MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN

NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZǍ - ETAPA LOCALǍ

CLASA a IX - a, SECȚIUNEA A
23 Ianuarie 2019

Varianta 1

SUBIECTUL A - USE OF ENGLISH

I. Read the following text and put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense: (20x 1p=20p)

John always 1) _____________ (travel) a lot.

In fact, he was only two years old when he first 2) ____________ (fly) to the US. His
mother is Italian and his father is American. John 3) _______________ (be born) in France, but his
parents 4) ______________ (meet) in Cologne, Germany after they 5) __________ (live) there for
five years.
As a matter of fact, John 6) ______________ (visit) his parents in France at the moment. He
lives in New York now, but 7) ______________ (visit) his parents for the past few weeks. He really
enjoys living in New York, but he also 8) ______________ (love) coming to visit his parents at
least once a year.
This year he 9) ______________ (fly) over 50,000 miles for his job. He 10)
______________ (work) for Jackson & Co. for almost two years now. He's pretty sure that he 11)
______________ (work) for them next year as well. His job requires a lot of travel. In fact, by the
end of this year, he 12) ______________ (travel) over 120,000 miles! His next journey will be to
Australia. This time he is going to fly from Paris after a meeting with the company's French partner.
He 13) ______________ (sit) for over 18 hours by the time he arrives!
John 14) ______________ (talk) with his parents earlier this evening when his girlfriend
from New York 15) ______________ (telephone) to let him know that Jackson & Co. 16)
______________ (decide) to merge with a company in Australia. The two companies 17)
______________ (negotiate) for the past month, so it really 18) ______________ ( not be) much
of a surprise. Of course, this means that John 19) ______________ (to have) to catch the next plane
back to New York. He 20) ______________ (to meet) with his boss this time tomorrow.

II. Fill in the correct word derived from the words in brackets. (10 x 1p = 10 p)

As your children move towards 1)…………………… (depend), it is important to make sure that
they understand what decent values are. To prevent children from becoming 2)……… (spoil) and
3)…………………….(greed) you should not indulge them too much. To make sure that they grow
up well- 4)……………………………(manner) they should be taught to be polite from an early
age. Children should be scolded for bad 5)………………………. (behave), which will be an 6)
………………………(effect) way of helping them to distinguish right from wrong. You need to
reward your children when they do things well to give them a sense of 7)……………….(proud)
but you must be careful not to overdo it or they may become 8)……………………… (conceit).
You should try to make your children 9) ………………….(tolerate) and 10)…………………….
(respect) of other people`s beliefs by exposing them to different races and cultures.
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

III. Read the following text and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits in each gap.
(10 x 1p = 10p)
In the modern world, there is a wealth of leisure activities to choose from. Entertainment
Industries (1) ______________ for your leisure time. You can watch TV, listen to music, go to an
art gallery or concert or, of course, read a book. Sometimes it seems that reading is neglected
because, (2) ______________ you’re a fast reader, it can take a considerable amount of time to
finish a novel, for example. But in the (3) _______________ world, time is something that can be in
short supply.
Book publishers haven’t been (4) ________________ to realize this and are now selling a
product which needn’t (5) _______________ as much of your time but still tells you an excellent
story. The new product is the audio book - cassette recordings of shortened novels, often read by
well-known personalities or the authors themselves. Audio books are relatively new but people are
becoming more aware of them and sales are increasing (6) _________________.
One of the attractions of audio books is that they’re (7) _______________listening to the
radio, only better. You can listen to what you want when you want, and you won’t ever miss
anything. Much of their appeal (8) _______________ in their flexibility. They allow you to do
other things while you're listening, such as driving or (9) _________________ the housework. For
some people audio books can be a much more enjoyable way of (10) _________________
knowledge than reading.

1 A – chase B – compete C – oppose D – pursue

2 A – in spite B – no matter C – regardless of D – even if
3 A – current B – new C – present D – modern
4 A – behind B – slow C – delayed D – overdue
5 A – take up B – fill out C – go through D – pass by
6 A – ever since then B – all the time C – up until now D – from then on
7 A – as B – same C – like D – both
8 A – stands B – belongs C – bases D – lies
9 A – doing B – running C – making D – cleaning
10 A – grasping B – catching C – gaining D – raising

SUBIECTUL B – INTEGRATED SKILLS

Read the text below and do the tasks as follows.

John Whyte flew out of Japan after spending three months crossing Siberia.

I got my usual seat on the plane, between the man with the large laptop and the woman with
a screaming baby and directly in front of the kicking toddler. On this flight I had the added bonus of
being at the front up against the wall which meant no legroom and no view of the movies. I’d read
the in-flight magazine for the fifth time and discovered that the films I hadn’t seen were being
shown on every flight operated by the airline except this one, all before the plane had finished
taxiing down the runway.
The flight home followed almost exactly the same route I’d taken since November, flying
via Seoul, Beijing and Mongolia to Irkutsk and then across the frozen wastes to Moscow. I looked
out the window for any signs of something familiar but I could see nothing but a sea of frozen trees
stretching north to the Arctic Sea. A journey that had taken four months, several visas and huge
quantities of thermal underwear to complete now took little more than 12 hours, three lousy films
and two airline meals to undo.
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

As the plane came in to land over London in the late afternoon sunshine, the Japanese and
Korean tourists peered out of the windows for their first view through the London clouds to the
suburbs round Heathrow Airport with the same enthusiasm I’d had for my first view of Kyoto or
Ulan Bator. After such a long time away, even I found the regimented streets a strange sight.
By the time I’d collected my luggage from the carousel, it was beginning to sink in that I
was home. I was no longer some strange exotic creature attracting the stares and attention of the
local people and I realized I resented this. At least with my long hair and shaggy beard it was a
certainty that I would be stopped at customs. ‘What was the purpose of your visit?’ I was asked. I
was really beginning to enjoy the reaction to my answers, but the customs officer had already had
enough of me and let me go. The doors to the arrivals hall sprung open and I was greeted by a sea
of smiling, welcoming faces which quickly turned blank again when they realized I wasn’t their
relative. By the time I’d reached the other side of the hall I’d lost the ‘I’m back! Guess where I’ve
been!’ look on my face.
Little had changed in the past four months. If you had arrived back from such a journey
some years ago, the UK could have been struck by a hurricane and you wouldn’t have known about
it until the pilot started circling above looking for a place to land. These days the email, the internet
and the 24-hour news mean that, despite your best efforts, it’s impossible to completely lose touch
with home; well, except when you stay in a tent in Mongolia for a week or so.
It was with a sense of sadness that I unpacked my dirty clothes and put my trusty rucksack
in the cupboard. Somehow it just didn’t seem right to see a piece of luggage that had spent its whole
life travelling through the wilds of the Arctic, Europe and the wide open spaces of Asia, now folded
up and confined to a shelf above the towels and bed linen until I set off again.
I loved every minute of the trip especially seeing the northern lights in Abisko, the Trans-
Siberian railway, camping in Mongolia and New Year in China. After a few weeks in Japan I feel I
only scratched the surface there. Capsule hotels, electric baths and bullet trains left me speechless. I
was left totally exhausted and exhilarated by the experience and can’t wait to go back once my bank
manager gives me permission. I’m already planning my next journey and I reckon that the best
antidote to crossing Siberia in January is to cross the Sahara in August.

I. For each question choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. (5 x 2 = 10 points)

1. What does John mean by ‘I got my usual seat on the plane’ in paragraph one.
A. He preferred to sit at the front of the plane.
B. He always seemed to get the worst place to sit.
C. He had got the seat he had asked for.
D. He liked to sit in the same place in each flight.

2. What did John have in common with the tourists?

A. He was not pleased at the clouds blocking his view.
B. He was not sure whether he had made a wrong decision.
C. He did not know this part of London very well either.
D. He had experienced the same feeling on arriving in a new place.

3. What does John say about keeping in touch while he was away?
A. He would have preferred to be out of contact for longer.
B. He was grateful that he was able to use email and the internet.
C. He would have liked to have received more up-to-date news from home.
D. He was relieved to get emails in some remote places.

4. Why does John say in the last paragraph that ‘he only scratched the surface in Japan’?
A. It was difficult for him to get to know people.
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

B. There is a lot more he wants to see.

C. He didn’t understand some things.
D. He found it very expensive.

5. What is John’s main purpose in writing this article?

A. To explain why he wanted to make the trip.
B. To point out the things that can go wrong on a trip.
C. To suggest a route across Asia for other people to follow.
D. To describe his reaction to the trip coming to an end.

II. Read the text again and write a 180-200 word narrative essay about an exchange
student who has just landed in the UK and is getting ready to start his/her first school
semester in a new country. Your essay should bring about what happened upon his/her
arrival at the airport, the atmosphere of the place/country and his/her feelings and emotions
related to this new experience.
(50 points)

Timp de lucru: 3 ore

Nu se acordă puncte din oficiu.
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZǍ - ETAPA LOCALǍ

CLASA a IX -a, SECȚIUNEA A
Barem de corectare

SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH

I. Read the following text and put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense (20 x 1p= 20p)
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

1. has travelled 7. has been visiting 14. was talking

2. flew 8. loves 15. telephoned
3. was born 9. has flown 16. had decided
4. had met 10. has been working 17. had been negotiating
5. had been living 11. will be working 18. wasn`t
6 is visiting 12. will have travelled 19. will have to
13. will have been sitting 20. will be meeting
II. Fill in the correct word derived from the words in brackets. (10 x 1p = 10 p)

1. independence
2. spoilt
3. greedy
4. mannered
5. behaviour
6. effective
7. pride
8. conceited
9. tolerant
10. respectful

III. Read the following text and fill in one word in each gap (10 x 1p = 10p)

1. B -compete
2. D - even if
3. D - modern
4. B - slow
5. A - take up
6. B - all the time
7. A - as
8. D - lies
9. A - doing
10. C - raising

SUBIECTUL B – INTEGRATED SKILLS

I. For each question choose the correct answer A, B, C or D (5 x 2p= 10p)

1. B
2. D
3. A
4. B
5. D
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

II. Read the text again and write a 180-200 word narrative essay about an exchange student
who has just landed in the UK and is getting ready to start his/her first school semester in a
new country. Your essay should bring about what happened upon his/her arrival at the
airport, the atmosphere of the place/country and his/her feelings and emotions related to this
new experience.
(50 points)
ESEU NARATIV- structură

Introducere - descrierea locului de desfăşurare a acţiunii;

- introducerea personajelor;
- crearea atmosferei, suspans, mister.
Problemă - în desfăşurarea evenimentelor apare o complicaţie, dilemă, care afectează
destinul personajelor.
Punct culminant- destinul personajului este pus sub semnul întrebării/ punct limită/ situaţie
dilematică.
Deznodământ - soluţia dilemei, efectul situaţiei dramatice asupra personajului, învăţăminte trase.

Descriptori:
-descrierea unor experienţe şi evenimente, vise, speranţe şi ambiţii personale/
individuale
-conectarea de secvenţe evenimenţiale, fie din imaginaţie, fie bazate pe
propria experienţă într-un stil narativ dinamic, incluzând reacţii şi
comentarii personale sau ale personajelor
-utilizarea tehnicii de întoarcere în timp (flashback) pentru a descrie
evenimente,folosind timpurile trecute
-recreerea fluxulului evenimentelor din punct de vedere cronologic pornind
de la o frază sau citat dat sau concluzionând cu această frază/citat
-folosirea elementelor de coeziune (transitions) adecvate discursului narativ

Se recomandă ca elevul:
 să folosească structuri lexicale specifice pentru descrierea trăsăturilor fizice, de personalitate,
stilului de viaţă/ profesiei/ ambiţiilor/ opiniilor/ proiectelor de viitor, folosind un punct de vedere
personal sau impersonal;
 să folosească tehnici narative (de exemplu: schimbare de perspectivă narativă, alternarea
timpurilor în funcţie de perspectiva prezentării evenimentelor naraţiunii în succesiune
cronologica sau în ordine temporală aleatorie; etc)
 să folosească structuri lexicale specifice informaţiei factuale: mărime, greutate, formă, structură,
materiale, culoare etc;
 să folosească expresii specifice celor 5 simţuri;
 să folosească timpurile trecute pentru amintiri, impresii şi reacţii;
 să folosească structurile gramaticale nivelului de competență;
 să exprime sentimente, opinii, reacţii;
 să folosească elemente de coeziune a discursului, cum ar fi: cauză şi efect, completare, contrast,
rezultat etc
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

MARKING SCHEME FOR THE NARRATIVE ESSAY

Analytical Exemplary Proficient Partially Weak Incomplete Point
criteria 10p 8p Proficient 4p 2p s
6p
CONTENT The essay is completely relevant The essay is The essay is The essay is The essay is
to topic, describing fairly partially faulty, incomplete,
places/events/characters/atmosp completed completed including the
here/ with all the with slight serious sequencing of
reaching climax, including the sequencing logical logical the narrative
final reactions of the protagonist. elements of a impedimen impediment moments
narrative. ts in s in the being
sequencing sequencing inconsistent.
the of events.
moments of
the
narrative.
ORGANIZATI There is complete logical There is a There is There is Paragraphs
ON AND connection of paragraphs due to a fairly partial serious are
COHESION judicious use of linking devices, completion of completion inconsistenc incomplete,
mechanics, and length paragraph of the task. y in the both linking
requirements. organization Paragraphs organizatio devices,
due to scarce are partially n of the mechanics,
misuse of complete paragraphs and length
linking due to due to the requirements
devices, unfinished misuse of having been
mechanics, ideas and the linking disrespected.
and length scarce use devices,
requirements. of linking mechanics,
devices, and length
mechanics, requiremen
and length ts
requiremen
ts.
VOCABULARY A wide range of vocabulary is A range of The range A limited A very narrow
used appropriately and accurately vocabulary is of range of range of
throughout the essay; precise used vocabulary vocabulary vocabulary is
meaning is conveyed; minor appropriately is is present present; errors
errors are rare; spelling is very and accurately adequately within the in word
well controlled. in the essay; used in the essay; less choice/formati
The register of the narrative occasional essay; common on
essay is totally relevant to the errors in word errors in items of predominate;
task, being organically integrated choice/formati word vocabulary spelling errors
all along the discourse on are choice are rare and can make the
possible; /formation may be essay obscure
spelling is well are present often faulty; at times. The
controlled when more spelling register used
with sophisticate errors can in the
occasional d items of make text narrative
slips. The vocabulary understandi essay is
register of the are ng difficult. inappropriate
narrative attempted; The register for this type
essay is spelling can of the writing.
relevant to the be faulty at narrative is
task with times. inconsistent
slightly The register due to the
incongruent of the mixture of
lapses within narrative styles
the discourse essay is
partially
relevant to
the task
with a
narrow
inconsisten
cy of style,
leading to
halts in the
logical
developme
nt of ideas.
STRUCTURES A wide range of grammatical A range of A mix of A limited A very narrow
 MINISTERUL EDUCAȚIEI INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
NAȚIONALE BISTRIȚA – NĂSĂUD

structures is used accurately and grammatical complex range of range of

flexibly throughout the essay; structures is and simple grammatica grammatical
minor errors are rare; used grammatica l structures structures is
punctuation is very well accurately and l structures is present present within
controlled. with some is present along the the essay;
flexibility throughout essay; errors
along the the essay; complex predominate;
essay; errors are language is punctuation
occasional present rare and errors make
errors are when may be the text
possible; complex often faulty; obscure at
punctuation is language is punctuation times.
well controlled attempted; errors can
with punctuatio make text
occasional n can be understandi
slips. faulty at ng difficult.
times.
EFFECT ON The interest of the reader is The text has a The effect The effect The effect on
TARGET aroused and sustained good effect on on the on the the reader
READER throughout. the reader reader is reader non- non-relevant.
satisfactory relevant