Ahmed Medeghri Secondary School Level: 2AS

Full Name:………………………………………… Class:………………

Second Term Test of English
Part one: Reading and interpreting
A/ Comprehension: Read the text carefully then do the activities that follow:

Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires

seen in decades, with large areas of the
country devastated since the fire season began in late
July. Authorities are struggling to contain the massive
blazes, even with firefighting assistance from other
countries. Besides the contribution of various factors to
the aggravation of wildfires, they have been worsened by
summer season’s heat and drought resulting into terrible
consequences.
Many point to climate change as a first factor
causing natural disasters to go from bad to worse. Natural
causes are to blame most of the time too, like lightning
strikes in drought-affected forests. Furthermore recent
findings confirmed a number of native Australian birds
were making the bushfire crisis spread faster by picking
up flaming sticks and dropping them into dry fields to
scare out smaller animals. Humans can also be blamed. The police have charged at least 24 people with
deliberately starting bushfires, and have taken legal action against 183 people for fire-related offenses.
Entire towns have been engulfed in flames, and residents across several states have lost their
homes. At least 28 people died nationwide. The heaviest damage occurred in New South Wales, the
country's most populated state. About half a billion animals have been affected by the fires across NSW.
Moreover scientists fear an immediate loss of biodiversity in Australia, because many species are
endemic to the continent i.e. they cannot be naturally found outside of it. Unfortunately, the fires are
unlikely to end entirely since they are an annually occurring event and may even get worse.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/01/australia/australia.html
1. The text is: a. a newspaper article b. an extract from magazine c. a website article
Choose the best answer: …………………..

2. Are the following statements true or false? Write ‘true’ or ‘false next to the sentences:
a. Australia used only its national firefighters to contain the blazes. ……………….
b. Natural causes contributed the least to the worsening of bushfires. ………………..
c. Some people started fires purposely. …………………
d. New South Wales had the harshest bushfire damage. ............................
3. Answer the following questions according to the text:
a. When did the fire season begin?
................................................................................................................................................................
b. How did native Australian birds spread the fires?
.................................................................................................................................................................
c. What is meant by ‘species endemic to the continent’?
....................................................................................................................................................................
d. Are the fires going to end? Why?
....................................................................................................................................................................
4. WHAT or WHO do the underlined words in the text refer to?
a. They (§1)...................................b. them (§2)....................................... it (§3).....................................
5. How many passive sentences are there in the last paragraph? ..........................................
B/ Text Exploration
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1. Find in the text words whose definitions are the following:
a. To damage something very badly. §1...........................................................
b. Done in a way that is intended or planned. §2...........................................................
c. An illegal action or a crime. §2...........................................................

2. Complete the chart as shown in the example:

Verb Noun Adjective

Example To degrade degradation degradable

To blaze ............................ ......................................

............................. aggravation .....................................

............................... ................................ offensive

3. Rewrite sentence ‘b’ so that it means the same as ‘a’:
1. a. Australia is being ravaged by the worst wildfires.
b. The worst wildfires……………………………………………………………………………
2. a. Native Australian birds have spread the bushfires faster.
b. The bushfires………………………………………………………………………………….
3. a. I advise you to avoid all means that can cause fires.
b. If I...........................................................................................................................................
4. a. If they don’t quench the blazes, there will be more victims.
b. Unless......................................................................................................................................

4. Mark intonation on the words in bold with an arrow  or :

a. Some of the species at risk from Australia's bushfire crisis are; Glossy black-cockatoo, Kangaroo,
Koala, Hastings River mouse, and many others.
b. Are there more fires in Australia?
5. Reorder the following sentences according to the plan that follows:
1. Believe it or not, bushfires are actually part of an important natural cycle.
2. They can start naturally, when lightning strikes and ignites dry plants and trees.
3. Bushfires are fires that burn through wild vegetation which can be caused by many factors.
4. Climate change doesn’t start bushfires, but it cause them to become larger.
5. But they can also be caused by people accidentally and sometimes deliberately.
6. To sum up many factors contribute all together in causing bushfires.

Topic Sentence ..........................

Supporting sentence 1 ..........................
Supporting sentence 2 ..........................
Supporting sentence 3 ...........................
Concluding sentence  ...........................
Transitional sentence  ...........................

Prove yourself to yourself not to

others. Anonymous

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