INSPECTORATUL SCOLAR AL MUNICIPIULUI BUCURESTI Numele ___________________

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZA 2007 Prenumele tatalui ___________

Clasa a X-a
Faza pe scoala Prenumele _________________

Scoala ____________________

I. (15 puncte) Read the text below and decide which variant A, B,
C or D best fits each space. Circle the respective letter:

The Cairns crocodile farm in Australia exports something in the region of 4,500 crocodile skins a year to over 20
countries around the world. The skins are used to make a____1 of goods from watch____2 to designer handbags in
a trade worth upwards of 130 million pounds a year. Meat is a by-product, though Australian farms have____3 a
market for that too, ____4 it to local restaurants, where it is served mainly to tourists.
But crocodile farming also____5 a more serious purpose. In the 1960s, over-hunting and destruction of their habitat
very nearly____6 to the extinction of half of the 20 or____7 different species of crocodiles. This decade was
the____8 of the skin trade, with some four or five million coming onto the world market every year. Then, in the
early 1970s crocodiles won international protection and hunting was _____9. The trade has now fallen to around
1.5 million skins per year, although the____ 10 majority of these are still illegal.
Sustainable farming, ____ 11 by such countries as Australia and Thailand, has helped to preserve the habitat of
these protected animals, and____12 have been increasing____ 13 as a result. There are now about 100,000
saltwater crocodiles in Australia (70,000 in farms), almost as many as before the skin trade____14 off. Roughly one
third of the species are common enough to harvest, another third are off the critical list, and only the last third____
15 endangered.

1. A display B variation C scope D range

2. A straps B bonds C ties D belts
3. A met B worked C offered D found
4. A supplying B making C producing D encouraging
5. A fits B serves C pays D ensures
6. A amounted B led C brought D rose
7. A so B such C some D many
8. A top B summit C height D extreme
9. A banned B expelled C disqualified D disallowed
10. A vast B high C wide D deep
11. A admitted B backed C consented D conceded
12. A groups B counts C quantities D numbers
13. A surely B firmly C soundly D steadily
14. A set B came C took D sold
15. A remain B keep C last D rest

II. (10 puncte) Fill the gaps in the text below with one suitable word:

About a billion years after the earth_____(1) formed, the first signs of life appeared. Three billion years elapsed
before creatures became complex_____(2) to leave fossils their descendants could recognize and learn_____(3).
These were shelled creatures called trilobites, followed by jawless fish, the first vertebrates. _____(4) the Devonian
period, great upheavals_____(5) in the earth’s crust,_____(6) in the formation of the mountains and in the ebb and
flow of oceans. In the aftermath, beds of mud rich_____(7) organic matter nourished vegetation and, as a result,
insects, scorpions, and spiders_____(8). Next developed the amphibians,_____(9) of fish that had crawled out of
fresh_____(10).
 III. (10 puncte) Read the text below and use the words given in capitals
below to form words that fit in the gaps. The words in capitals are
given in the order you need to use them:

IMPRESS, ADMIT, PSYCHIC, DEFEND, TESTIMONY, SPOT,

ILLITERATE, PREDICT, MOVE, GUILT

The police were under the____1 that they had a watertight case but they were wrong. Most of their evidence was
deemed____2 and their star witness proved too cowardly to take the stand, explaining his absence with a sick-note
from his____3. The defence built up the____4 as a totally trustworthy person who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Some old
friends and accomplices were bussed in to____5 and bear witness to the____6 reputation he enjoyed in the
community. After talk of his battle with____7 and stories of the abuse he suffered in his childhood, the verdict
was____8. Visibly____9, the jury spokesman tearfully gulped ‘Not _____10’.

IV. (15 puncte) Put the verbs in brackets in the right tense and voice:

Henry Blodgett looked at his wristwatch and____(1-to see) that it was two o’clock in the morning. In despair,
he____(2-to slam) shut the textbook, he____(3-to study) and let his head____(4-to sink) onto his arms on the table
in front of him. He knew he never ____(5-to pass) that examination the following day; the more he studied
geometry the less he____(6-to understand) it. Mathematics in general had always been difficult for him and now
he____(7-to find) that geometry was impossible for him____(8- to learn). And if he____(9-to flunk) it, he was
through with college; he had flunked three other courses in his first two years and another failure this year____(10-
to cause) automatic expulsion. He wanted that college degree badly too, since it _____(11-to be) indispensable for
the career he____(12-to choose) and worked toward. Only a miracle____(13-can) save him now. And suddenly an
idea____(14-to strike) him. Why____(15- not to try) magic ? (F. Brown, Honeymoon in Hell)

V. (5 puncte) Rephrase the following sentences so that the meaning stays the same:

1. We can hardly wait to see you again.

We’re looking forward………………………………

2. ‘ What are you going to do about it?’ they asked him.

They asked him …………………………………….
3. I couldn’t phone you because I had lost your phone number.
If………………………………………………………
4. They sent us all the information we needed.
We……………………………………………………
5. Probably it was already late when you decided to tell him the truth.
It…………………………………………………… (pagina 2 clasa a X-a)
VI. (5 puncte) Underline the 5 unnecessary words in the text below:

New York City is being the most enchanting place there is. You may not think so at first for the city is in many a
ways the epitome of all that is wrong in modern America, but after a week or so, the pace and adrenaline rush will
get off to you and the shock will have give way to myth. Walking round downtown Manhattan has had such
massive romance that you would have to be made of stone not to feel it.

VII. (10 puncte) The following text contains 10 mistakes. Underline them in the text and write the correct
variants in the spaces provided.

The medieval crusades, when Western european knights and adventurers attempted to seize Jerusalem from the
hands of the Seljuk Turks, are widely misunderstood by most people in the West, who think of them as glamorous
and heroic. True, displays of bravery were occasionally impressing, but in fact the crusaders were for the most part
ignorant and misguided. For example, they viewed the Byzantine Emperor, through who’s lands they have to pass,
as an anoying irrelevance, denying him even so much as a consultative role into the proceedings. In reality, his long
experience with the Saracens had given him a not inconsiderable knowledge of their fighting methods and politics.
His advise, had the crusaders chosen to follow it, would had been absolutely invaluable. Instead, they repeatedly
dismissed it as worthless, with the result that the crusaders eventual dwindled to ignominious fail.

1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.

VIII. (5 puncte) Rewrite the sentences in such a way as to build a logical paragraph. Show the correct
punctuation.
A. However, that night a terrible wind was blowing at an estimated 80 miles an hour and it was weakening the
structure.
B. This disaster remains the worst bridge accident in the history of British railways.
C. As the train crossed the bridge, the structure collapsed, throwing the train into the water below and killing
all 75 passengers.
D. At 7:30 p.m. on December 28th 1879, the train to Dundee carrying 75 passengers was speeding towards the
newly-built Tay Bridge.
E. This was an enormous structure supported by huge pillars.

1 2 3 4 5

IX. (25 puncte) Write a 150-word paragraph in which you describe a place, real or imaginary, which
impressed you. Include, at least, two of these: OUTSTANDING, BREATHLESS, GRIPPING, TWILIGHT,
RAINBOW ((Use the back of this page to do the task.)

NOTA: Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii. Timp de lucru: 3 ore. (pagina 3 clasa a X-a)