English Test- 9th Form- nº3

THE ARTICLE

Pop superstar Madonna has at last publicly defended her high profile adoption of a
Malawian baby. The songstress appeared on America’s Oprah Winfrey show to
talk about her actions, two weeks after taking 13-month-old David Banda to the
UK from his native Malawi. The controversial move has since provoked
widespread disapproval from many quarters. Many commentators have accused
Madonna of using the adoption as a publicity stunt and of using her wealth and
fame to get her way. They compare the extensive worldwide television coverage
she attracted with the very low-key nature in which Angelina Jolie adopted two
children from Cambodia and Ethiopia. Child-protection agencies, in particular,
criticized Madonna for how unusually fast she secured the adoption.
In the Oprah interview, a very frank Madonna admitted that social workers had
warned her that the lack of adoption laws in Malawi would create difficulties. She
told Winfrey: "There are no adoption laws in Malawi. I was warned that they [the
Malawi government] were more or less going to have to make them up as we went
along.” Madonna added that a social worker advised her to 'Pick Ethiopia. Go to
Kenya. Don't go to Malawi because you're just going to get a hard time." She
pleaded with the world’s press to focus on the real issues: "I understand that gossip
and negative stories sell newspapers. But I'm disappointed because it discourages
other people from doing the same thing ... I feel like the media is doing a great
disservice to all the orphans of Africa,” she said.

I A (15%)

Answer these questions about the text in complete answers and using your own words
as much as possible.

1-How old is the Malawian baby?

2-What has Madonna’s decision provoked?
3-What comparison is made between Madonna and Angelina Jolie? Do you agree on it?
4-By scanning the text, write down who supports her decision and who doesn’t.
5-And you, what’s your opinion on the subject?
 I B (15%)

Write synonyms for the following words taken from the text:

1-“wealth”
2-“warned”
3-“appeared”

I C (15%)

Are these sentences grammatically correct? Thick the right ones and correct the wrong
ones.

1-I have a brother who has 9 years old.

2-A Christian ought go to the church.
3-Smoke is harmful.
4-She started her modelling carrer in 1972.
5-The world is full of brainless muscled.

Violence in schools
Violence in schools is a problem which affects lots of students, specially the
smallest and weakest because the “strong boys” beat them whenever they want and
there’s nothing they can do about it.
There are even kids who are afraid of going to school because they know they won’t
go back home very healthy.
This is a problem in almost every schools and it looks there’s no way to stop it.

II A (24%)

Answer these questions.

1-Does this also happen in your school? If the answer is yes, give examples.
2-Do you reckon there’s a way to stop this problem?
3-What do you think the best soluction to the kids who are beaten is? (you must
account your answer): a-Talk to their teachers
b-Talk to their parents
c-Ask for help to the big and strong kids
d-Nothing
4-What group do you belong to(Account your answer)? a- the beaters
b-the beaten
c-none of these
 III (31%)

You’ve met the girl of your life. She’s beautiful, smart, nice, “a hot lass”, and you’ve
fallen in love with her. But, there’s some other guy, who is a little bigger than you, who
is also in love with her. What are you going to do in order to conquer her heart? (at least
150 words)