INSPECTORATUL

ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN
BRAȘOV

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

Etapa locală
7 februarie 2020

CLASA a X-a___ Secţiunea B

SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH

I. Read the paragraph below and do the tasks (10 x 2p= 20p).
During our teens, all the pupils at my school had to have a meeting with a ‘careers advisor’ who only seemed
to know about jobs at the local ship-building works. That was fine for some, but many of us would have
liked to hear about a wider range of opportunities at that time. If only she had known about the jobs I’ve
been researching for this article! It seems there are positions out there that are almost too good to be true.
Take, for example, the job with the title ‘Ice cream flavour advisor’ for ice cream manufacturer Frederick’s.
Imagine making and tasting ice cream for a living! The people who do this job are all chefs and food
scientists, and often go on what they call ‘taste hunts’ where they travel to other countries, trying new foods
to get inspiration for new products. The website’s home page also states that ‘every ingredient deserves
consideration’, meaning anything from peanuts to potatoes could make it into the next flavour advisor’s
invention. I guess the one downside of this job could be tasting failed creations.
For those feeling apprehensive in what concerns the health implications of eating so much ice cream, then
how about something more active? The perfect job for water sports lovers was advertised in 2015 by holiday
company Travel Now. They needed a water slide tester! The company was seeking applicants with strong
written and verbal skills, experience in social media and a willingness to travel.
A fortune cookie is a moon-shaped biscuit given away in Chinese restaurants that contains a little piece of
paper with a message on it. Millions of these are read every day, but few realise that people actually get paid
to write the words of wisdom you find when you crack your cookie open. Daisy Cheng, president of New
Asian Food in Los Angeles, used to be one such person. It wasn’t exactly her chosen career path, it was more
of a role she fell into. She found it difficult to start with, but soon she was finding inspiration everywhere,
from subway signs to newspapers. As a writer myself, I would love to create messages for fortune cookies,
but I would be delighted to do any one of these amazing jobs. Listen up careers advisors!

A. Answer the questions: 8p

1) How does the writer feel about the careers advisor he met when he was younger?
2) What is claimed on the website for Frederick’s ice cream?
3) Which were the requirements for the job of water slide tester?
4) What does the fourth paragraph say about Daisy Cheng getting her job as fortune cookie writer?

B. Choose the right synonym: 6p

downside: a. benefit b. aspect c. reason d. disadvantage
apprehensive: a. interested b. concerned c. aware d. surprised
wisdom: a. knowledge b. hope c. ignorance d. advice

C. Rephrase the following sentences so as to preserve the meaning: 6p

1) If only she had known about the jobs I’ve been researching for this article!
Had ………………………. I’ve been researching for this article!
2) The company was seeking applicants with strong written and verbal skills.
Applicants ………………………. by the company.
3) She found it difficult to start with, but soon she was finding inspiration everywhere.
Despite ………………………. , she was soon finding inspiration everywhere.

II. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each sentence. (10 x 1p = 10 p)
There is some (1- HISTORY) … evidence to suggest that coffee was cultivated in Africa in the tenth
century, but drinking coffee didn’t become (2- FASHION) … in Europe until the mid-seventeenth century,
with many visitors to London claiming that going to a coffee shop was one of the great (3- PLEASE) … of
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life. People paid an (4- ADMIT) … charge of one penny to enter a coffee shop, to enjoy the supposedly (5-
BENEFIT) … effects of the drink. Doctors at the time believed it could cure several diseases, and many (6-
DRINK) … reported that coffee made them more (7- ENERGY) … and improved their mood. (8-
INCREASE) … , a visit to a coffee shop had a serious purpose too, as people started to meet there to discuss
politics and new ideas. Good behaviour was essential and if you were (9- POLITE) …, you could be thrown
out of a shop. However, coffee shops in Europe declined in popularity in the late eighteenth century due to
the greater (10- CONSUME) … of tea, a drink that was easier to make than coffee.

III. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits in each gap. Use only one word in each
gap. (10 x 1p = 10p)
It is undeniable that friendship is important (1) … just about everyone. Individuals with several close friends
are usually happier than those (2) ... Good friends often know things that family members may not be aware
of, even (3) … they have lived together for years. This is probably (4) … when in the company of a good
friend we share our secrets and dreams. Friends turn to one (5) … for suggestions on how to solve their
problems. There is a tendency (6) …close friends to be very honest, sometimes saying things the other
person may not want to hear! Good friends stick together, and the best relationships (7) … last a lifetime. It
is (8) … surprise that most friends have similar personalities, which reduces the risk of conflict. However,
people don’t always have an accurate picture of (9) … their true friends are. Research shows that in a
surprising number of cases a person someone considers a good friend doesn’t feel the (10) … about them.

SUBIECTUL B – INTEGRATED SKILLS

Read the text below and do the tasks that follow.

I arrive for my interview with Chloe Kelling and I'm asked to wait in the garden. I hardly have time to start
looking around at the carefully tended flowerbeds when Chloe appears. Every bit as tall and striking as I'd
expected, Chloe emerges from the house wearing an oversized man's jacket, a delicately patterned top and
jeans. Chloe is known for her slightly quirky sense of fashion and, of course, she looks great as she makes
her way towards me through the flowerbeds.
Chloe originally trained as a make-up artist, having left her home in the country at nineteen to try and make
her name as a model in London, and soon got a work in adverts and the fashion business. ‘I went to Japan to
work for a short period, but I felt very homesick at first’, she recalls. ‘It was very demanding work and,
though I met loads of nice people, it was too much to take in at nineteen’. If I’d stayed longer, I might have
settled in better’.

Alongside the modeling, Chloe was also beginning to make contacts in the music business. ‘I had been the
typical kid, singing with a hairbrush in front of the mirror, dreaming of being a star one day’, she laughs. She
joined a girl band which ‘broke up before we got anywhere’, before becoming the lead singer with the band
WHOOSH, which features on a best-selling clubbing album. Usually though, Chloe also sings with two
other bands, one based in Sweden and another in London, and each of these has a distinct style.

Although she now divides her time between London and Sweden, her first stay there turned out to be much
longer than she’d bargained for. ‘The rooms are very tall over there and so people have these rather high
beds that you climb up to’, she explains. ‘I fell as I climbed up the ladder and cracked three ribs. Although
the people at the hospital were very kind, I was stuck there for a while, which was very frustrating. Sneezing
and laughing were so painful at first, let alone singing’.

It was while recovering from her injuries that Chloe hit upon the idea of staging what she calls ‘vintage
fairs’. She had always loved vintage clothes, particularly from the 1950s, and decided to stage an event for
others who shared her passion. The first fair was held in her home village and it was a huge hit, with 300
people turning up. ‘When I had the idea of the first fair, it was only meant to be a one-off, but we had so
many compliments, I decided to go ahead with more’, says Chloe. There's something for all ages and people
find old things have more character than stuff you buy in modern shops. It also fits perfectly with the idea of
recycling’.
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Tel: +40-268-415104 info@isjbrasov.ro
Fax: +40-268-475621
 INSPECTORATUL
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BRAȘOV

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

1 In the first paragraph, the writer suggests that Chloe

A usually keeps people waiting.
B is much taller than he expected.
C lives up to her stylish reputation.
D is surprisingly interested in flowers.

2 What does Chloe say about her trip to Japan?

A She soon got used to her life there.
B She felt lonely most of the time there.
C She wishes she’d done the work better.
D She wasn't old enough to appreciate it fully.

3 In the third paragraph, we find out that Chloe

A gave up modelling to become a singer.
B had always had ambitions to be a singer.
C has now left the first successful band she joined.
D sings in three bands that have a very similar sound.

4 Chloe ended up in hospital in Sweden after

A breaking three ribs while trying to move her bed.
B hurting her leg in a fall from her bed.
C falling off a ladder in her bedroom.
D tripping over in her room at night.

5 What does Chloe say about her ‘vintage fairs’?

A Her main aim is to raise awareness of environmental issues.
B She has responded to positive feedback from customers.
C Certain shops are now showing interest in her idea.
D They are mostly popular with older people.

II. Starting from the text above, write a for - and - against essay showing the advantages and
disadvantages of changing careers during lifetime. (200-220 words) (50 p)

NOTĂ: Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii. Timp de lucru: 3 ore. Nu se acordă puncte din oficiu.

Șirul Gheorghe Dima nr. 4, 500123 Brașov www.isjbrasov.ro

Tel: +40-268-415104 info@isjbrasov.ro
Fax: +40-268-475621