ȘCOALA NAȚIONALĂ DE STUDII POLITICE ȘI ADMINISTRATIVE

FACULTATEA DE COMUNICARE ȘI RELAȚII PUBLICE

ADMITERE 2020
SUBIECTE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

1. Write a story with the following ending: “That was the first time I’d had such an
experience.” Use 180-200 words.

2. Write a story that begins with the following sentence: “He should never have been there,
but...” Use 180-200 words.

3. What were your favourite extracurricular activities when you were a high school student?
Give details. Use 180-200 words.

4. What career would you like to pursue? Use specific reasons and details to motivate your
choice. Use 180-200 words.

5. Which foreign country would you like to visit in the near future? Use specific reasons
and details to motivate your choice. Use 180-200 words.

6. What do you think is the ideal part-time job for a student? You can write about personal
experiences (if any) or friends’ experiences. Use 180-200 words.

7. If you could change one important thing about your hometown, what would you change?
Give reasons to support your choice. Use 180-200 words.

8. If you were the mayor of your hometown, what project would you finance: a. an arts
centre for poor children or b. an NGO fighting for environment protection? Use specific
reasons and examples to motivate your choice. Use 180-200 words.

9. Your college wants to involve students in a social action project: caring for the elderly,
playing with sick children in hospitals, teaching maths to children in poor communities.
Which project would you choose and why? Give reasons to support your choice. Use
180-200 words.

10. A student magazine has asked you to contribute an article recommending a place that you
know well as the best location for the summer holidays for low-budget students. Include
in your article a description of the place and some recommendations about places to visit
and activities to enjoy in the area. Use 180-200 words.

11. You are in charge of your high school’s self-study centre, which has not received
appropriate funding for some time. Write a report to the principal explaining the
problems you have and giving recommendations to improve the services offered to
students. Use 180-200 words.

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12. What are some important qualities of a good teacher? Use specific details and examples
to explain why these qualities are important. Use 180-200 words.

13. The widespread use of the internet has given young people access to new ways of
learning. Do young people benefit from the wide availability of information? In what
ways? Use 180-200 words.

14. Some students prefer to use books and articles to learn and do research, others prefer to
use the internet exclusively. Which do you prefer and why? Use specific examples to
support your answers. Use 180-200 words.

15. What extracurricular activities should universities encourage students to attend? Use
specific reasons and examples to motivate your choice. Use 180-200 words.

16. “People nowadays spend too much money on entertainment.” How far do you agree with
this statement? Express your opinion in an essay. Use 200-250 words.

17. “People work harder today than in the past.” How far do you agree with this statement?
Write an essay giving your opinion on the issue. Use 200-250 words.

18. Many high school graduates now apply to universities abroad. Discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of studying abroad. Use 200-250 words.

19. What are the advantages/disadvantages of working while still attending school? Use 200-
250 words to answer the task.

20. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Traditional methods of teaching
(lectures, the use of printed materials, written exams) are outdated. Use specific reasons
to support your opinion, in 200-250 words.

21. Have young people become too dependent on the internet for entertainment? Express
your viewpoint. Use 200-250 words.

22. An online student magazine has asked its visitors to write essays giving their opinion on
the following statement: “Self-help books do not really help you develop your
personality.” Write your essay, discussing how far you agree with this statement. Use
200-250 words.

23. It seems that our way of life has had a negative impact on the environment in the last two
centuries. What changes should we make in order to improve the health of our planet?
Use 200-250 words to answer the task.

24. Are written exams a relevant means of testing students’ knowledge? Write an essay
giving your opinion on this issue. Use 200-250 words.

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25. Some people claim that the internet has destroyed communication among friends and
family. How far do you agree with this statement? Use 200-250 words to answer the task.

26. Do students learn better in conventional or non-conventional settings (a traditional

classroom versus an open-air class, for instance)? Use specific reasons to support your
opinion, in 200-250 words.

27. How far do you agree with this statement: “Parents should decide their children’s career.”
Use specific reasons to support your opinion, in 200-250 words.

28. How far do you agree with this statement: “Children should help with household chores.”
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer, in 200-250 words.

29. How far do you agree with this statement: “It is more important to earn a lot of money
than be happy at work.” Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer, in
200-250 words.

30. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? It is more important for students
to study history and literature than it is for them to study science and mathematics. Use
specific reasons and examples to support your opinion, in 200-250 words.

31. “Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of power, but also by the abuse of liberty.”
(James Madison) What is your opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples
to support your answer, in 220-280 words.

32. “The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t
have time to complain. I’m going to press on.” (Barack Obama) What is your opinion on
this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer, in 220-280 words.

33. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” (Walt Disney) Starting from this quote, discuss the
importance of dreaming in achieving your purpose. Use 220-280 words to answer the
task.

34. “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the
worst.” (Aristotle) What is your opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples
to support your answer, in 220-280 words.

35. “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are
the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” (Confucius) What is your
opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer, in 220-
280 words.

36. “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a cleverer devil.”
(C. S. Lewis) What is your opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to
support your answer, in 220-280 words.

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 37. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” (Confucius)
What is your opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer, in 220-280 words.

38. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” (Samuel Beckett)
What is your opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your
answer, in 220-280 words.

39. “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” (Warren Buffett) What is your opinion on
this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer, in 220-280 words.

40. “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” (Euripides) What is your
opinion on this issue? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer, in 220-
280 words.

41. Read the following text and answer the task below:

“What does loneliness look like? Is it the elderly or the self-contained dying alone? It’s easy to
dismiss loneliness as a condition of the outsider and the misfit. As human beings, we are
programmed to be social and sociable, collaborative and community-minded; the lonely makes a
great many of us feel uncomfortable, ill at ease, suspicious at an unconscious level.
‘At an evolutionary level, as someone presents as lonely then their fellow humans perceive them
as having no social worth,’ explains Dr. Randolph Ness, eminent psychiatrist and pioneer of
evolutionary medicine. ‘The instinctive logic is that if other people don’t want to be around an
individual, then why should they? The result is further ostracism.’
Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical Social have shown that social rejection
causes similar brain activity to being beaten up; the pain is palpable.
For all our high-tech preoccupations with online gaming, posting artful shots of our lunch on
social media or playing Sudoku on our phones, people need people up close, face-to-face, with
all the warmth, affirmation and feelgood hormones that such contact generates. Loneliness is
worse for health than obesity or smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It increases risk of death by 29 per
cent and is closely linked to a range of conditions including heart disease, stroke and
Alzeiheimer’s.
It’s shocking that we have allowed this disconnect to happen. For all our social media
connections, the atrophying of meaningful, real-life connections is devastating. The dystopia, the
undesirable imaginary world, of having hundreds of friends on Facebook but nobody to talk to
has come to pass.
Studies show young people, plagued by Fomo (fear of missing out) as they enviously scrutinise
each other’s lives on Instagram, are more at risk than the elderly, but no one is immune. This is
the face of our digital age, and it’s no exaggeration to call it a crisis.
‘Meaningful relationships are rooted in reciprocity’, says Dr. Nesse. ‘Lonely people can give off
an air of such desperation that they repel everyone around them; there is no instant fix. Both
parties in a friendship need to feel needed and appreciated and that takes time and trust.’
Experts would remind us that loneliness is originally a perfectly healthy impulse. Just as hunger
prompts us to eat and shivering sends us looking for warmth, so loneliness is a reminder that we
have had enough solitude and we need company.

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The tragedy is that all too often the lonely reach out – and there is nobody there to take their
hand.”

(adapted from Judith Woods, What does loneliness look like in 2020?, in The Telegraph,
online edition, 24 January, 2020)

Now write an essay discussing the main ideas in the text. How far do you agree with the
viewpoints expressed in the text? Use 220-280 words.

42. Read the following text and answer the task below:

“The job aspirations of children have changed little over the past 20 years despite the tech
revolution, with teenagers still wanting to become teachers, doctors and lawyers, a global study
has found. It suggests sweeping changes to the world of work over the past two decades have had
little impact, even on digital natives, when it comes to choosing a career path.
Their career expectations have become even more concentrated in fewer occupations over the
past two decades despite the rise of social media and technologies like artificial intelligence,
according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD).
Traditional occupations dating back centuries such as lawyers or police officers continue to
capture the imagination of young people around the world. The findings come from the latest
Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) survey of 15-year-olds in 79 countries
and regions. It has lead to concerns that career aspirations do not match the jobs that will be
created in future.
Andreas Schleicher, the OECD education and skills director, said: ‘the Survey show that too
many teenagers are ignoring, or are unaware of, new types of jobs that are emerging, particularly
as a result of digitalisation. It is a concern that more young people than before appear to be
picking their dream job from a list of the most popular, traditional occupations like teachers,
lawyers or business managers.’
Gender continues to exert an influence on career aspirations, the report finds. Among the
students who score highly on the Pisa tests, it is overwhelmingly boys who expect to work in
science and engineering. The top ten occupations cited by boys have changed very little since
2000 – but girls are now more likely to want to be architects, police officers and designers rather
than hairdressers, writers or secretaries.
The findings will also lead to concerns that career advice given in schools is behind the times,
with professionals perhaps unaware of the sorts of jobs coming down the track. The education
specialists have called for a significant expansion of the career-related learning in schools to
address the disconnect between the aspiration and opportunity in the labour market.”

(adapted from Rosemary Bennett, Youth of today still aspire to jobs of yesteryear, The Times,
online edition, January, 2020)

Now write an essay discussing the main ideas in the text. How far do you agree with the
viewpoints expressed in the text? Do you think a significant change in career advice given in
schools is necessary? Use 220-280 words.

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 43. Read the following text and answer the task below:

“(...) Australia is burning, and new research highlights the Amazon’s future wildfire risk.
Meanwhile, the world focuses on scientists studying the Thwaites glacier, a crucial and
vulnerable part of the West Arctic ice-sheet. Now, as then, there are concerns that humanity
could be closer than previously assumed to precipitating dangerous climate tipping points.
The truth is, all of these stories are chronicles of disasters foretold. We have known about
increased wildfire risk, as a consequence of climate change, for a decade or more. And climate
models disagree only on the speed of future ice-sheet melting, not that it will happen.
We are vulnerable components of a complex, interdependent natural world that will far outlast
us. But, although we are not masters of it, we can be masters of our own destiny within it. More
investigations such as those of the Thwaites glacier are vital for assessing and preparing for our
future. So too is clear-headed assessment of schemes to reduce our impact on the natural world –
for example the recent claims that food produced from renewable energy and air can replace the
products of conventional farms.
Nothing should be off the table. Grasping the nettle of decreased fossil-fuel dependence is vital
to our future well-being – not a break in our prosperity, but its guarantor. And cutting carbon
emissions is a matter of cumulative benefit: the more we take out of our carbon budget sooner,
the greater savings we accumulate over the crucial coming decades. For anyone concerned about
our future and that of the planet, these are facts worth repeating.”

(adapted from The wildfires and melting ice that science warned us about are here, in New
Scientist, online edition, issue 3265, 18 January 2020)

Now write an essay discussing the main ideas in the text. How far do you agree with the
viewpoints expressed in the text? What do you think could be done to encourage people to care
about the environment? Use 220-280 words.

44. Read the following text and answer the task below:

“Street art is a powerful contemporary art platform. It’s difficult to find a city that has not been
touched by it. Its presence changes with time and external influences, as does the power and
visibility of art in any city.
Text is often an integral part of the art that appears on walls. Sometimes the imagery is big and
beautiful, the result of organized festivals and painted jams. In its humbler form it is small and
often easy to overlook, but it celebrates free speech and allows anonymous protest at the same
time. It can be playful or profound, it can express beliefs and fears and pleasures. It can be gentle
and touching, small and unpretentious or openly assertive, subversive or downright aggressive.
Whether it has been sprayed, stencilled or pasted onto a surface or simply scrawled onto a
footpath it can share a heartfelt message or be boldly poetic. It can inspire, amaze or offend. It
will always be more abrasive when and where the life is more difficult, such as during times of
political or social unrest.
Street artists often share ‘words of wisdom’. They can often be found in unexpected places – on
rooftops or footpaths, even scrawled on fire hydrants and bridge stanchions. The message can be
gentle and heartfelt, flippant and profound, it might give advice, hope or caution.

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Humour has always been a vivid element in art, and this is definitely true of street art. It brings a
smile to the face, sometimes it encourages us to laugh out loud.
The works have a real immediacy as they are potentially so ephemeral. By their eye-catching
occurrence, they encourage the observer to think about the dominant social, political and
economic system, military conflicts, power and modern slavery, about more intimate and
delicate life stories. (...)”

(adapted from Lou Chamberlin, Urban scrawl: the written word in street art, Newsweek,
online edition, 22 August 2019)

Now write an essay discussing the main ideas in the text. How far do you agree with the
viewpoints expressed in the text? Do people need to experience street art as a message coming
from the very heart of their urban life? Use 220-280 words.

45. Read the following text and answer the task below:

“In the run up to Christmas, stores in France couldn’t hold on to copies of a board game that
illustrates the modern wealth inequality by forcing players to fight each other as they struggle to
be accepted by the reach.
Kapital was created by French sociologist and author Monique Pincon Charlot and her husband
Michel. The board game pits working and middle-class players against each other as they race
towards ‘tax havens’ and ownership of luxurious cruise ships. The game became the victim of its
own success and sold out as more than 100,000 copies flew off shelves in the last three weeks.
The ‘class warfare’ game pushes poor and middle-income players to become the most
‘dominant’, as only one player can join the ranks of the wealthy. Players accrue social, cultural
and symbolic capital as they flirt with becoming the world’s next billionaire.
‘The subtitle of the game is ‘Who will win the class war?’ because of extreme extent of social
dominance and exploitation in the contemporary world which has reached such a point that it is
no longer a class struggle, but rather a war,’ Pincon-Charlot told the French television station.
Only one player can come out as the winner and receive the opportunity to mingle among the
world’s wealthy elite at the game’s end. ‘Not only do you have to arrive first, but you should
have money, as well as social, cultural and symbolic capital.’ Pincon-Charlot added.
A salesperson at a Paris board game store told France 24 that despite the game’s serious
message, he was not shocked by its success. “People look for creative ideas – and this one is
creative,” he said.
Pincon-Charlot and her husband told the outlet that while the game is based on French socio-
economic structure and struggles, they believe the message resonates throughout many nations of
the world.”

(adapted from Benjamin Fearnoe, Class warfare, inequality board game Kapital! sells
out before Christmas! in Newsweek, online edition, 23 December 2019)

Now write an essay discussing the main ideas in the text. How far do you agree with the
viewpoints expressed in the text? Do (board) games have a role in raising people’s interest in and
awareness of contemporary social aspects? Use 220-280 words.