Model subiect olimpiada de Engleza, clasa a 12-a, faza judeteana

SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH (40 points) 
 
I. Read the following text and put the verbs in brackets into the correct form.      10 points 
 
Freedom of thought and information 1.___(be) central to the brand philosophy of Microsoft 
which preaches p ersonal empowerment through electronic media. Yet Microsoft's attempt to 
exercise control over the networked world 2. ___(see) as an act of significant disempowerment 
for all of us. 3. ___(found) in 1975 by Bill Gates and a college friend, Paul Allen, the company 
began as a software venture in Seattle. A year later, Apple Computers emerged. The two 
companies revolutionised the personal computer industry. Before that, computing 
4.___(dominate) by IBM; however, in the early 80s, it was struggling with its mes sy internal 
bureaucracy. IBM tried to revive itself by 5. ___(target) the PC market and joined forces with 
Microsoft. Had it not been for the operating system (MS -DOS) provided by the latter, the first 
IBM PC 6.___ (launch) in 1981.  Later on, out of MS-DOS, Microsoft developed Word and later 
Windows - operating systems with a user -friendly graphical interface that now 7. ___(define) 
the appearance of computer screens across the world.  Since then, the enhancement of 
Microsoft Windows 8.___(create) a brand experience that is part of everyday life. Some time 
ago, Microsoft fell foul of US antitrust legislation over the issue of creating a virtual monopoly on 
internet access. Critics said Microsoft 9. ___(seek) to control the f ree flow of information. 
However, after 10.___(order) to split the company in two, Microsoft launched an appeal, 
meanwhile expanding its activities. 
 
II. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each gap.        10 points 
 
To assume the task of (1)____________(NARRATE) the history of an overtly oppressed race is 
a daunting responsibility. Nonetheless, Edward Kennedy Ellington (2)_____________(TAKE) 
this task in composing the multi -movement jazz suite  Black, Brown, and Beige.  Originally 
(3)___________(DEBUT) at Carnegie Hall on January 23rd, 1943, the composition received 
mixed, if not critical (4)__________(FEED). Much of that criticism (5)___________(WEIGHT) on 
the "pretentiousness" such a narrative composition implies. As Robert Crowley says, however, it 
would be shameful to dismiss the whole thing as pretentious: "Anything 
(6)__________(AUDACITY) and ambitious has a tincture of pretentiousness in it. Any less than 
arrogant composer must sometimes feel, ‘Who the hell am I to  set forth this mess of little -
learning, guess -work and hope, and expect hundreds of people to listen to it?’" Indeed, 
hundreds of people did listen to it that debut night in Carnegie Hall. After a tepid reaction to the 
work, Ellington revised much of the suite and recorded a (7)___________(SHORT) version, 
breaking it into a "series of excerpts of less than half the (8)___________(LONG) of the 
original…" Despite these considerable (9)_________(AMEND) to the work, it remains a pivotal Ministerul Educaţiei  
Centrul Naţional de Politici și Evaluare în Educație 
 
Probă scrisă la limba engleză  clasa a XII-a secțiunea A 
Pagina 2 din 5 
 
creation in the culture and history of African -American music. Within this suite, components of 
the early spiritual music (10)_________(SOUND), from slavery to swing. In  Black, Brown, and 
Beige, Duke Ellington musically narrates the struggles, triumphs, an d emergence of individual 
identity in early African -American culture. Specifically, "Work Song," "Light," and "Come 
Sunday" exemplify Ellington’s narration of the African-American history. 
 
III. Choose the correct response A, B, C or D.            10 points 
1. I don't want him to go on that trip without me. 
A. l'd prefer he not go. 
B. I don't want him go. 
C. I'd rather he didn't go. 
D. I'd rather he shouldn't go. 
 
2. She……..marry a man who......... married three times and who....... his habits if 
she..….... him to. 
A. can't / was/ won't give up/asked; 
B. can't/ had been/ wouldn't give up /would have asked; 
C. couldn't / had been/wouldn't give up/asks; 
D. couldn't/ had been/ wouldn't give up/ asked. 
 
3. Hardly…………. Palma when he…………. the same gang who…………... to beat him to 
death and they…………... him for any information he…………….. about the Frenchman. 
A. he reached/ had met/ was planning/ had asked/ could have 
B. did he reach/ met/ had planned/ asked/ should have 
C. he had reached/ had met/ had been planning/ were asking/ must have 
D. had he reached/ met/ were planning/ asked/ might have 
 
4. Suddenly the fish glittered………. the air, slipped…...… the hook and fell 
wriggling………. the grass ………….. the very edge ……………….. the bank. 
A. in/ off/ onto/ at/ of 
B. on/ from/ to/ to/ on 
C. to/ out/ in/ on/ from  
D. around/ of/ among/ by/ of 
 
5. “Why don't you go down to the river to fish, Ben?", I said. 
A. I asked Ben why didn't he go down to the river to fish. 
B. I suggested that Ben would go down to the river to fish. 
C. I suggested that Ben go down to the river to fish. 
D. I asked Ben why he doesn't go down to the river to fish. 
 
6. She would sooner her children ……….. their time …….... computer games than…….. 
wild in the street. 
A. should spend/ to play/ to run 
B. will spend/ playing/ to be running 
C. spent/ playing/ running 
D. would have spent/ to play/ having run 
  Ministerul Educaţiei  
Centrul Naţional de Politici și Evaluare în Educație 
 
Probă scrisă la limba engleză  clasa a XII-a secțiunea A 
Pagina 3 din 5 
 
7. ……………….in a louder voice, I ……………. all the explanations. 
A. He was spoken/ could understand 
B. Was he speaking/ would understand 
C. Had he spoken/ could have understood 
D. He had spoken/ might have understood 
 
8. Only after I had entered the club, did I realize I didn’t have my I.D. card on me.  
A. No sooner had I entered the club than I realized that I had forgotten my I.D. card at 
home. 
B. No sooner I had entered the club, when I realized that I forgot my I.D. card at home. 
C. I hardly entered the club when I had realized that I had forgotten my I.D. card at home. 
D. Hardly I have entered the club when I realized that I have forgotten my I.D. card at 
home. 
 
9. Poor woman! She was run…………by a car, so she was immediately tak en ............. 
hospital. 
A. into/ at 
B. over/ to 
C. out/ to the 
D. against/ towards 
 
10. It's no use…………… her to …………… the house against fire and robbery, as long as 
she can’t afford it. 
A. trying to persuade/ insure  
B. to try persuading/ ensure 
C. trying persuade/ insure 
D. to try to persuade/ assure 
 
IV. Translate the following text into English.            10 points 
 
În fiecare după -amiază repeta scena mecanic, fără să încerce să schimbe ceva. Ca și cum, 
dacă unul dintre ei ar fi scos un singur cuvânt sau dacă el s -ar fi oprit fie și pentru o clipă în 
dreptul ferestrei ei, toată magia inexplicabilă care -l făcea să tresară s -ar fi năruit deodată. Și îi 
era foarte teamă de asta. Venea de fiecare dată la aceeași oră fixă, fără să întârzie nici măcar 
un minut. Nu încetinea paș ii când se apropia de ea, nu o privea mai mult decât ținea zâmbetul 
lor simplu și nu îndrăznea niciun alt gest față de rutina lor obișnuită.  
(Andrei Ruse, Femeia care se juca cu timpul)  
 
SUBIECTUL B- INTEGRATED SKILLS (60 points) 
 
Read the text below and do the tasks that follow. 
 
One of my earliest memories starts with me sobbing. I refused to be soothed no matter what 
Mom and Dad tried. Dad gave up and left the bedroom, but Mom took me into the kitchen and 
sat me down at the breakfast table. “Look, look,” she said, as she pulled a sheet of wrapping 
paper from on top of the fridge. For years, Mom carefully sliced open the wrappings around 
Christmas gifts and saved them on top of the fridge in a thick stack. She set the paper down, 
plain side facing up, and began to fold it. I stopped crying and watched her, curious. She turned 
the paper over and folded it again. She pleated, rolled, and twisted until the paper disappeared 
between her cupped hands. Then she lifted the folded -up paper packet to her mouth and  blew 
into it, like a balloon. She said “Look, a tiger”. She put her hands down on the table and let go. A 
little paper tiger stood on the table. Ministerul Educaţiei  
Centrul Naţional de Politici și Evaluare în Educație 
 
Probă scrisă la limba engleză  clasa a XII-a secțiunea A 
Pagina 4 din 5 
 
I reached out to Mom’s creation. Its tail twitched, and it pounced playfully at my finger.   line 11 
“Rawrr,” it growled, the sound somewhere between a cat and rustling newspapers. I laughed, 
startled, and stroked its back with my index finger. The paper tiger vibrated under my finger, 
purring.  
 
My mother’s mother taught her how to make paper animals and give the m life. This was 
practical magic in the life of the village where she was born. They made paper birds to chase 
grasshoppers away from the fields, and paper tigers to keep away the mice. For Chinese New 
Year they made red paper dragons to scare away all the bad memories of the past year. 
 
At my request, Mom also made a goat, a deer, and a water buffalo out of wrapping paper. They 
would run around the living room while the tiger chased after them, growling. When he caught 
them, he would press down until the air went out of them and they beca me just flat pieces of 
paper. I would then have to blow into them to re -inflate them so they could run around some 
more. Sometimes, the paper animals got into trouble. The tiger liked to pounce at sparrows 
when he and I played in the backyard. But one time , a cornered bird struck back in desperation 
and tore his ear. He whimpered and winced as I held him and Mom patched his ear together 
with tape. He avoided birds after that.  
 
I. For each question decide which response (A, B, C or D) fits best according to the text.   10 points 
 
1. In the first paragraph, the narrator stopped crying because 
A. dad managed to calm him down. 
B. he was left alone with his Mom. 
C. mom made him curious. 
D. mom made paper disappear. 
 
2. In line 11, it refers to  
A. the tiger. 
B. the tail of the tiger. 
C. the pattern on the wrapping paper. 
D. the whole situation. 
 
3. According to paragraph 3, the people in the village  
A. revived paper animals. 
B. gave life to animals. 
C. used paper animals for protection. 
D. used animals for trade. 
 
4. When a paper animal became flat, 
A. it was discarded at once. 
B. it was resurrected immediately.  
C. it was patched together with a tape. 
D. it was inflated again. 
  Ministerul Educaţiei  
Centrul Naţional de Politici și Evaluare în Educație 
 
Probă scrisă la limba engleză  clasa a XII-a secțiunea A 
Pagina 5 din 5 
 
 
5. The text is mainly about 
A. performing magic. 
B. childhood memories. 
C. using wrappings. 
D. different animals. 
 
II. Write an opinion essay starting from the following statement: Let us suppose for a 
moment that paper were to disappear. Would anything be lost? Everything would be lost. 
– Ian Sanso (250-280 words)      50 points