THE BOY WHO HAD NO FRIENDS

SUBIECT I
There was once a little boy who had no companions. For some reason he could make no friends. One day he went off into the
woods to look for a friend. On and on he walked until he met a rabbit.
Good morning, Bunny! said the boy. Would you like to be my friend?
Yes! the rabbit agreed.
So they walked on together. When they reached the fringe of the forest, they saw a hunter coming towards them. Trembling
with fear, the rabbit rushed to hide under a bush.
Little boy, have you seen a rabbit around here? asked the hunter.
Yes said the boy.
Where?
Right there under the bush.
The hunter fired, but the rabbit was no longer there.
The boy was again alone in the forest. He walked on and on. The sun had set and a wind had begun to blow. Leaves whirled
overhead. The boy sat down under a tree and began to think how dull life was when you are all alone. Suddenly a squirrel crept out
from a hollow in the tree.
Little boy, what are you doing here? the squirrel asked.
Im looking for a friend, said the boy.
Do you want to be my friend?
I do, said the boy.
The squirrel was very glad. She invited him into her nest, placed nuts before him and made him a soft bed out of moss.
Eat and go to sleep, she said.
The boy ate and slept. Next morning he woke up very early, got into the squirrels storage, put all the nuts into his pocket and
walked off. He walked on and on through the forest until he met a bear.
Where are you going, little boy? Teddy asked.
I am looking for a friend. Will you be my friend?
I will, roared Teddy.
So they walked on together. Suddenly a pack of vicious dogs came running from the thick of the forest.
Please dont leave me, friend! pleaded the boy.
Hurry up, climb on to my back, said Teddy. Well manage somehow to get away together.
Down raced Teddy through the woods with the dog on his heels. Seated on his back, the boy urged on: Hurry, hurry, Teddy
dear!
Teddy was panting from fatigue, his tongue was hanging out of his mouth, his fur was drenched in sweat; it was very hard for
him to run with the boy on his back. When he finally got away from the dogs, he collapsed under a fir tree and said to the boy:
Now you watch while I get some sleep.
The boy sat down, produced his penknife and began to fashion a reed pipe. A woman came walking down the forest path.
Whose bear is it lying there? asked the woman.
Mine, said the boy.
Sell me his skin; Ill pay for it, said the woman.
All right, agreed the boy, Give me the money!
The woman began to count the money, but Teddy heard it. He rose and walked off into the forest. The boy was again left
alone. Night came and dogs began to bark viciously in the forest. Frightened, cold and hungry, the boy sat there crying bitterly, when
he suddenly saw a hedgehog come out of his hole.
Why are you crying little boy? the hedgehog asked.
I feel hurt, the boy complained. I had three friends and they all left me.
The hedgehog marvelled.
Theres something wrong here, he said, shaking his head.
The boy had to tell him how it all happened.
The hedgehog said nothing in reply. He merely curled up into a ball and rolled down into his burrow.
1.

Answer the questions: (1 punct)

a) Who are the main heroes in the fable above?
b) What made the little naughty boy go into the forest?
c) What caused the boy think that life was dull?

2.

Find in the text synonyms for the following words: (1 punct)

a) forest
b) hare
c) sad

3.

Choose the right answer: (1 punct)

a) The first animal the boy met in the forest was a. a rabbit; b. a bear; c. a hedgehog
b) The squirrel was a. cold; b. friendly; c. contemptuous with the boy.
c) He a. helped; b. robbed; c. betrayed the squirrel.

4.

Which of these sentences is not true? (1 punct)

a) The little boy had no friends because he wasnt understood.
b) The boy had no friends because he kept betraying them.

5.

Sum up the text in 50-75 words. (2 puncte)

SUBIECT II
1.

Give the adverbs corresponding to the following nouns and adjectives: (1 punct)
a) day
b) beautiful
c) fast
d) lazy
e) sun

2.

Turn the verbs in the sentences below into the continuous form: (1 punct)
a) Mike, you do not listen to me.
b) His father helped him with his translation.
c) Will you take this to the post office?

3.

Give the three forms of the following irregular verbs: (1 punct)

a) to fly
b) to shine
c) to ring
d) to set
e) to go

Nota: Se acorda un punct din oficiu.

THE SAND-GLASS
SUBIECT I
Anna had been nurse to my sisters Marie and Yvonne long before I my name is Lucille was born. She had been a
servant in our house in Paris for more than twenty years and it was but natural that she should be looked upon as one belonging to the
family. Everybody loved her for she was so kind, so helpful and so constantly busy: she helped with the work in the house, she did the
sewing, and she could cook any dish better than anyone else I knew could. If ever we were in difficulties, from a torn frock to a
broken heart, it was to Anna that we went for help and comfort. In brief, she had made herself so generally useful that none of us could
ever think of starting anything of importance without first asking for her advice. Then, one day, a bolt from the blue. She came to say
that she was leaving us.
Leaving us, Anna! I said hardly to believe my ears.
Yes, Miss Lucille, she said, and then, blushing and looking rather confused, she added, Im going to be married.
You could, as they say, have knocked me down with a feather. Because we had known her all our lives, because she was the
Anna, our own Anna.
I dont suppose she was older than forty when she left us; for she did leave us and married Henry Behr. It was the greatest
mistake she ever made in her life, and though Anna never said a word about it, I am sure she regretted it almost from the day she was
married. Anna had saved quite a bit of money during the years she had been with us, and with it she bought a house in Tours. It was a
big old house, and she made her living by letting rooms in it. And when I say she made her living, I literally mean it, for Henry did
absolutely nothing at all.
My father and mother and my sisters and I at some time or other all visited Anna, but none of us liked Harry. I never once
saw him smile or say a kind word to anyone. But all this was nothing compared with his laziness. That was almost beyond belief. He
got up about ten oclock in the morning by which time Anna had been up for four or five hours and sat in his armchair, and there
he would sit until it was time to go to bed. Anna had to leave her work and hurry to bring him his breakfast; then he sat and read his
paper and smoked his pipe or slept while Anna ran about upstairs cleaning all the rooms, making the beds, doing the washing, or
running downstairs half a dozen times to answer the door bell. And in the midst of it all she had to prepare the vegetables and cook the
huge meal that he always expected at one oclock.
Well, for the next year or two, we lost touch with Anna. Tours is a hundred and fifty miles or so from Paris, and in any case
we hated to see her so unhappy, so we seldom went to see her. Then, one day, we went to Tours to visit some friends and I thought I
would call and see Anna. I went to the house where she lived and rang the bell. After a minute, I heard footsteps slowly coming down
the stairs. The door opened and I saw Anna. The moment she saw me her face lighted up with a smile. (It must be said that I used to be
her favourite ever since I was born.) I threw my arms about her neck and said: Oh, Anna, how nice to see you again! There was no
doubt about her joy at seeing me. She took me to her cosy room, neat and clean and tidy as Annas rooms always were. The room was
exactly as I had known it except that Henry wasnt there; and except for one other thing. On the table near Annas chair (the chair
where Henry always used to sit) was a big sand-glass.
Well, I noticed that Anna looked every now and then at the sand-glass and whenever she saw that the sand, a peculiar, darkcoloured sand had run through, she turned the glass and let the sand run through again. Just then the front door bell rang, but instead of
jumping up at once to answer it as Anna always used to do, she just turned the sand-glass over and sat still. When the sand had all run
through, she got up quietly and went to answer the door.
It all seemed very funny, but I didnt say anything. She soon came back and we continued our chat with Anna never failing to
keep an eye on the sand-glass and turn it upside down when all the sand had run through from the top to the bottom of it. And it was
not until I was about to take leave of Anna that I said: Where is Henry?
Hes dead, said Anna, he died a year ago.
I couldnt say Im sorry to hear it, I just sat silent.
One day, Anna went on to say, he got into one of his rages and suddenly dropped dead. There was a pause. I had him
cremated, she said. These, and she pointed to the sand, are his ashes. He never worked while he was alive, but I see to it that he does
now that he is dead. And she turned the sand-glass over again.
1.

Answer the questions: (1 punct)

a) What is the Romanian for sand-glass, and what is it good for?
b) How far was Tours from Paris?
c) Why did Anna keep turning the sand-glass over and over again?

2.

Find in the text synonyms for the following words: (1 punct)

a) to consider
b) dress
c) unbelievable

3.

Choose the right answer: (1 punct)

a) Anna was a a. cook; b. maid; c. nurse.
b) Henry was a. kind; b. lazy; c. ill.
c) Anna and her husband lived in a. Paris; b. London; c. Tours.

4.

Which of these sentences is not true? (1 punct)

a) Anna married Henry out of love and kept loving him for the rest of her life.
b) Henry was very lazy and he did nothing all day, while Anna was doing everything.

5.

Sum up the text in 50-75 words. (2 puncte)

SUBIECT II
1.

Give the three forms of the following verbs: (1 punct)

a) to lie
b) to lay
c) to find
d) to found

2.

Put the adverbs/adverbial phrases given between brackets in their right place: (1 punct)
a) The tourists have visited the newly opened department store (recently).
b) He is wounded (badly).
c) We do not go to cinema (often).

3.

Fill in the comparative or superlative form of the adjectives in brackets according to the meaning of the sentences: (1 punct)
a) Let him carry (heavy) of the parcels, he is (strong) than you.
b) These workers achieve (good) and (good) results.
c) We dont like him in the (little) degree.
d) This is the (far) I could do.

Nota: se acorda un punct din oficiu.

Revision Test

SUBIECT I
actually I received a very good education. I travelled in my youth, then took to the stage, and finally became a reporter
on an evening paper. One day, my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in London. I agreed to write them. I had to
try begging myself in order to get the facts upon which to base my articles. When an actor, I learned all the secrets of making up. I
decided to turn to account this experience for the new position.
So I painted my face, and made a scar across my face and a twist at one side of my lip. Then with a head of red hair, and a
beggars dress, I took my station in the busiest part of the city as a match-seller, but really as a beggar. When I returned home in the
evening I found, to my surprise, that I had received no less than twenty-six shillings and two pence.
But, as it often happened, I was up to the neck in debt then. I had not enough money to settle with my creditors at the
moment. A sudden idea came to me; I asked my creditors to wait two weeks, and got a leave at my office. I spent the time in begging
in the city. In ten days I had the money and pay the debt.
Well, you can imagine how hard it was for me to return to my work at two pounds a week, when I knew that I could earn as
much in a day by painting my face, laying my cap on the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my pride and the money,
but the money won at last. So I sat day after day in the corner, filling my pockets with coins.
Soon I found that I had a considerable sum of money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London could earn that
much. As I grew richer, I bought a house in the country, and married. My wife knew simply that I had some business in the city
1) Find in the text synonyms for the following words:
a) to want
b) to go back
c) clothes
d) to discover
e) quiet

(1 punct)

2) There is one true statement in the following three. Which one is that?
a) The author has always been a beggar.
b) The narrator got used to begging in the city as he earned a lot of money.
c) He earned as much by begging as by working as a reporter.

(1 punct)

3) Choose the correct alternative:

a) The narrators official job is a) an actor; b) a beggar; c) a reporter.
b) At his work, he won a) 26 shillings and 2 pence; b) 2 pounds; c) 26 pounds.
c) He told his wife he a) was rich; b) was a beggar; c) had some things to take care of in the city.
(1 punct)
4) Answer the following questions:
a) What kind of jobs had the character had before?
b) Why did he become a beggar?
c) What did he choose in the end?

(1 punct)

5) Sum up the text in about 50 words.

(1 punct)

SUBIECT II
Put the words in brackets in the correct form:
I see him (cross) the street.
If you study more, you (get) better grades.
Dont disturb him! He (eat) now.
Give me two (knife) and two forks.
We last (see) each other in 1995.

You (send) the letter yet?

I asked the girl how old she (be).
Then I remembered we (meet) before.
I like (listen) to music.
Tomorrow at this time we (fly) to London.
(5 puncte)

BEST FRIEND

SUBIECT I
One day a rich man was returning home on horseback. His dog accompanied him as he always used to do on such occasions.
The man had a bag full of money and some valuables with him. After riding for an hour or so, he got off his horse and lay down to rest
under a tree. He took the bag and placed it by his side.
Soon he stood up, got his horse and rode away. He forgot about his bag. But his dog noticed this. He ran after his master,
overtook him, and by barking and howling tried to stop him.
The man did not understand anything. Then the faithful animal tried to stop the horse by biting the horses heels.
Oh, my dog has gone mad, thought the man, as the dog continued to bark and bite now with greater strength than before.
Now the man was sure that his dog was mad. He took a pistol from his pocket and took aim. In a moment the poor animal fell
on the ground.
The man rode on slowly, but he was very unhappy. He was sure he had killed the dog. It is better to lose all this money than
my dog, my very true friend, he said to himself.
And suddenly he remembered his bag. He stretched out his hand for it, but there was no bag. In a moment the man
understood everything. He turned his horse and rode back. He saw the marks of blood on the road, but the dog was not there. At last he
reached the place where the forgotten bag lay. His dog was near it.
When the dog saw his master, he was very glad. He tried to rise, but he had no strength. He only licked his masters hand,
closed his eyes and died.
1) Find in the text words with the same meaning as:
a) to put
b) crazy
c) to go on
d) power
e) gun
2) Which of the following statements are true and which are false?
a) The mans dog had gone mad.
b) He preferred killing the dog to losing his money.
c) The dog tried to remind his master of his forgotten bag.
3) Choose the right answer:
a) The dog accompanied the man a) by accident; b) as usual; c) to protect him.
b) The man a) hanged; b) shot; c) kicked his dog.
c) The dog died because a) his master had shot him; b) the horse had stepped on him; c) he had been poisoned.
4) Answer the following questions:
a) How did the dog tried to remind his master of the forgotten bag?
b) What did the man first think about his dog?
c) What kind of feelings did he have after shooting the dog?
5) Sum up the text in about 50 words.
SUBIECT II
Put the words in brackets in the right form:
a) In the yard there were a few (goose) and hens.
b) This exercise is (difficult) than the one before.
c) This Arab has many (wife).
d) I (be) here since 5 oclock.
e) You ever (be) in England?

f) When I went to visit him, he (fix) his car.

g) My girlfriend is (pretty) in the whole world.
h) The more you eat, the (fat) you get.
i) He was walking very (slow).
j) I dont like (read) newspapers.