Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării

Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar

Examenul de bacalaureat 2009

Proba E/F
Proba scrisă la Limba Engleză
L1 - Intensiv 3-4 ore

SUBIECTUL I ( 30 de puncte) Varianta 011

Read the text below and complete the following tasks.

Demand for whales is much less now than it was during the peak period of commercial
whaling from 1870 to about 1935. (1) … Nowadays their only commercial value is as food,
especially in Japan, where whale meat is a traditional delicacy. The Japanese insist they want only
to hunt whales that can be harvested without a threat to their future. (2) … It is, however, part of
their heritage, and a matter of principle.
Setsuo Izumi, a whaler for 37 years, says “What people eat is different from country to
country. It's a cultural thing.” The IWC moratorium has stopped him hunting minke - favoured for its
mild taste - but he insists they are not under threat. “I see more minke out at sea than I used to and
fishermen say they are eating all the fish. (3) …“
Joji Morishita, deputy director of the far-seas fisheries at the Japanese Fisheries Agency,
thinks many western nations have double standards: “Wildlife for them is something to see and
admire, and (4) …. But in the US they catch 5.6 million wild deer a year. And how would the British
react if Hindus tried to ban killing and eating cows, which they consider holy?” He also emphasises
the question of scale - after all, the Japanese and Norwegians cannot eat all the whales in the
ocean.

1. Four sentences/phrases have been removed from the text. Select the appropriate
sentence/phrases for each gap in the text. There is one extra sentence/phrase which you do
not need to use. 4 points

A. you should only eat animals such as cows and pigs that are reared.
B. Whales were then hunted primarily for their oil and wax, which were used to lubricate machinery
and make candles.
C. Why should we not be allowed to catch them in our coastal waters?
D. Commercial whaling is of no economic significance.
E. killing animals is banned.

2. Explain the underlined words. 6 points

3. Sum up the text in about 50 words. 10 points

4. For the following questions, choose the answer (A, B, C, D) which fits according to the
text. 6 points

1. According to the text, what is the Japanese people’s attitude towards whaling?
A. They don’t believe whales will become extinct.
B. They see whales as holy and won’t eat them.
C. Most of the traditional Japanese cuisine is based on whale meat.
D. Many whales are too fat to be tasty.

2. What did Setsumo Izumi do for most of his life?

A. killed whales for pleasure.
B. was a professional whale hunter
C. was an explorer in the Norwegian Seas
D. he tried to become a fishery manager
 Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării
Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar
3. What does “the question of scale” imply?
A. There are too many whales reported to the population of the two countries.
B. Generally the Japanese are small, so they don’t eat much.
C. Norwegians are forbidden to eat whale.
D. There are too many large bones in a whale.

5. Comment on the following statement: Wildlife is something to see and admire. (100 words)
4 points