COLEGIUL NAȚIONAL „MIHAI VITEAZUL”, MUNICIPIUL PLOIEŞTI

Blv. Independenței, nr. 8, Municipiul Ploieşti, jud. Prahova

Tel. 0244/595952; Fax 0244/543794
e-mail: secretariat@cnmvploiesti.ro; site: http://cnmv.ploiesti.roedu.net

Etapa pe școală a olimpiadelor naționale școlare – 2024

Probă scrisă Limba engleză
CLASA a XI-a - SECȚIUNEA B

 Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii.

 Nu se acordă puncte din oficiu.
SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH 75 points.
I. Read the following text and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits in each gap. 10x1,5= 15 points.
If a seller accepts an offer to buy their house, but then scraps the agreement and accepts a higher offer from a second
buyer, the first buyer has been ‘gazumped’. The practice is understandably frowned 1. __________, but is not illegal in
England and Wales. The first buyer is simply left in the lurch and either has to offer a higher price or 2. __________
losing the house. The problem for buyers is that once an offer has been accepted, they start 3. __________ costs, like
lawyers’ bills, surveyors’ charges and so on, without any legal 4. __________ of ownership. Until contracts have been
exchanged the sale agreement is not legally 5. __________ and estate agents are obliged to tell the seller about any higher
offers on the property.
Unlike Scotland, where a sale is considered legally binding from the moment an offer is accepted, gazumping is 6.
__________ in England and Wales, the government is looking at measures to 7. __________ the practice, including
making sellers pay for structural surveys and legal expenses.
Until things change, you can help to ward 8. __________ gazumpers by pushing the sale through quickly and staying in
regular contact with the seller’s agent. Insist the house is taken off the market once your offer has been accepted and
check that the board outside the house has a ‘sold’ sign on it. To be 9. __________ safe, you can take out insurance cover
as protection or spend a bit extra on legal 10. __________ to get an exclusivity agreement drawn up with the seller.
1. a. at b. out c. on d. in
2. a. prefer b. compromise c. endure d. face
3. a. spending b. mounting c. financing d. incurring
4. a. guarantee b. title c. definition d. fee
5. a. securing b. confining c. obliging d. binding
6. a. complete b. widespread c. worldwide d. Throughout
7. a. curb b. cut c. decelerate d. rein
8. a. out b. away c. over d. off
9. a. much b. extra c. farther d. extremely
10. a. payments b. accounts c. fees d. instalments

II. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits in each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
10x2= 20 points.
Where better for a bicycle enthusiast to live than within the boundaries of one of the bike capitals of Britain-Oxford. The
city is thought to be home 1. __________ as many as a quarter of Britain’s bicycles, the train station alone having secure
facilities for five hundred.
2. __________ to the town’s history and its layout of narrow streets, cycling has long 3. __________ seen as a convenient
and safe way of getting 4. __________ in the city. And today, whether in the town itself 5. __________ in the surrounding
countryside, the cyclist feels relatively secure 6. __________ the knowledge that local car drivers are accustomed to
coping with thousands of cyclists on the roads.
But in much of the surrounding countryside, even this is 7. __________ really such a problem because the area has its
own network of special cycleways. Designed to keep cyclists and other road users 8. __________ a safe distance from
one 9. __________ these routes are, for the 10. __________ part used by students and commuters heading to and from
the city centre. But this is not its only function. As well as providing a safe venue for leisure cycling, they also make it
easier to combine cycling with other public transport services on longer journeys.
 COLEGIUL NAȚIONAL „MIHAI VITEAZUL”, MUNICIPIUL PLOIEŞTI
Blv. Independenței, nr. 8, Municipiul Ploieşti, jud. Prahova
Tel. 0244/595952; Fax 0244/543794
e-mail: secretariat@cnmvploiesti.ro; site: http://cnmv.ploiesti.roedu.net

III. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each gap. 10x2= 20 points.
Representations of wild animals, such as elephants, tigers and pandas, are everywhere in movies, books and toy stores.
But research suggests that this 1. ______________POPULAR may have a problematic effect on public 2.
__________PERCEIVE of how much at risk these animals are in nature. In a survey carried out by French ecologists,
people were asked which animals they considered most 3. _____________CHARISMA. The top ten were: lions,
elephants, giraffes, leopards, pandas, cheetahs, polar bears, wolves and gorillas. 4. ___________IRONY, the biggest fan
of these animals knew very little about their 5. __________SURVIVE prospects-the sad truth being that many of them
face possible 6. __________EXTINCT in the coming decades.
The researchers suggest that the 7. ___________SPREAD presence of these animals in popular culture makes
people think that populations in the wild are strong, and this may lead to 8. __________COMPLACENT. One of the
researchers has said that “companies using giraffes, cheetahs or polar bears for marketing may be contributing 9.
___________INTENTION to the false idea that animal populations in the wild are secure and not in need of 10.
___________CONSERVE”.

IV. Rephrase the following sentences so as to preserve the meaning. 10x1= 10 points.
1. I’ve just noticed that the car has almost run out of petrol. HARDLY
I’ve just noticed that ___________________ left in the car.
2. Don’t get depressed because of such a small problem. LET
It’s such a small problem that you shouldn’t ________________ down.
3. It is reported that he is now recovering in hospital. RECOVERY
He is reported ___________________ in hospital now.
4. There’s no point arguing about this small detail, in my opinion. WORTH
This small detail ________________, in my opinion.
5. I was amazed because there were no problems throughout the holiday. WENT
To ______________________ wrong throughout the holiday.
6. Because he was injured, he couldn’t play in the next game. PREVENTED
His ___________________ in the next game.
7. I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t contacted you for so long. HAS
You must _________________ so long since I contacted you.
8. What’s confusing you so much? LOT
What is it that’s _________________ confusion?
9. If your order is delayed, we will contact you. DELAY
Should __________________ to your order, we will contact you.
10. Are you saying that I’m lying about what happened? TRUTH
Are you accusing ____________________ about what happened?
V. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense. 10 points.

I 1. ___________ (NOT/ FORGET) the first time our team played in a knock- out football tournament. No one 2.
___________ (EXPECT) us to get as far as we did – all the way to the final- as we were generally considered to be the
outsiders, but knowing we might be up against the long standing champions, we 3. ___________ (TRAIN) every day for
months.
On the day of the match, I 4. ___________ (WAKE) to see that the sun 5. ___________ (SHINE). I 6.
___________PUT) on my football kit and 7. ___________ (WAIT) eagerly for Dad to announce it was time to go. When
we 8. ___________ (ARRIVE) at the football pitch I joined my team mates who 9. ___________ (ALREADY/ DO)
warm ups and there was a definite sense of excitement and tension in the air. Our coach said, “Remember, you 10.
___________ (TRAIN) for the past year for this moment. Give it all you’ve got!”!

SUBIECTUL B – PARAGRAPH WRITING 25 points.

Write one main body paragraph of a for and against essay on the following topic: ’Cloning is the solution to our health
problems.’’ in about 70 words.