FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DES ECOLES EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF SCHOOLS

Organisation non gouvernementale dote du statut participatif auprs du Conseil de lEurope NGO enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe

UE B - LANGUE VIVANTE EUROPEENNE

UC B4 - Anglais Ecrit

Aucun dictionnaire autoris Les rponses doivent tre reportes sur la fiche optique fournie

Type dpreuve : QCM et Essai Dure : 1h45 Session : Janvier 2012

Fdration Europenne Des Ecoles - European Federation of Schools Janvier 2012 UC B4 Anglais - Sujet

UC B4 - ANGLAIS ECRIT

BAREME DE NOTATION

1/ Questionnaire Choix Multiples* 2/ Texte complter* 3/ Essai Total

60 points 90 points 70 points 220 points

* DETAIL DU BAREME DE NOTATION DU QCM ET DU TEXTE A COMPLETER

Pour chacune des questions une seule rponse est possible.

Bonne rponse Absence de rponse Rponse errone

3 points 0 point -1 point

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1/ Questionnaire choix multiples Texte de comprhension n1 PEN PUSHERS OUT The Government vs. Civil Servants
Greece is being dragged kicking and screaming into confronting one of its biggest obstacles to reform an almost unsackable civil service. Civil servants working week has already been increased from 37.5 hours to 40 hours, a way of reducing overtime payments. A unified salary scale is about to be introduced, smoothing out differences between ministries and slashing allowances. It was supposed to have been brought in 13 months ago. Under pressure from the European Union, the IMF and the Central European Bank, Greece has agreed to arrange mergers and closures of 150 state organisations and to transfer thousands of workers to a so-called strategic reserve. They will be put on 60% of their previous salary. Those who do not find another publicsector job within 12 months will be fired. It is an embarrassing climb down for George Papandreou, the prime minister. He has tried to avoid dismissals of public-sector workers, who form a power base for his Panhellenic Socialist Movement. Worried party officials say the political cost of his decision will be high. The jobless rate hit a record 16.6% in May. But the government has run out of wiggle room. Without civil service cuts, the second bail-out, worth 109 billion and agreed in July could fall apart. It already looks shaky. Greece has agreed to cut 150,000 public-sector jobs by 2014. Mr Papandreou desperate to please creditors now is expected to oblige. Taken from The Economist September 10th 2011

1. This article deals with:

a. what Mr. Papandreous government must do to receive bail-out funds from European financial institutions b. how civil service jobs will no longer exist in Greece by 2014 c. Mr. Papandreou stepping down from his duties d. the mergers and closures of the IMF and the Central European Bank

2. Unsackable means:
a. b. c. d. uncontrollable not able to be made redundant packaged and delivered powerless

3. A way of reducing overtime payments refers to:

a. b. c. d. State workers who will have longer working weeks State workers will continue working very hard State workers will no longer be paid overtime State workers were never allowed to work extra hours in the past

4. Smoothing out differences means:

a. b. c. d. concealing the differences pinpointing the differences minimizing the variations making the differences more unpleasant
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Fdration Europenne Des Ecoles - European Federation of Schools Janvier 2012 UC B4 Anglais - Sujet

5. The IMF stands for:

a. b. c. d. Internal Money Foundation International Monetary Fund International Management Fund International Money Foundation

6. Put on 60 % of their previous salary can be understood to mean:

a. b. c. d. that civil service workers must pay back 60 % of their former salary that 60 % of public sector salaries will be put on next years budget that only 60 % of state workers will continue to receive pay checks that civil service workers will be given 40 % less of their previous salary

7. An embarrassing climb down for George Papandreou means:

a. b. c. d. Mr. Papandreou will need to step down as prime minister Mr. Papandreou will need to change his policy on civil service jobs Mr. Papandreous popularity in the polls will go down Mr. Papandreou will need to gather more votes for his next election bid

8. The leaders of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement think that:

a. b. c. d. Mr Papandreou is spending too much money on political campaigning Mr. Papandreou should not have run for election Mr. Papandreou is likely to lose votes in the next elections the Panhellenic Socialist Movement doesnt intend to back Mr. Papandreou any longer

9. Shaky means:
a. b. c. d. likely to fail needless steady resolved

10. The sentence Mr. Papandreou desperate to please creditors now is expected to oblige means that:
a. b. c. d. credit institutions are forcing Mr. Papandreou and his government to go bankrupt Mr. Papandreou will eventually be forced to resign from his position as prime minister credit is going to be allotted to pay for the political costs of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement Mr. Papandreou has to do whatever creditors ask in order to procure bail-out funds

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Texte de comprhension n2 TIME TO BRACE FOR THE NEXT 9/11

The biggest threat to America isnt terrorism. Its the wrath of Mother Nature. Paul Stockton , the Pentagons point man for security in the homeland, plans for the kind of apocalyptic events that could forever change the lives of millions of Americans. Assistant Secretary of Defense Stockton, a lifelong academic who speaks passionate jargon, calls them complex catastrophes with cascading effects and, like Sept. 11, 2001, these new tragedies could have gut-wrenching social and political consequences. Yet, the horrors hes preparing for are far bigger than 9/11: tens of thousands of people killed, the economy devastated, national security gravely compromised. And the terrorist who will be responsible for these atrocities is Mother Nature. Stocktons yardstick for cataclysms is disasters even more severe than Hurricane Katrina. Theyre coming. Of that, Stockton and other disaster-specialists have little doubt. Last month the East Coast suffered the psychological shock of a relatively small earthquake and what turned out to be a pretty weak hurricane after some pretty strong hype. Apocalypse Not headlined the New York Post; New York City dodged a bullet as mayor Michael Bloomberg put it. But, New Jersey, upstate New York, and several states in New England didnt. In Conneticut alone, a record 650,000 households lost power, many of them for several days. In Vermont, food had to be airlifted to towns cut off by flooding. All told, Hurricane Irene killed 43 people in the United States, and estimates of the damage range up to $20 billion. Thats just a little taste of things to come. Whatever the cause greenhouse gases, natural warming, or both-- rising temperatures and sea levels already are breeding bigger, more intense hurricanes and more dangerous storm surges. Former vice-president Al Gore, the teller of inconvenient truths about climate change, says it is absolutely a national-security issue. We can expect continued increases in the frequency and severity of extreme floods, droughts, wildfires, storms and other events, he says. We need to begin the process now of preparing for the disasters that are to come. Taken from Newsweek September 12, 2011

11. This article deals with:

a. the reporting of hurricanes for the Eastern coast of the United States b. the last speech made by former vice-president Al Gore on national security c. how the United States must start seriously gearing up for future climate change that could cause havoc d. the Homeland Security plan to keep temperatures down to avoid droughts

12. wrath of Mother Nature is a warning to:

a. b. c. d. Americans about the risk of natural disasters the terrorists attacking the American soil the Homeland Security who sees no necessity to act on the causes of climate change the American Defense department about their failure to protect Americans from natural disasters

13. Mr Stocktons job is to:

a. keep security in peoples homes b. assure that American lives are safe when a disaster hits the American land c. point out interesting events to the Defense Department that could help change American lives for the better d. run the Pentagon

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14. Gut-wrenching can be interpreted to mean:

a. b. c. d. agonising twisted audacious strained

15. What is Stocktons yardstick?

a. b. c. d. the last attack by terrorists in the United States: 9/11. any kind of terrorism used against human life a standard for comparing and measuring disasters a hurricane detection system

16. What turned out to be a pretty weak hurricane after some pretty strong hype shows that the author believes:
a. b. c. d. the information given to the public about Hurricane Irenes eventual impact was not exaggerated people were not informed early enough no one tried to predict the eventual impact the warnings given to the public about the hurricane turned out to be over-exaggerated

17. In regards to the state of Connecticut:

a. b. c. d. it was the only state that suffered damage its inhabitants had to deal with blackouts for several days it consumed the most amount of electrical power of all the states on the Eastern seaboard 650,000 houses were destroyed by the loss of power

18. The author wants us to believe that:

a. b. c. d. America doesnt really have to worry too much about climate change Hurricanes only occur on the Eastern seaboard Hurricane Katrina and Irene are only the beginning of what will be even worse storms to come Climate change will only continue to occur for a short time

19. The word breeding means:

a. b. c. d. hindering blocking generating tracking down

20. Former vice-president Al Gores opinion on climate change is:

a. b. c. d. climate change requires urgent attention: American security is at risk he thinks that the scientists are trying to hide the truth about the causes of hurricanes and storms he does not consider America to be at any risk he would like Americans to forget about national security issues

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2/ Texte complter
Its grim down South Young Greeks, Italians and Spaniards respond ____21______different ways to their plight. Although Spains ______22________-unemployment figures are the European Unions worst, those of Greece are not much better; along with Italy (which _____23______a little better on this particular measure) these Mediterranean economies share a savage distinction between older insiders with permanent employment and generous benefits---a class which definitely includes the _____24______ politicians ---and younger outsiders on short-term contracts with minimum ______25________. In Italy, where the government ______26_______ the idea of making it easier for firms to hire younger workers by ______27______some labor rules, the countrys largest trade-union federation shows what Italian youngsters are up______28_______: This would damage the rights of all workers in order to help the young, Vincenzo Scudiere of the CGOL told The Wall Street Journal. A notorious Greek law _____29______in 1992 forced new entrants to the workforce (and their employers) to pay higher payroll taxes than those already employed. Savas Robolis, head of research at INE-GSEE, a union-____30_______ thinktank, says that over two-thirds of Greek employees are 43 or older. Yet, _____31______their similar predicaments, the youth of Southern Europe has responded to the crisis in very different ways. When _____32________of young Spaniards emerged in May, apparently out of nowhere, to turn Puerta Del Sol, a square in central Madrid, into a tent city, the tenor of their complaint was far from revolutionary. The ______33_______ young protesters, dubbed indignados, devoted _____34_______ to talking through and voting on every issue that occurred to them; alcohol was _______35______ upon. Polls found that up to 80% of Spaniards had some sympathy with the peaceable young protestors, who have called without much controversy for a reform _____36_____Spains voting system to allow ____37_______ parties to break the current duopoly, an end to political corruption, mercy for mortgage-defaulters and a bit of a biffing for bankers. While young Spaniards have been demonstrating young Italians have been______38______. For some time Italy has been ______39_______more graduates than it imports. Italians of all ages feel a weary fatalism after a decade of almost ____40______economic growth. Spaniards and Greeks by contrast, have been whisked abruptly and painfully from boom to_______41_________. Indeed, the Greek journey has been the most dramatic of_____42_____, and a tradition of sometimes violent protest found ample opportunity for expression after May 2010, when the country accepted its first international bail-out. _____43_____then, youth unemployment has risen____44____ over a third. And behind the sound and fury of Greeces protests there is a growing sense____45_____ young people that they can do ______46________to improve their prospects. Rather than ______47______the idealism of their Spanish brethren, many are following the Italian example and seeking opportunities elsewhere. It wont be low-skilled workers leaving, ____48_____in the 1960s says Mr. Robolis: it ____49____the educated elite. The protesters accomplished nothing; they were just sent______50______ says a young woman standing in front of Greeces parliament handing out flyers advertising cash for gold; her job pays 4 Euros an hour, she says; she was lucky to get it through a friend. Abridged from The Economist September 10th 2011

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21. a. in b. by c. to d. with 22. a. youths b. youths c. youth d. youngsters 23. a. fare b. fair c. fairs d. fares 24. a. countries b. countries c. country d. countries 25. a. vows b. restraints c. entitlements d. liabilities 26. a. floating b. is floated c. has floated d. float 27. a. easing b. leasing c. annoying d. comforting 28. a. with b. against c. inside d. along 29. a. past b. has been passing c. passed d. passes

30. a. base b. basic c. basis d. based 31. a. despite of b. inspite c. despite d. in spite 32. a. ten of thousand b. tens of thousands c. ten of thousands d. tens of thousand 33. a. earnest b. earned c. earning d. earners 34. a. their selves b. themselves c. them d. themself 35. a. laughed b. called c. looked d. frowned 36. a. with b. to c. at d. in 37. a. fewer b. smallest c. littlest d. smaller 38. a. immigrated b. immigrating c. migrated d. migrating

39. a. exporting b. exported c. to exporting d. being exported 40. a. none b. of none c. few d. no 41. a. business b. bust c. bankrupt d. bottleneck 42. a. every b. each c. none d. all 43. a. For b. Since c. Ever d. While 44. a. in b. at c. by d. per 45. a. among b. between c. through d. along-side 46. a. a little b. few c. little d. a few 47. a. shun b. reject c. steer d. ape

48. a. similar b. alike c. like d. whereas 49. a. wont be b. is being c. will be d. is willing to be 50. a. away b. ahead c. beside d. over

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3/ Essai

Explain what the term austerity means in regards to economics.

How do you think an austerity programmme can help a country to regain economic stability? At the same time, how influential are the protest movements such as Les Indignanos in Spain and Occupy Wall Street in America in todays economic crisis? Are their demands coherent and legitimate to you? In your opinion are these protests the last sign of real democracy in todays world or are they merely the usual expressions of youthful discontent?

Answer in English in 400 words (+ or - 10 %).

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