Colegiul Naţional „Gheorghe M.

Murgoci”
Bd. Independenţei, nr. 4, Brăila, Tel/Fax 0239/619580
Email: murgocibraila@yahoo.com,web: www.cngmm.ro

EXAMEN DE DIFERENTE

Proba orală

BILET NR 1

Read the following text and answer the questions below:

First Time in the Air

When John Mills was going to fly in an aeroplane for the fist time, he was frightened. He
did not like the idea of being thousands of feet up in the air and not being in control.
However, John couldn’t avoid flying any longer. It was the only way he could visit his
grandchildren in Canada. “I had made up my mind that I was going to do it. I couldn’t let my
son, his wife, and their three children travel all the way here to visit me. It would be so expensive
for them and I know Tom’s business isn’t doing so well at the moment. It would also be tiring
for the children – it’s a nine-hour flight!” he says.
To get ready for the flight John did lots of reading about aeroplanes. When he booked his
seat, he was told that he would be flying on a Boeing 747, which is better known as a jumbo jet.
“I needed to know as much as possible before getting on that plane. I suppose it was a way of
making myself feel better. The Boeing 747 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world at the
moment. The first one flew on February 9 th 1969 in the USA. It can carry up to 524 passengers
and 3,400 pieces of luggage. The fuel is kept in the wings and they are so big that they can carry
enough fuel for an average car to be able to travel 16,000 kilometres a year for 70 years. Isn’t
that unbelievable? When I saw it for the first time, I still couldn’t believe that something so
enormous was going to get up in the air and fly.”
The biggest surprise of all for John was the flight itself. The take-off itself was much
smoother than I expected, although I was still quite scared until we were in the air. In the end, I
managed to relax, enjoy the food and watch one of the movies, and the view from the window
was spectacular. I even managed to sleep for a while! Of course, continues John, “the best
reward of all was when I arrived in Canada and saw my son and his family. Suddenly, I felt so
silly about all the years when I couldn’t think of getting on a plane. I had let my fear of flying
stop me from seeing the people I love most in the world.”

1. Why did John read about aeroplanes?

2. What happened when he saw the jumbo jet for the first time?
3. How did John feel when the aeroplane was taking off?
4. What surprised John most about the flight?
5. Talk about a destination you would like to visit and you would have to get there by
plane.
 Colegiul Naţional „Gheorghe M. Murgoci”
Bd. Independenţei, nr. 4, Brăila, Tel/Fax 0239/619580
Email: murgocibraila@yahoo.com,web: www.cngmm.ro

EXAMEN DE DIFERENTE
Proba orală

BILET NR 2

Read the following text and answer the questions below:

What is happening to our weather?

What is ‘extreme’ weather? Why are people talking about it these days? ‘Extreme’
weather is an unusual weather event such as rainfall, a drought or a heat wave in the wrong place
or at the wrong time. In theory, they are very rare. But these days, our TV screens are constantly
showing such extreme weather events. Take just three news stories from 2010: 28 centimetres of
rain fell on Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours, Nashville, USA, had 33 centimetres of rain in two days
and there was record rainfall in Pakistan.
The effects of this kind of rainfall are dramatic and lethal. In Rio de Janeiro, landslides
followed and hundreds of people died. In Pakistan, the floods affected 20 million people.
Meanwhile, other parts of the world suffer devastating droughts. Australia, Russia and East
Africa have been hit in the last ten years. And then there are unexpected heat waves, such as in
2003 in Europe. That summer, 35,000 deaths were said to be heat-related.
So, what is happening to our weather? Are these extreme events part of a natural cycle?
Or are they caused by human activity and its effects on the Earth’s climate? Peter Miller says it’s
probably a mixture of both of these things. On the one hand, the most important influences on
weather events are natural cycles in the climate. Two of the most famous weather cycles, El Niño
and La Niña, originate in the Pacific Ocean. The heat from the warm ocean rises high into the
atmosphere and affects weather all around the world. On the other hand, the temperature of the
Earth’s oceans is slowly but steadily going up. And this is a result of human activity. We are
producing greenhouse gases that trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This heat warms up the
atmosphere, land and oceans. Warmer oceans produce more water vapour – think of heating a
pan of water in your kitchen. Turn up the heat, it produces steam more quickly. Satellite data
tells us that the water vapour in the atmosphere has gone up by four percent in 25 years. This
warm, wet air turns into the rain, storms, hurricanes and typhoons that we are increasingly
experiencing.
Climate scientist, Michael Oppenheimer, says that we need to face the reality of climate
change. And we also need to act now to save lives and money in the future.

1. What is extreme wether?

2. Why was the rain in Nashville considered to be an extreme event?
3. What happened after the extreme rain in Rio de Janeiro?
4. What caused many deaths in 2003?
5. What do you do to protect the environment?
 Colegiul Naţional „Gheorghe M. Murgoci”
Bd. Independenţei, nr. 4, Brăila, Tel/Fax 0239/619580
Email: murgocibraila@yahoo.com,web: www.cngmm.ro

EXAMEN DE DIFERENTE

Proba orală

BILET NR 3

Read the following text and answer the questions below:

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving has become America’s biggest shopping day. Closed all day on
Thursday, shopping centres all across the nation open early on Friday. Some of them open at
12:01 Friday morning, while others open at 4 a.m. Some “sleepyhead“shopping centres, like
Target this year, don’t open their doors on Friday until 6 a.m. From Friday to the day before
Christmas, this is the season when businesses make nearly 25 per cent of what they earn in a
year. This season puts many businesses “in the black”, that is, they make the money they need
for the year.
Reporters from local TV stations interview people who sleep in tents in front of the shops a day
or two before the doors open on Friday. These people patiently wait in queue to get products that
are 50 per cent cheaper or more.
“Oh, we have fun,” said one of the persons queuing. “We sometimes bring games to play, we
watch TV and order lots of pizza, and we often meet interesting people. And, most important of
all, we save a lot!” The problem, of course, is that only a very small number of products have big
reductions in their prices. Apart from a few big discounts, each shop has other things that are
reduced from 10 to 50 per cent, saving shoppers from $10 to $400 per item, and so Americans
want to go shopping.
Not all Americans enjoy shopping. Reverend William Graham wants to change Black Friday’s
name. “We want to call it Remember Jesus Friday. People should start the season with the right
attitude. Christmas has become a Season of Shopping. We want to make it a Season of Giving.
And we don’t mean giving material things. We mean giving your back, your mind, and your
hands. Help an old lady clean up her house. Teach a kid how to read. Visit sick people in the
hospital or in nursing homes. Give food to the Red Cross. Celebrate Christmas by remembering
Jesus and forgetting Santa Claus.”

Adapted from http://www.eslyes.com

1. Why do people sleep in tents before the shops open on Black Friday?
2. Why does reverend William Graham want to change Black Friday’s name?
3. Why do some people who queue on Black Friday say they have a great time doing it?
4. Why has Christmas become a Season of Shopping for people?
5. What is your favourite shop and why? How often do you go shopping?