Dipartimento federale dell’economia,

della formazione e della ricerca DEFR

Commissione svizzera di maturità CSM

Esame svizzero di maturità Svizzera italiana Sessione invernale 2022

Inglese
L i v e l l o d i c o m p e t e n z a n o r m a l e (3 ore)

Nome e cognome: __________________________

Numero: __________________________

Sezione Esercizio Punti

Reading comprehension Vocabulary /6

Definitions /4

Questions /35

Subtotale /45

Essay Communicability /6

Content /12

Language /12

Subtotale /30

Totale /75

NOTA

Corretto da: Firma:

Nome e cognome __________________________ livello normale

Dark things are happening on

Europe’s borders. Are they a
sign of worse to come?

With a disregard for people’s

lives, countries from the UK to Poland
are toughening up, as if in preparation
for climate displacement.

by Daniel Trilling
The Observer, 8 November 2021

It is bad enough when states break their own rules and mistreat people – but it’s when
they start to change the rules that we really need to worry. Three recent stories, from three
different corners of Europe, suggest that governments are crossing a new threshold of violence
in terms of how they police their borders. These developments are harmful in their own right,
but they also set a disturbing precedent for how countries in rich parts of the world might deal
with future displacements of people – not just from war and persecution, but from the climate
crisis as well.
In the UK, the Home Office has quietly tried to amend its draconian nationality and
borders bill, currently at committee stage, by introducing a provision that gives Border Force
staff immunity from prosecution if they fail to save lives at sea. Priti Patel, the home secretary,
claims this is an essentially benevolent measure: if boats in the Channel are turned around, it
will eventually stop people attempting the dangerous trip in the first place. In fact, it undermines
a key principle of international maritime law that makes it a duty to rescue people in distress.
In Poland, the government has just passed an emergency law allowing authorities to turn
back refugees who cross into the country “illegally”. It is the latest development in a diplomatic
standoff with Belarus, which has cynically been encouraging people from Iraq, Iran and parts of
Africa to cross into the EU, in response to sanctions imposed on it earlier this year. Poland’s
hardline response leaves many people trapped in the no man’s land between the two countries.
Aid agencies warn of a looming humanitarian crisis as winter sets in; at least eight people have
died this year so far, mostly from hypothermia.
In south-eastern Europe, an international team of investigative journalists have revealed
that Croatia and Greece are using a “shadow army”, balaclava-clad plainclothes units linked to
those countries’ regular security forces, to force people back from their borders. In Croatia, these
units have been filmed beating people with clubs at the border with Bosnia. In Greece, they are
accused of intercepting boats in the Aegean and setting the passengers adrift on life-rafts in
Turkish waters. (Croatia has promised to investigate reports of abuse, while Greece denies the
practice.) Just as shocking as the claims themselves is the fact that the revelations have largely
been met with a shrug of indifference by EU officials, whose funding helps prop up border
defences in both countries. Twelve member states are even demanding that the EU adjusts its
rules so that it can finance “further preventive measures”, including walls and fences, at its
external borders.

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Together, these stories suggest that the “push-back” – the forcing away of migrating
people from a country’s territory, even if it places them in harm’s way or overrides their right to
asylum – is becoming an entrenched practice. Once something that would take place largely in
the shadows, it is being done increasingly openly, with some governments trying to find ways to
make the practice legal. The UK’s proposal has been strongly criticised by the UN refugee
agency, UNHCR, whose representative said it would “unavoidably” put lives at risk.
This is not only a problem for today: it is a dress rehearsal for how our governments are
likely to deal with the effects of the climate crisis in years to come. Predictions about climate-
related migration are notoriously vague, and prone to hyperbole, but a new report by the World
Bank projects that 216 million people could be displaced within their own countries by water
shortages, crop failure and rising sea levels by 2050. Some people may well end up moving
further if they face poor economic prospects or conflict and instability at home. In April, the US
vice-president, Kamala Harris, said that drought and “extensive storm damage because of
extreme climate” were partly behind increased migration from Central America.
Unfortunately, many of our politicians are primed to see displacement first and foremost
as a civilisational threat. That was the logic of Boris Johnson’s comments ahead of the launch
of Cop26 in Glasgow, when he claimed – incorrectly – that “uncontrolled immigration” was
responsible for the fall of the Roman empire, and that a similar fate awaits the world today. In
this telling, an environmental disaster that affects us all is transformed into a question of how
the wealthy and powerful can preserve their privileges. Richer parts of the world have already
begun to militarise their borders, a process that has accelerated in response to the refugee
movements of the past decade. In this, they are backed up by a burgeoning border security
industry. A recent report by the Transnational Institute warns of what it calls “the border-industrial
complex”, a growing multibillion dollar industry that ranges from security infrastructure to
biometrics and artificial intelligence. The global market in fences, walls and surveillance alone
is projected to be worth $65-$68bn by 2025.
This, however, is a false kind of security. Restrictive and violent border control just makes
the societies that wield it more authoritarian – and it doesn’t stop people moving entirely, either.
What it does is force people to make more dangerous journeys, becoming even greater targets
for xenophobic backlash. Countries or regions that are seen as desperate to keep people out
become targets for unscrupulous neighbours who want to use the issue to exert political
pressure. The ultimate result, as we are continuing to see at Europe’s borders, is a callous
disregard for life.
What’s required, instead – beyond action to reduce emissions – is a plan to help people
adapt to changing living circumstances and reduce global inequality, along with migration
policies that recognise the reality of people’s situations. Last year, the UN human rights
committee ruled that governments should not return people to countries where their safety would
be directly threatened by the climate emergency. As it stands, however, there is no proper legal
framework for protecting people displaced for environmental reasons. A major new US study
commissioned by the Biden administration recommends new laws to protect climate migrants,
but it is strikingly light on detail.
The next few years are likely to mark a turning point in the way our governments respond
to displacement. Either they work together to build a system that protects people’s lives and
dignity, and that can adapt to the changing realities of the 21st century, or their borders will
continue to harden, at considerable human cost. If we want to avoid the latter, then now is the
time to challenge the violent logic of the push-back, before it becomes written into our laws.

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COMPREHENSION

IMPORTANT

Write all your answers on this exam paper, directly in the space provided
(after the task or under the questions)

Vocabulary

The words below are highlighted in the article. By referring to the text, match them to the
correct synonym. There are two extra terms which you do not need to use.

disregard undermine adrift

shrug entrenched wield

1. ____________________ aimlessly
2. ____________________ compromise
3. ____________________ distress
4. ____________________ established
5. ____________________ gesture
6. ____________________ implement
7. ____________________ negligence
8. ____________________ undergo

/6

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Understanding sentences

Explain the meaning of the following sentence chunks, which are highlighted in the text.
In your rewording, you cannot repeat any of the key words used by the author.

1. crossing a new threshold

2. as winter sets in

3. are likely to deal with

4. As it stands

/4

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Questions

Answer the following questions thoroughly but by providing the essential piece(s) of
information. If you mention unnecessary details the number of points awarded for each
question will be reduced accordingly.
For true / false questions circle the appropriate answer and, if false, say why.

1. Climate displacement is already taking place in countries such as the UK and

Poland.
True or false? If false, say why.

2. “These developments are harmful in their own right” (underlined in the text). What
does “developments” refer to?

3. Climate displacement could largely affect how wealthy countries will tackle
migration.
True or false? If false, say why.

4. What kind of legal consequences is the UK trying to give Border Force if lives aren’t
saved at sea?

5. Why does the UK’s home secretary argue that turning away sea migrants is
beneficial to them?

6. According to international maritime law saving people is voluntary.

True or false? If false, say why.

7. Where specifically is the government rejecting unauthorised migrants?

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8. “In response to sanctions imposed on it earlier this year” (underlined in the text).
What does “it” refer to?

9. Croatia and Greece openly send away migrants from their borders.
True or false? If false, say why.

10. What kind of technique(s) do Croatia and Greece use to turn away illegal
immigrants?

11. Does the EU care about what is happening in Croatia and Greece? Explain.

12. Some countries in the EU send migrants away only if it’s not dangerous for them to
go back to their country.
True or false? If false, say why.

13. What kind of population movement might our world governments have to face in the
future?

14. List a specific example of both the environmental and social/economic reasons
behind migration. Be as detailed as you can.
-
-

15. What is encouraging the population in Central America to move elsewhere?

16. According to Boris Johnson, what connection is there between today’s situation and
the Roman empire?

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17. How do the rich safeguard their privileges in this context?

18. “The border-industrial complex” only deals with fences, walls and surveillance.
True or false? If false, say why.

19. Is investing in border security efficient? Explain why.

20. According to the UN human rights committee, migrants are driven back to their
country of origin unless there is an environmental crisis.

21. “If we want to avoid the latter” (underlined in the text). What does “latter” refer to?
True or false? If false, say why.

/35

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Essay

Choose one of the following topics to discuss.

Write a well-structured essay of about 280 words.

1. “Experience is the teacher of all things.”

Julius Caesar (100 BC - 44 BC), Roman general and politician, head of the Roman
Empire.

2. “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American

life.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th American president, democrat and
writer.

3. The presidency of Donald Trump in the USA, which he held from 2017 to 2021,
caused a lot of controversy worldwide with regards to his immigration policies,
better known as “The Wall” he wanted to build between Mexico and the USA.
Compare his ideas to those discussed in the article.

Topic number ____

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Approximate number of words _______ /30

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