering
light-coloured aerosol particles over it to reflect solar radiation back into space, and another to spray sea
water into the atmosphere above the region to create clouds that would also reflect sunlight away from the
surface.
Last November, when sea ice should have begun thickening and spreading over the Arctic as winter set
in, the region warmed up. Temperatures should have plummeted to -25C but reached several degrees
above freezing instead. It's been about 20C warmer than normal over most of the Arctic Ocean, which is
unprecedented.
In fact, sea ice growth stalled during the second week of January - in the heart of the Arctic winter - while
the ice cap actually retreated within the Kara and Barents seas, and within the Sea of Okhotsk. Similarly,
the Svalbard archipelago, normally shrouded in ice, has remained relatively free because of the inflow of
warm Atlantic water along the western part of the island chain. Although there has been some recovery,
sea ice remains well below all previous record lows.
The Tribune

Str. General Berthelot, nr. 28-30 Str. Ecaterina Teodoroiu, nr. 8B, Slatina, 230015, jud. Olt
sector 1, 010168, București E/mail ISJ: secretariat@isjolt.ot.edu.ro
Tel: +40 (21) 405 62 00 Tel: +40 (249) 41 09 27
+40 (21) 405 63 00 Fax: +40 (249) 41 28 01
www.edu.ro www.isjolt.ro
1. Why is Desch's proposal described as 'novel'?
a. Because it is very expensive.
b. Because it is theoretical.
c. Because it has never been done before.
d. Because it would be very difficult.

2. What outcome is suggested in the second paragraph?

a. The thinning of the sea ice could be halted.
b. The risk of the sea ice disappearing would be dramatically reduced.
c. 2-3 metres of additional sea ice could be deposited.
d. The constant erosion of the sea ice could be stopped.

3. In which sense is the water insulated?

a. The ice cap protects the water underneath from freezing.
b. The effect of the sun prevents the water from getting too cold.
c. Artic water is colder.
d. Pollution in the water makes it difficult for it to freeze.

4. What problem are the projects described at the end of the third paragraph hoping to solve?
a. Cleaning the ice that has been discoloured.
b. Increasing the amount of snow that falls on the ice.
c. Making the thickness of the ice uniform.
d. Preventing the sun from melting the ice.

5. What situation is being discussed in the fourth paragraph?

a. Conditions that have never happened before.
b. Conditions that happen very rarely.
c. Normal winter conditions.
d. Conditions that were predictable.

B. Starting from the text above write a for-and-against essay on Donald Trump’s opinion:
“Funding climate change research is a waste of money”. (250-280 words)

NOTĂ: Timp de lucru: 3 ore.

Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii.

Str. General Berthelot, nr. 28-30 Str. Ecaterina Teodoroiu, nr. 8B, Slatina, 230015, jud. Olt
sector 1, 010168, București E/mail ISJ: secretariat@isjolt.ot.edu.ro
Tel: +40 (21) 405 62 00 Tel: +40 (249) 41 09 27
+40 (21) 405 63 00 Fax: +40 (249) 41 28 01
www.edu.ro www.isjolt.ro