MINISTERUL EDUCAŢIEI NAŢIONALE / INSPECTORATUL ŞCOLAR JUDEŢEAN SIBIU

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

FAZA JUDEŢEANĂ 18 MARTIE 2017
CLASA a XII-a, Secţiunea A

• Question I (50 points)

Write a 400-word opinion essay on the following theme: “The huge amounts of money invested in
sports has destroyed any chance of fair play in such competitions.”

• Question II (25 points)

You have been helping to run a new music club at your college. Now the college principal wants to get
more people involved with the club and attract new members. The club organiser has asked you to write a
report for the principal outlining what the club does, explaining the club’s future plans and suggesting
ways of getting more people involved with the music club.

Write a 300-word report.

• Question III (25 points)

A. Fill each of the numbered blanks in the following passage. Use only one word in each space. (10
points)

Cheating at Computer Games

It’s something any gamer will tell you. Computer games shouldn’t be so hard that they drive you mad, but
1) ….. should they be so easy that they 2) ….. to offer enough of a challenge. Inevitably, however, you
get stuck sometimes. What do you do then? Ask the internet, of course. Many other gamers have figured
3)…. what to do and posted the solution online. The answer is just a few clicks away.

Purists say this is cheating and argue that solving a puzzle yourself, 4) ….gamers had to do in the old
days, might have taken longer, but it was more satisfying. 5) ….you know that detailed “walkthroughs”
are available online, free of charge, for almost any game, the temptation is to ask for virtual help at the
first sign of trouble, 6)……robs players of a true sense of achievement.

I say this is rubbish. 7)…..a search and downloading a solution has many merits. It stops me throwing my
controller at the screen, and makes me more likely to finish games 8) ….than giving up when they start to
get tricky. So 9) ….in all, I get better value for money. The search is also a reminder that I am a member
of a broader community, many of 10) .…have been this way before.

B. Read the text below and use the word given in capital on the right to form words that fit in the
gaps.
The words in capitals are given in the order you need to use them. (10 points)

Do Green Products make us better People?

A recent report in the journal Psychological Science was entitled “Do Green
products make us better People”? The answer, 11) ….to two Canadian 11)ACCORD
psychologists, was most 12) …not. After conducting a series of experiments, 12)DEFINITE
they reached the conclusion that those who buy 13)….ethical products were 13)SUPPOSE
just as likely to be cheats and 14) …as those who did not. They described this 14)CRIME

Clasa a XII-a
MINISTERUL EDUCAŢIEI NAŢIONALE / INSPECTORATUL ŞCOLAR JUDEŢEAN SIBIU
OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ
FAZA JUDEŢEANĂ 18 MARTIE 2017
CLASA a XII-a, Secţiunea A

paradox as “moral balancing” or “compensatory ethics”. In other words, there

was no direct correlation between a social or ethical conscience about one
aspect of life, and 15) …in another. 15) BEHAVE
Despite being an occasional buyer of organic vegetables, I myself take great
16) ….from the study because it fits with a long-held hypothesis of my own. It 16)SATISFY
is what I call the theory of finite niceness. We use the word “nice” to describe
those people we encounter who seem 17) …and kind. Yet, it is not a word we 17)CHARM
use often to describe those to whom we are closest, because we know there is a
18) …in their characters. We understand them and realise that they are people 18)COMPLEX
who 19) …have both faults and virtues, and that these do 20) …come out in 19)DOUBT
different ways. 20)VARIABLE

C. For each of the sentences below, write a new sentence as similar as possible in meaning to the
original sentence, but using the word given. The word must not be altered in any way. Use between
3 and 6 words, including the word given. (5 points)

21) My boss says he has no intention of making anyone redundant, even though the situation is difficult
for the company right now. DREAM
My boss says he ………………………………………..off, even though the situation is difficult for
the company right now.

22) They say New York was a rather aggressive city 20 years ago but it feels quite friendly these days.
SUPPOSED
New York ……………………………………..a rather aggressive city 20 years ago but it feels quite
friendly these days.

23) Jenny was the person who really didn’t want to tidy up after the party. OBJECTED
It ……………………………….. up after the party.

24) “As we climb higher, it gets harder to breathe,” our guide warned us at the start of the trek. THE
Our guided warned us that the higher ………………………………………get.

25) Only when John was promoted to his new job did he realise how much he was appreciated by his
colleagues. UNTIL
It …………………………………..his new job that he realised how much he was appreciated by his
colleagues.

NOTĂ: TOATE SUBIECTELE SUNT OBLIGATORII. TIMP DE LUCRU – 3 ORE.

NU SE ACORDĂ PUNCT DIN OFICIU.

Clasa a XII-a