COMMON ENGLISH EXAM

2 BAC Science, January 2024, S1

FULL NAME: ………………………………. MARK: ………………………………
CLASS: …………………………. TIME ALLOTTED: 2 hours

TATA MILOUDA

[1] Tata Milouda is a Moroccan poetess, born in 1950 in a small village located near Settat, 57 Km away from
Casablanca. She never went to school because she was compelled to get married at the age of 14 by her parents.
Then, she was automatically obliged to take care for a family that consists of 24 people. She suffered for years
from the violence of her husband. She was deprived from going out and was not able to express herself. No one
was beside her when she was crying and asking for help.
[2] In 1989, she left her ex-husband, leaving her six kids in Morocco. She arrived in France with a tourist
visa. Tata Milouda was able to say only three words in French: « Bonjour », « Merci », « Au revoir » and only
had 100 Francs in her pocket. She started working as a maid for a long time, then as a driver, and last as a
babysitter. But, at the age of 50, she joined literacy classes in the cultural centre where people learn how to
write, read and speak, and that was actually a new chapter in her life. That chapter brought her from dark to
light as she said.
[3] Today she has a strong message and a role model to all women that lived or are currently living the same
situation as the case of Fatima, Aisha, Khadija, Malika, Saadia, Christina and Claudine. She’s telling and
retelling them to be brave, strong and have some will.
[4] We can actually imagine the violence that passed on from her grandmother to her mother, and then from
her mother-in-law to her, this violence and suffering that unfold generation after generation. No Moroccan
woman can deny that she is a symbol of real ambition and a proof that struggling in life can’t be a barrier to
success. She fought all the rules by herself and turned her weakness to strength. For her, it’s never too late for
education!
Ref. dialna.net / https://dialna.net › tata-milouda-the

I. COMPREHENSION (15 POINTS) BASE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT

A. Fill in the chart with the right information from the text: (3pts; 1pt each.)
TATA MILOUDA
1 Date of birth …………………………………
2 Place of birth …………………………………
3 Year when she left her ex-husband …………………………………
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 B. Answer these questions: (4 pts; 1pt each).

1. How old is Tata Milouda now?

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2. Why didn’t she go to school?
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3. Where did she join literacy classes?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. What do you think of Tata Milouda’s story?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
C. Complete the following sentences from the text: (3 pts; 1pt each).

1. When Tata Milouda was compelled to get married at the age of 14, she…...........................
......................................................................................................................................................
2. When Tata Milouda arrived in France with a tourist visa, she................................................
.....................................................................................................................................................
3. Tata Milouda’s strong message to all women today is to.........................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................

D. Find in the text words that mean almost the same as: (3 pts; 1pt each)

1. forced (paragraph 1): ...................................................

2. determination (paragraph 3): .....................................
3. happen (paragraph 4) : ..................................................

E. what do the underlined words in the text refer to? (2 pts; 1pt each)

1. them (paragraph 3) : ....................................................

2. her (paragraph 4) : ...................................................

II. LANGUAGE (15 POINTS)

A. Fill in each gap with an appropriate word from the list: (2pts; 1pt each).
1. Many gifted youths are able to understand ………………concepts and ideas.
a) skills b) challenge c) abstract
2. People from Marrakesh have a great sense of ....................
a) jokes b) humour c) fun

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 B. give the correct form of the words between brackets (2pts; 1pt each).
1. ................................education offers an open and welcoming environment to everyone (Include).
2. ...............................development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 (Sustain).

C. Fill in each gap with the appropriate word from the list (2pts; 1pt each).

had to / can’t / should have / should / may

1. Last Monday, I .................stay late to watch my favourite film on TV.

2. He .....................................phoned Peter before flying to New York.

D. Rewrite the following sentences as suggested. (3 pts; 1pt each )

1. Tata Milouda joined literacy classes. She wants to learn how to read and write.
Tata Milouda joined literacy classes so that ....................................................
2. Some Moroccan women are illiterate. They benefit from pictures in magazines.
Although...........................................................................................................
3. My grandmother is illiterate. She uses the magazine’s pictures to understand what the magazine
is talking about.
In spite of..........................................................................................................

E. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense. (2 pts; 1pt each)
1. My sister (study) ..............................for ten years before she got married.
2. By the end of 2030, world population (grow) .......................substantially.

F. Match each expression with its appropriate function (4 pts; 1pt each)

1 ‘’I’m not sure I got your point. Would you clarify that, please?’’ a Request
2 ‘’Would you mind showing me the way to the, please?’’ b Opinion
3 ‘’For me, I don’t think we have to bother about our books’’. c Agreement
4 ‘’I share the same point of view. Family life is so important.’’ d Clarification

1. ……………… 2. ……………... 3. …………………. 4. …………………..

III. WRITING (10 POINTS)

Task 1: Complete the following paragraph (4 points)

There are different ways people can do to protect the environment. First, .............................
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Task 2: A lot of people in developing countries suffer from illiteracy. Write a short
paragraph about some practical solutions to fight this phenomenon (6 points)
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