OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ PENTRU CLASA A IX-A

ETAPA LOCALĂ - IANUARIE 2017

SECȚIUNEA B
SUBIECTUL I (25 de puncte)

1. You are going to read a newspaper article. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B or C)
which you think fits best according to the text. (16 points; 2 points/item)

Mount Rushmore

Every year about two million people visit Mount Rushmore, where the faces of four U.S.
presidents were carved in granite by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son, the late Lincoln
Borglum. The creation of Mount Rushmore monument took 14 years – from 1927 to 1941 – and
nearly a million dollars. These were times when money was difficult to come by and many people
were jobless.To move the more than 400, 000 tons of rock, Borglum hired laid-off workers from the
closed-down mines in the Black Hills area. He taught these men to dynamite, drill, carve, and finish
the granite as they were hanging in midair in his specially devised chairs, which had many safety
features. Borglum was proud of the fact that no workers were killed or severely injured during the
years of blasting and carving.

During the carving, many changes in the original design had to be made to keep the carved
heads free of large fissures that were uncovered. However, not all the cracks could be avoided, so
Borglum concocted a mixture of granite dust, white lead, and linseed oil to fill them.

Every winter, water from melting snows gets into the fissures and expands as it freezes,
making the fissures bigger. Consequently, every autumn maintenance work is done to refill the
cracks. The repairers swing out in space over a 500-foot drop and fix the monument with the same
mixture that Borglum used to preserve this national monument for future generations.

1. This passage is mainly about

a. the visitors to the Mount Rushmore monument

b. the sculptor of the Mount Rushmore monument
c. the creation of the Mount Rushmore monument

2. The word “these” in line 4 refers to

a. faces
b. dollars
c. times

3. The men who Borglum hired were

a. unemployed miners
b. Black Hills volunteers
c. trained sculptors
4. The word “devised” in line 7 is closest in meaning to

a. designed
b. described
c. elevated

5. It can be inferred from the passage that

a. the workers made mistakes when blasting

b. the heads are not as originally planned
c. the cracks caused serious injuries

6. In line 11, the word “fissures” refers to

a. cracks
b. designs
c. heads

7. The word “avoided” in line 11 is closest in meaning to

a. circumvented
b. prevented
c. improvised

8. Borglum’s mixture for filling cracks was

a. very expensive
b. bought at the Black Hills miners
c. invented by the sculptor himself

2. You are going to read part of an article in which four people talk about the sports lessons they
had at school. For questions 1-9 choose from the people (A -D). The people may be chosen more
than once.
(9 points; 1 point/item)

Which person

thinks sports encourage cooperation? 1

believes that experience of losing is important? 2

thinks one benefit of sports is learning to concentrate? 3

4
compares academic subjects to sports?
 believes the Olympic spirit is essential today? 5

6
thinks schools should teach unusual sports?

7
thinks sports can teach objectivity and justice?

thinks diet and health should be taught with sports? 8

9
thinks sports can make some children feel uncomfortable?

Sports at school
A Diane Townson

Looking back, I did enjoy sports lessons, even though I think most schools in those days assumed sports
were basically for boys, and girls weren’t encouraged to do well at sports. That attitude really annoys me,
because the whole point of sports at school is to help kids develop the right attitude, and it doesn’t really
matter how good you are. If you can’t run as fast as an Olympic athlete, that doesn’t matter – what
matters is that you run as fast as you can. Schools are highly competitive environments and sports can
teach children the importance of teamwork. To do well in almost everything else at school, like maths or
history, you are rewarded for individual effort, but sports are about working together towards a common
goal. Sports at school give children who are not high achievers a chance to excel at something.

B Colin Campbell

My own memories of sports lessons at school aren’t particularly good, but that’s mainly because of the
type of school I went to. It was very unusual by British standards, with old-fashioned ways of teaching,
and the headteacher didn’t really think sports mattered at all. The school rarely organized sports events
and never invested in sports equipment. There was very little emphasis on the importance of eating
sensibly and the benefits of keeping fit and exercising properly. I believe that issues like obesity,
anorexia, nutritious value of food, etc. should be included in sports lessons at school. Children should be
encouraged to take part in competitive sports. Being competitive is part of human nature, and doing sports
can provide an excellent outlet for this aggressiveness. Winning at sports can build up your self-esteem
and confidence. On the other hand, since you can’t expect to win every time, sports can teach you how to
be humble and realistic.

C Roger Dias

There are obvious benefits in having good sports classes at school. Children stay fit and learn the
importance of fair play. Schools can introduce children to sports they would never otherwise have the
opportunity of doing. For instance, I grew up in a big city, and we hardly ever travelled to the countryside
as a family. At school we had a climbing wall in the gym, and we learnt rock climbing in sports class.
When I moved to Europe, I took up rock climbing and was surprised by how good I was at it. Schools
should offer a wide range of sports from the most popular ones, like football and basketball, to the less
popular ones, like table tennis and climbing. Unfortunately, sports are often regarded as a sort of optional
extra by certain schools and this is not reflected in the children’s attitude to them.

D Helen Smith

The main point about sports is that they encourage peaceful competition. I think that’s the basis of the
Olympic spirit of Classical Greece, which nowadays is more important than ever before. Sports can teach
you how to discipline yourself, how to remain focused on what you’re doing and how to apply yourself to
achieving a goal. I don’t think sports are really about the sort of aggression and rage that you see
sometimes in football matches, for instance. I certainly think teachers should discourage any form of
aggression during sports classes. On top of that, we need to be more sensitive towards the feeling children
who are not fit or good at sports. Taking part in a sports lesson can be a major source of embarrassment
and traumatic experience for less athletic children.

SUBIECTUL II (50 de puncte)

You read a story starting with the following words:

`Mr.Stark woke up and was surprised to find the gallery so quiet and almost dark. Just in front of him on
the wall there was a forgotten painting by some Old Master. As he looked at it, he suddenly remembered
where he was. The dreadful realization came over him all at once: he had been shut up in the museum!`

Continue this narrative-descriptive story.

Write about 160-180 words

SUBIECTUL III (25 de puncte)

This is part of a letter from an English penfriend, Alex.

Congratulations, you have been chosen President of the Students' Council, that 's really great news! So
tell me, what does it feel like to know that your schoolmates trust you so much?
I know you won't have a lot of free time from now on, you'll be busy organizing activities. What do you
plan on doing? If you are short of ideas, I can surely help.
I can't wait to hear more news from you.
Write your letter in response in 120-150 words. Do not write any addresses.

Notă:
Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii.
Răspunsurile se transcriu pe foaia de concurs.
Timpul de lucru: 180 de minute.
Punctaj maxim: 100 de puncte.
Nu se acordă puncte din oficiu.

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