‫ العادية‬0202 ‫دورة العام‬ ‫امتحان شهادة الثانوية العامة‬ ‫وزارة التربية والتعليم العالي‬

0202 ‫ تموز‬02 ‫الثالثاء‬ ‫ االجتماع واالقتصاد‬:‫فرع‬ ‫المديريــة العامة للتربية‬

‫دائرة االمتحانات الرسمية‬
:‫االسم‬ ‫مسابقة في مادة اللغة اإلنكليزية‬
:‫الرقم‬ ‫ ساعتان‬:‫المدة‬

Part One: Reading Comprehension (Score: 12/20)

Read the following selection in which the writer, Donna Ferguson, discusses the issue of gender
discrimination in children’s books, and then answer the questions that follow.

Must Monsters Always Be Male Characters?

1 Male characters are twice as likely to take leading roles in children’s picture books and are given far
more speaking parts than females, according to a research by The Observer, a British newspaper. The
research shines a spotlight on the gender bias apparently inherent in young children’s reading
material. Thorough analysis of the 100 most popular children’s picture books of 2017, carried out by
this paper, reveals that the majority are dominated by male characters, while female characters are
missing from a fifth of the books ranked.
2 The male lead characters were 50% more than female lead characters, and male villains appeared
eight times more, compared to female villains. Only one book, “Peppa and her Golden Boots”,
portrayed a sole female villain, a duck who steals Peppa Pig’s boots and takes them to the moon.
Over the course of each book, the opportunity given to male characters to speak was 50% more than
that given to female ones, and male characters outnumbered female characters in almost half the
stories that made it into the top 100. In addition, there were three male characters present in each
story for every two females featured. Sometimes this ratio can be far higher. For example, “Mr. Men
in London” has 13 male characters and just two female characters.
3 “The research does not surprise me,” said Lauren Child, an innovative children’s author. “We see it
in films and on TV, but it gives out a message about how society sees you. If boys get the starring
roles in books – both as the good and bad protagonists – and girls are the sidekicks, it confirms how
the world is and how it should be. It is very hard to feel equal then,” she explained. The research
shows that only 40% of characters given a gender were human – the rest were animals, birds,
crayons, vegetables, and skeletons. Furthermore, males were more typically embodied as powerful,
wild and potentially dangerous beasts such as dragons, bears, and tigers; on the other hand, females
tended to be smaller and more vulnerable creatures such as birds, cats, and insects.
4 Deirdre McDermott, picture books publisher at Walker Books, said that many of their new titles do
feature strong female characters but unfortunately did not make the bestseller list. Out of the top 100,
only half the titles were published in the past five years. “Parents go back to books they know and
trust from their own childhood. They should seek out recommendations for new titles. If anybody
wanted to put a weak girl in one of our books, I would whack them over the head,” she added.
5 New titles which break with tradition can certainly sell well: Julia Donaldson’s “The Detective Dog”,
in which a brave female dog helps out a male assistant and a male teacher, was the number 1
bestseller last year. However, The Observer analysis shows that even modern bestsellers are not free
from stereotyping. Authors and illustrators have continued to exclude all female characters from
nearly 20% of the bestsellers published over the past five years.
6 Nick Sharratt, bestselling children’s author and illustrator of books, said that this fact was incredibly
surprising to hear in this day and age. “I do think about the ratio of male to female characters – I see
it as part of the job. You never forget the picture books you enjoyed as a child. They stay with you
for the rest of your life. Authors and illustrators have fantastic opportunities to break down
stereotypes. We need to tackle these issues, and at the moment it seems not enough what has been
done”, he added.
7 Jess Day, who campaigns to end gender stereotyping, found the research troubling. “If a wolf or a
tyrannosaur were a ‘she’, the story would be just as good. We hear from many parents who change
the pronouns in books as they read aloud. It is preparing children to see male dominance as normal so
that when women do less than half of the talking, that feels like too much to some people,” he said.

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 Moreover, with so few female roles, there is also not enough space for the female characters to be
multi-dimensional.
8 Female adults undertaking caring roles were common in the stories, and there were twice as many
female as male teachers. Mothers were also present almost twice as often as fathers. By contrast,
fathers barely featured at all unless accompanied by a co-parent, appearing alone in just four books.
“This reflects a skewed version of the world which is bad for boys as well as girls. The lack of
fathers, for instance, steers them away from an interest in nurturing and caring behavior,” said Day.

Questions
A. Answer each the following questions in 1-4 sentences of your own words.
1. Based on Paragraph 1, how is gender discrimination presented in children’s picture (01)
books?
2. Based on Paragraph 3, explain how children’s picture books reveal the image of girls. (01)
3. Refer to Paragraph 4 to explain why gender equality cannot be easily achieved in
children’s picture books. (01)
4. What can be concluded from the contradiction mentioned in Paragraph 8? (01)

B. Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. Identify the pattern of organization used in Paragraph 2. Justify your answer. (01)
2. What adjective best describes the tone in Paragraph 7? Explain. (01)
3. What two types of evidence does the writer use to achieve credibility? Provide examples. (1.5)
4. Identify two types of audience, other than the general reader, that might be interested in
reading the selection. Then state what interest each type finds in it. (1.5)

C. Refer to Paragraphs 3, 4 and 6 to find words that almost have the following meanings. (02)
1. people who work with or help someone more important
2. suggestions/advice that something is good or suitable for a particular purpose
3. to hit someone or something forcefully
4. to make determined efforts to deal with a problem or difficult task

D. What does each of the following pronouns, bold-typed in the selection above, refer to? (01)
1. it (Paragraph 3)
2. they (Paragraph 4)

Part Two: Writing (Choose ONE of the prompts below) (Score: 8/20)

Prompt A:
“Male dominance is one of the earliest known and most widespread forms of inequality
in human history.” In a well-organized cause-effect essay of 250-300 words, discuss
the causes and effects of gender inequality in any of the following domain(s): social,
educational, economic, etc.

Prompt B:
“Gender discrimination is not a women’s issue; it is a human issue and affects all
people.” Write a well-organized persuasive essay of 250-300 words, in which you
support the idea that people should not be treated differently on the basis of their
gender, but rather on the basis of their individual skills or capabilities. Use
appropriate pieces of evidence such as facts, real-life examples, etc.

Content and organization of ideas (3.5), language and style (3.5), tidiness and legible handwriting (01)

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