SECTION I.

THE ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE (30 points)

I. Read the text and accomplish the tasks below.

Sarah Hale
Sarah Hale, who was born in Newport, New Hampshire, in 1788, longed(wished,wanted)
for education. Because schools for girls were rare in those days, her mother and college-educated
brother agreed to teach the eager(enthusiastic) young girl. When Sarah was 18, she started a
school for girls where reading and writing were taught along with the usual sewing and social
graces.
After marrying David Hale, Sarah continued her education by studying with her husband
for 2 hours each evening. After nine years of marriage, David Hale died, leaving his wife with
five children to support.
Sarah put her education to work and eventually became the first woman editor in the
United States, editing “The Ladies’ Magazine” for many years. She did a lot of things to help
women raise their social standards. Thus, for instance, an editorial she wrote inspired the
invention of the washing machine. She also encouraged Elizabeth Blackwell to become the first
woman doctor in the USA. In her spare time, Sarah wrote the well-known poem, “Mary Had a
Little Lamb”.
Perhaps Sarah Hale’s greatest achievement, however, was to persuade President Lincoln
to establish national Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November. She was seventy-five
years old at the time, and she had tried to convince the three Presidents who preceded Lincoln,
without success, however. Even though the Civil War was raging and the country was in turmoil,
President Lincoln took time to declare Thanksgiving a national day in order to thank and praise
God for His many blessings. At last Sarah Hale had achieved her goal.
Nr Items Results

1. Answer the question. A A

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What invention was inspired by the editorial Sarah Hale wrote?
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2. Find in the text the synonyms for the expressions given below. A A
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a) for example - for instance __________________________________
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b) to wish for - _to long for____________________________________ 6 6

3. Find in the text the antonyms for the words given below. A A
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a) to discourage - __to encourage__________________________________
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 b) failure - ______success_______________________________ 6 6

4. Identify and circle the correct variant (True/False). Justify your choice. A A
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a) Sarah’s mother and college-educated brother agreed to teach the eager young girl
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because schools for girls were rare in those days. True 2 2
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False
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__ Because schools for girls were rare in those days, her mother and college-educated 5 5
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brother agreed to teach the eager(enthusiastic) young girl.
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b) Sarah Hale was left with four children to support after David Hale had died.
True False
______with five children
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5. Identify the message of the text and comment on it in 5 lines. A A

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__The author says that we shouldn’t give up
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regardless of the circumstances and we have to follow our dreams and work hard if we
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really want to achive success in our favoutie domain. Eveyone needs to be persuasive
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when he tries to fulfill his goal.
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_____________________________________________________________________ 8 8
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TOTAL 30 30
SECTION II. THE ASSESSMENT OF LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE (20
points) Open the brackets and fill in the gaps to give a full meaning to the text.
Why do Americans love automobiles more than most other things? Is it because they A A
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need them? In many places in the USA, people can travel only by car. Maybe 1.
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(it’s / its) ______________________ because of the cars’ wonderful names 2 2
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‘Cadillac’, Pontiac’, ‘Buick, ‘Chevrolet’. Americans are buying more small cars now,
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however, their cars are often much bigger than the foreign ones. There are 160 5 5
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million automobiles 2. (on / in / at) _____________ American road. Some people
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feel that there are 3. (to / too) ____too_________ many. They are tired 4. 8 8
__of_______ waiting in traffic jams, besides this they can 5. (hard / hardly) 9 9
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_________________________ find a place 6. (to park / parking) ______to
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park_________________. Detroit is the center of the American automobile industry. 12 12
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Managers explain why most Americans want to purchase new cars so often, they say
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it’s because they want the newest and 7. (good) ______the best_________________. 15 15
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Thus, for example, an automobile can tell you a lot 8. _____about___________ the
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owner. For instance the fast little sportscar belongs 9. __to_______ a young 18 18
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businesswoman. Perhaps she works in 10. ___the_____ downtown, thus, she needs
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11. (to drive / driving) __________________________ quickly and park 12.
(easy /easily) ____________________________. The big, old-fashioned pick-up
truck with the broken door belongs to a farmer who lives miles 13.
______away___________ from 14. (----- /the / a) ____the________ town. It’s
obvious that he needs to carry machines, animals and all kinds 15. ____of________
things in the back of his pick-up. And the long pink car 16. ___with________ the
pool on the back belongs to a very rich person with funny ideas. The most important
person travels not with one but 17. __with__________ many cars. Thus, the US
President goes in a ‘motorcade’. There are motorcycles 18. (in / at/ on)
_______in________ the front with blue lights and load sirens. The President’s
bodyguards come 19. (after / in front /before) ________after_____________ them.
The President’s automobile has glass doors and windows strong enough 20.
(stopping/ to stop /to have stopped) _______to stop________________ bullets.
SECTION III. THE ASSESSMENT OF PRAGMATIC AND CULTURAL A A
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COMPETENCES (20 points)
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Write a coherent 10-line text for the situation below. 2 2
3 3
Does travel help to promote understanding and communication between countries?
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Why yes/no? Use reasons and specific examples to support your choice. 5 5
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SECTION IV. THE ASSESSMENT OF PRAGMATIC AND CIVIC A A

COMPETENCES (30 points) 0 0
Write a coherent 20-line text expressing your attitude on the given topic. 1 1
Should a city try to preserve its historic buildings or destroy them and replace them 2 2
with modern buildings? Do you agree or disagree? Bring 2 reasonable arguments or 3 3
examples. 4 4
Use the following plan: 5 5
 Make an introduction; 6 6
 Bring TWO arguments/examples; 7 7
 Draw a conclusion. 8 8
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