INSPECTORATUL ŞCOLAR JUDEŢEAN

MINISTERUL EDUCAŢIEI
MEHEDINȚI

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

ETAPA JUDEȚEANǍ
20 martie 2022
CLASA a XI-a, SECȚIUNEA B

VARIANTA 1
SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH (40 points)

I. Read the paragraph and fill in the blanks, using only one word for each space.
(10 points)
We have all seen some documentary or other following the fortunes of a (1) ____ of
elephants and cannot fail to have been struck by the uniqueness of the beast. (2)____it uses
its trunk to pull up a (3) ____of grass to eat may not seem that remarkable but (4)____ is often
not recognised is just how versatile this appendage is. It employs (5)____ and every one of the
sixty thousand muscles in its two-meter length to perform (6)____ delicate tasks as removing
thorns or gripping a thin stick so firmly, without breaking it, (7)____ only another elephant can
pull it away. The trunk also serves as a snorkel as its owner swims for miles (8)____a
submarine.
(9)____only does it do service as a food provider, though that it does this is one of its
most important functions; it also acts as a kind of sense antenna (10)____ that pythons lurking
nearby are readily detected.

II. Rephrase the following sentences so as to preserve the meaning. (10 points)

1.I really can't understand why he can't finish the project on time. BAFFLED
I am really _____________ to finish the project on time.

2. Mr. Edwards was sacked partly because of his arriving late to work. CONTRIBUTED
Mr. Edwards' constant lateness _____________ from the company.

3. The minister's resignation from the government was caused by the discovery of his role in
the financial scandal. LED
The discovery of the minister's role in the financial scandal _____________ the government.

4. Oh, there you are! I didn't even know you had gone out! UNAWARE
I _____________ fact that you had gone out.

5. Electricity is getting very expensive these days. COST

The _____________ higher and higher these days.

III. Use the word in capitals to form a word that best fits in each sentence. (10 points)

1. I am looking to leave in order to find a new job, ____ of whether Mr. Perkins offers me more
money or not. REGARD
2. It was a ____ minor accident but tragically, one of the two drivers died. SEEM
3. Most of the activities we did on the course were ____ and irrelevant. MEAN
4. I think it is very ____ to spend money on these things. WASTE
5. The best way to solve this dispute is to find a neutral, ____ third party and follow his or her
suggestions. INTEREST
6. To join the police, there is normally both an age and a ____ requirement. HIGH
7. You have been ____ important to the success of this company. I don't know what I would
have done without you. MEASURE
8. His performance in the match today ____ his reputation as a great player. LIE
9.The survey showed many young offenders had had difficult ____. BRING
10. You should dress ____ for the party. No tuxedo required! FORMAL

III. Translate the following text into English. (10 points)

Dacă aş fi ascultat sfaturile lui, nimic neaşteptat nu mi s-ar fi întâmplat. Nici nu ar fi
trebuit să-i ascult toate sfaturile, ci doar pe cele legate de criteriile de notarea examenului. Aș
fi putut rezolva subiectele mult mai bine dacă aş fi fost atent la indicațiile lui. El mi-a spus că
atunci când voi termina toate subiectele, e bine să verific din nou toată lucrarea. Eu l-am
întrebat îndoit dacă voi avea timpul necesar să o fac. Mi-a spus cu mândrie că el are
totdeauna timp să verifice, dar că îşi aduce aminte că a uitat să facă acest lucru la un examen
și pe acela l-a căzut. De teamă să nu i se mai întâmple aşa ceva, acum verifică toate
rezolvările de două ori, indiferent de dificultatea examenului. A mai adăugat că este important
ca eu să rezolv toate punctele exerciţiilor, dar cel mai important este să verific tot, după ce voi
termina lucrarea. Dacă aş fi ascultat de el, acum poate că aş fi student.

SUBIECTUL B – INTEGRATED SKILLS (60 points)

Read the following text and do the tasks that follow.

It's a commonplace of parenting and modern genetics that parents have little or no
influence on the characters of their children. As a parent, you never know who you are going
to get. Opportunities, health, prospects, accent, table manners - these might lie within your
power to shape. But what really determines the sort of person who's coming to live with you is
chance. Cheerful or neurotic, kind or greedy, curious or dull, expansive or shy and anywhere
in between; it can be quite an affront to parental self-regard, just how much of the work has
already been done. On the other hand, it can let you off the hook. The point is made for you as
soon as you have more than one child; when two entirely different people emerge from their
roughly similar chances in life.
Here in the cavernous basement kitchen at 3.55 a.m., in a single pool of light, as
though on stage, is Theo Perowne, eighteen years old, his formal education already long
behind him, reclining on a tilted-back kitchen chair, his legs in tight black jeans, his feet in
boots of soft black leather (paid for with his own money) crossed on the edge of the table. As
unlike his sister Daisy as randomness will allow. He's drinking from a large tumbler of water. In
the other hand he holds the folded-back music magazine he's reading. A studded leather
jacket lies in a heap on the floor. Propped against a cupboard is his guitar in its case. It's
already acquired a few steamer trunk labels - Trieste, Oakland, Hamburg, Vald'Isère. There's
space for more. From a compact stereo player on a shelf above a library of cookery books
comes the sound, like soft drizzle, of an all-night pop station.
Henry Perowne sometimes wonders if, in his youth, he could ever have guessed that
he would one day father a blues musician. He himself was simply processed, without question
or complaint, in a polished continuum from school, through medical school, to the dogged
acquisition of clinical experience, in London, Southend-on-Sea, Newcastle, Bellevue
Emergency Department in New York and London again. How have he and Rosalind, such
dutiful, conventional types, given rise to such a free spirit? One who dresses, with a certain
irony, in the style of the bohemian fifties, who won't read books or let himself be persuaded to
stay on at school, who's rarely out of bed before lunchtime, whose passion is for mastery in all
the nuances of the blues guitar tradition, Delta, Chicago, Mississippi, and for the success of
his band, New Blue Rider. In the confined, gossipy world of British blues, Theo is spoken of as
a man of promise, already mature in his grasp of the idiom, who might even one day walk with
the gods, the British gods that is -Alexis Korner, John Mayall, Eric Clapton. Someone has
written somewhere that Theo Perowne plays like an angel.

I. For each question decide which answer (A, B, C or D) fits best according to the text.
(10 points)
1.In the first paragraph, the writer suggests that parents
A.are often disappointed by their children's behaviour.
B.have relatively little impact on their children's personality.
C. sometimes leave too many aspects of child development to chance.
D. often make the mistake of trying to change their children's character.

2. Which phrase is used to suggest that parents are not to blame for how their children
turn out?
A. 'anywhere in between' (line 5)
B. an affront to... self-regard' (line 5)
C. let you off the hook' (line 7)
D. 'roughly similar chances' (line 8)

3. What do we learn about Theo Perowne in the second paragraph?

A. He has successfully completed his studies.
B. He is not particularly interested in travel.
C. He is not making a living as a musician.
D. He has little in common with his sister.

4. Theo's parents are described as the sort of people who

A.have let their careers take precedence over family.
B.have found it quite difficult to settle down in life.
C.regret the rather predictable nature of their lives.
D.have always done what was expected of them.

5. With regard to his music, we learn that Theo is

A. dedicated to one particular style.
B. planning to form a band of his own.
C. unable to take it completely seriously.
D. already admired by some famous people.

II. Parents and teachers are trustworthy advisers, but we are the only responsible for
our future. Starting from the text above, write an opinion essay (220-250 words) about
the importance of making your own decisions in your life. (50 points)

NOTĂ

• Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii. Nu se acordă puncte din oficiu.

• Timpul efectiv de lucru este de 3 ore.