AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES & TRANSLATION

Fall 2019-2020
Exam I
Eng 201

75 minutes

Name: GEORGES GEORGES KARAM

ID #:12170059 Date: Nov. 27, 2019
Instructor: Samar Barakat Section: ______________

Please be sure that you read and understand the following points:

•Make sure that the number of sheets you have is the same one indicated on this page.
•Any attempt at cheating—whether by talking to other students, checking crib notes, or using the
cell phone—will result in a failing grade on the exam.
•Questions are not allowed during the examination.

The total number of pages including this sheet is 5 .

Answer ALL of the questions.

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 I. Critical Reading passage:
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
A strange thing has happened in the American arts during the past quarter century.
While income rose to unforeseen levels, college attendance ballooned, and access to
information increased enormously, the interest young Americans showed in the arts—
and especially literature—actually diminished.

According to the 2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, a population study
designed and commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts (and executed by
the US Bureau of the Census), arts participation by Americans has declined for eight of
the nine major forms that are measured. The declines have been most severe among
younger adults (ages 18–24). The most worrisome finding in the 2002 study, however,
is the declining percentage of Americans, especially young adults, reading literature.

That individuals at a time of crucial intellectual and emotional development bypass the
joys and challenges of literature is a troubling trend. If it were true that they substituted
histories, biographies, or political works for literature, one might not worry. But book
reading of any kind is falling as well.

That such a longstanding and fundamental cultural activity should slip so swiftly,
especially among young adults, signifies deep transformations in contemporary life. To
call attention to the trend, the Arts Endowment issued the reading portion of the Survey
as a separate report, “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.”

The decline in reading has consequences that go beyond literature. The significance of
reading has become a persistent theme in the business world. The February issue
of Wired magazine, for example, sketches a new set of mental skills and habits proper
to the 21st century, aptitudes decidedly literary in character: not “linear, logical,
analytical talents,” author Daniel Pink states, but “the ability to create artistic and
emotional beauty, to detect patterns and opportunities, to craft a satisfying narrative.”
When asked what kind of talents they like to see in management positions, business
leaders consistently set imagination, creativity, and higher-order thinking at the top.

Ironically, the value of reading and the intellectual faculties that it inculcates appear
most clearly as active and engaged literacy declines. There is now a growing
awareness of the consequences of non-reading to the workplace. In 2001 the National
Association of Manufacturers polled its members on skill deficiencies among
employees. Among hourly workers, poor reading skills ranked second, and 38 percent
of employers complained that local schools inadequately taught reading
comprehension.

The decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere. A 2003 study of 15- to
26-year-olds’ civic knowledge by the National Conference of State Legislatures

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concluded, “Young people do not understand the ideals of citizenship… and their
appreciation and support of American democracy is limited.”

It is probably no surprise that declining rates of literary reading coincide with declining
levels of historical and political awareness among young people. One of the surprising
findings of “Reading at Risk” was that literary readers are markedly more civically
engaged than nonreaders, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work,
visit a museum, or attend a sporting event. One reason for their higher social and
cultural interactions may lie in the kind of civic and historical knowledge that comes with
literary reading.

The evidence of literature’s importance to civic, personal, and economic health is too
strong to ignore. The decline of literary reading foreshadows serious long-term social
and economic problems, and it is time to bring literature and the other arts into
discussions of public policy. Libraries, schools, and public agencies do noble work, but
addressing the reading issue will require the leadership of politicians and the business
community as well.

Reading is not a timeless, universal capability. Advanced literacy is a specific

intellectual skill and social habit that depends on a great many educational, cultural, and
economic factors. As more Americans lose this capability, our nation becomes less
informed, active, and independent-minded. These are not the qualities that a free,
innovative, or productive society can afford to lose.

Adapted from Dana Gioia, “Why Literature Matters” ©2005 by The New York

Times Company. Originally published April 10, 2005.

Now answer these questions:

1. Skin the text and find two sentences that show that the problem discussed is NOT
limited to the decrease in reading LITERATURE. (5 marks)
2. What is the main claim in the text and what details support this claim? (10 marks)
3. What evidence does the writer provide that shows that the decline in reading is
affecting the workplace? (5 marks)
4. Inference (5 marks)- What can you infer from the passage about the writer’s
attitudes towards political activity?
5. Essay writing: (30 marks)
Write an essay addressing the topic stated. You may need to refer to the passage above
to construct your argument, but make sure you avoid plagiarizing from the text.
Question: In the age of technology and the internet, is reading literature still necessary?
Answer in a well-constructed essay of at least four paragraphs.

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 II. Reading comprehension with multiple choice questions (10 marks)

Read the passage below and then choose the correct answer to each multiple choice question
that follows.

Marie Curie was one of the most accomplished scientists in history. Together with her husband, Pierre, she
discovered radium, an element widely used for treating cancer, and studied uranium and other radioactive
substances. Pierre and Marie’s amicable collaboration later helped to unlock the secrets of the atom.

Marie was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, where her father was a professor of physics. At an early age, she
displayed a brilliant mind and a blithe personality. Her great exuberance for learning prompted her to continue with
her studies after high school. She became disgruntled, however, when she learned that the university in Warsaw was
closed to women. Determined to receive a higher education, she defiantly left Poland and in 1891 entered the
Sorbonne, a French university, where she earned her master’s degree and doctorate in physics.

Marie was fortunate to have studied at the Sorbonne with some of the greatest scientists of her day, one of whom
was Pierre Curie. Marie and Pierre were married in 1895 and spent many productive years working together in the
physics laboratory. A short time after they discovered radium, Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn wagon in 1906.
Marie was stunned by this horrible misfortune and endured heartbreaking anguish. Despondently she recalled their
close relationship and the joy that they had shared in scientific research. The fact that she had two young daughters
to raise by herself greatly increased her distress.

Curie’s feeling of desolation finally began to fade when she was asked to succeed her husband as a physics
professor at the Sorbonne. She was the first woman to be given a professorship at the world-famous university. In
1911 she received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for isolating radium. Although Marie Curie eventually suffered a
fatal illness from her long exposure to radium, she never became disillusioned about her work. Regardless of the
consequences, she had dedicated herself to science and to revealing the mysteries of the physical world.

1. What kind of collaboration did the Curies have in their research to uncover the secret of the atom?
a. It was friendly.
b. It was competitive.
c. It was courteous.
d. It was industrious and hard-working

2. How did Marie Curie react to the news that she could not attend university in Warsaw?

a. She became hopeless b. She felt annoyed. c She became depressed. d. She became worried.
e. None of the above

3. What life even caused Marie to develop deep depression?

a. Leaving Poland in 1891 b. the death of her husband c. Being fired from the Sorbonne d. Her fatal illness

4. What detail in the passage above indicates that equal opportunities were not provided to men and women?

a. Marie’s experiences at the Sorbonne b. Marie’s problem in her marriage

c. Warsaw University’s refusal to admit female students d. None of the above

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5. It can be inferred that the meaning of disillusioned in the last paragraph is:

a. disappointed b. disinterested c. joyous d. damaged

III. Vocabulary from Class Readings (10 marks)

For each sentence below, circle the word that best completes the sentence.

1. The only was to settle the _______________ between the Teacher’s Union and
the administration is to get the courts involved. (demarcation, reinforcement,
disputes)
2. One way to ______________ (invigorate, restructure, defect) classroom
discussions is to provide students with controversial topics that they can freely
discuss.
3. The students broke out in ___________ (territory, nationalism, uproar) when they
realized that their exams were wrongly graded.
4. You need to ___________ (assert, fund, host) yourself in class if you want your
voice to be heard.
5. We need to ____________ (foster, provoke, infuse) our teaching with energy and
applied activities to get our students more interested in our subject!

IV. Grammar (Preposition) (20 points)

Circle the correct preposition that completes each sentence:
1. Hurry up and get ______ (into, onto ) the car. We’re going to be late.
2. Do you think you can go (toward, towards, up to ) him and ask for his autograph?
3. Short skirts for women was fashionable ____________(between, along, during) much of
the sixties.
4. Don’t be late for your English class. You know it always starts ____ (in, on, over) time.
5. There has been no sign of rain _____ (until, since) noon.
6. Michigan is situated ______________ (in, between) Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
7. A formation of twelve airplanes flew _________ (oworkver, on top of) our house.
8. She learned Russian _________ (around, about, between) the age twelve.
9. Alexander Bell spent much of his life _______ (as, like) a teacher.
10. This publication is made _______ (of, from) paper from sustainable forests.

V. Supporting Details (5 points)

Identify the TYPE of supporting details that are provided in this passage to support the main
idea. Provide examples from the paragraph to support your answer.
It will be a grand triumph for America if we can preserve the Arctic Refuge in its pure,
untrammeled state. To leave this extraordinary land alone would be the greatest gift we could
pass on to future generations. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge stands alone as America’s
last truly great wilderness. This magnificent area is as vast as it is wild, from the windswept
coastal plain where polar bears and caribou give birth, to the towering Brooks Range where Dall
sheep cling to cliffs and wolves howl in the midnight sun.

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ANSWERS:

I. Critical Reading passage:

1:
The sentences that show that the problem discussed is not limited to the
decrease in reading literature are :

“the decline of literary reading foreshadows serious long-term social and

economic problems”
“the decline of reading is also taking its toll in the civic sphere”

2:
The main claim in the text is to show the negative impact of the decline
of reading that will cause severe problems not only in reading literature also
in the ecocnomics and politics of the country. The details that supports this
claim are the examples from other texts to support the idea like :

“A 2003 study of 15- to 26-year-olds’ civic knowledge by the National Conference

of State Legislatures concluded, “Young people do not understand the ideals of
citizenship… and their appreciation and support of American democracy is
limited.””

3:

The evidence is an example of what the national association of

manufacturers did to check the skill deficiencies of the employees, showing the
results of there work :

“National Association of Manufacturers polled its members on skill deficiencies

among employees. Among hourly workers, poor reading skills ranked second, and
38 percent of employers complained that local schools inadequately taught
reading comprehension.”

4:

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5: A major case is ruining the education knowledge in our country and it is the
technology that’s replacing the literature with a digital book and its getting worth
every time a new information of this technology appears.

The technology is a great invention that helped society in a lot of ways but
still brought more problems like the lack of literature. The society has gradually
departed from the culture of the printed word to a computer culture structured by
the digital word. In this generation technology came a long way since, nowadays
most things are operated by AI. People don’t use words anymore they try to use
shortcuts in replacement of words to ease the language even though it’s much
easier the words doesn’t have literature in it, words back then used to contain
poets in them, one word could speak a full phrase in poetry and elegance.

People use movies rather than books, from poets to songs, letters to texts.
People get bored from books and poets now they rather watch movie to catch full
image of the author, nobody uses their imaginations anymore like reading a book
you have to imagine every sentence you have to create your own image of the
character and scenes happening, same thing goes for songs back then poets
caused tears and love were born from one good poet line, now songs are more
hyped and cheerful but less dramatic.

Literature is more than just words on sheets it’s not just texts and words it’s
the formation of the words in a phrase using words that can define multiple with
the use of each person’s imagination books become more fun and exciting,
people should restart reading books and less movies.

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 II. Reading comprehension with multiple choice questions:

1:A
2:E
3:B
4:C
5:B

III. Vocabulary from Class Readings:

1 : disputes
2 : invigorate
3: uproar
4 : assert
5 : infuse

IV. Grammar (Preposition):

1 : into
2 : towards
3 : during
4 : on
5 : since
6 : between
7 : on top of
8 : about
9 : as
10 : of