INSPECTORATUL SCOLAR JUDEȚEAN-DÂMBOVIȚA

OLIMPIADA DE LIMBĂ ENGLEZĂ

ETAPA LOCALA
CLASA A XI A-SECȚIUNEA B
8 FEBRUARIE 2020

SUBIECTUL A-USE OF ENGLISH -40 points

I. Read the paragraph below and do the tasks

(10 x2p=20p)

Sleeping badly? We are all these days. The regularity with which I hear complaints from friends
and colleagues that no matter how hard they try, they just cannot get to sleep, leads me to think we
have something of a non-sleeping epidemic at the moment. Recently, The Guardian has reported that
up to 51% of British people struggle to get to sleep – and women are three times more likely than men
to suffer from this problem. I'm not saying we're all insomniacs for the purpose of medical science –
I'm no doctor – but certainly I've noticed something of a pattern, and I'm not alone in that. Professor
Colin Espie of Glasgow University said that, “Insomnia affects people's quality of life during the day,
not just their sleep at night. Indeed, the survey data show significant effects across different aspects of
personal functioning. Living with poor sleep and its consequences is not only very common, but it is
in all likelihood degrading Britain's health. This is not a trivial matter. It's time for NHS to pay
attention to scientific evidence that persistent poor sleep elevates the risk of developing new illnesses.
This has been shown in disorders such as diabetes, but also very convincingly in depression.” In light
of the severity of this problem and as someone who does rather well with sleep, I've devised some top
tips for getting more kip…
(NHS = National Health Service)

A. Answer the following questions, according to the text.

(8 points)
1. What evidence is there in the text that a non-sleeping epidemic affects a specific group of the
British population?
2. Why does the writer mention the fact that she is not a doctor?
3. What is the connection between poor sleep and the quality of life?
4. How does the writer justify her decision to offer sleep-related advice?

B. Choose the right synonym for the words given below, according to their meaning in the text.
(6 points)
1. pattern: a. markings b. diagram c. model d. template
2. trivial: a. meaningful b. insignificant c. frivolous d. silly
3. kip: a. sack b. sleep c. berth d. hay

C. Rephrase the following sentences so as to preserve the meaning.

(6 points)
1. No matter how hard they try, they just cannot get to sleep.
Try ………………………………to fall asleep.
2. The Guardian has reported that up to 51% of British people struggle to get to sleep.
Up to 51% of British people………………………… to get to sleep.
3. Poor sleep elevates the risk of developing new illnesses.
The lower the quality of sleep, ……………................new illnesses gets.

II. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in each sentence :
(10 x 1p = 10p)

Although we may do it (1)................(CONSCIOUS), continually assess, the (2) ......................

(SIGNIFY) of things that happen to us in order to decide what action we should take and how we feel.
However, we are all different and our (3)......................(PERSON) mindset affects our response- it's
what steers us and suggests possible courses of action. But it can also trip us up. If our mindset is too
(4) ..................(JUDGE) our reactions to an event are led by our need to evaluate it; we seek a
(5)................ (CONCLUDE) such as 'm always wrong!' We may overreact to the experience,
expressing feelings that are (6)...................(APPROPRIATE) extreme, such as fury or terror.
Analysing something with this kind of dark mindset can mean our interpretation of it becomes
(7).................(BALANCE) and, obviously, this kind of (8)............... (NEGATIVE) is
(9).........................(HEALTHY). People with more open mindsets seek a positive spin, things they can
learn from experience. They have a (10).................. (CONSTRUCT) rather than pessimistic approach
to life. It's clear which mindset is helpful!

III. Translate the following text into English:

(10 points)

Se opri brusc și mă privi fără să mă vadă, cu ochii sticloși. Cât a durat asta? Cât a durat? Dar l-am
văzut că se ridică și își caută servieta.

- Aș vrea să mai pot adăuga ceva, spuse el. Dar, așa cum mă așteptam, nu se mai poate adăuga
nimic. Căci, iertați-mă dacă îmi permiteți să fiu sincer, ce-ați putea înțelege mai mult acum decât ați
înțeles acum o jumătate de ceas, când vă spuneam că, pentru mine misterul este incognoscibil? Într-un
anumit sens, vă invidiez, dar pe de altă parte. Ce-aș mai putea adăuga? Acum că am început să vă
cunosc, nu pot spune decât atât, că ni se întâmplă, fiecăruia dintre noi, fel de fel de lucruri, dar, din
nefericire le uităm. Iar când nu le uităm, nu știm să le recunoaștem. Cu puțină imaginație, aș fi putut să
vă recunosc și atunci mi-aș fi amintit și eu tot ce-ar fi trebuit să-mi amintesc.

Își luă servieta, ne strânse mâna cu căldură și ieși. Nu îndrăzneam să mai adăugăm ceva. Dar îl
priveam toți depărtându-se.

SUBIECTUL B INTEGRATED SKILLS - 60 points

Read the paragraph and do the tasks.

Time is running out, or so people feel. According to the latest research, forty-four per cent of
British workers come home exhausted. More than half suffer from stress. By almost every measure,
people are more pressured, more bothered about time – or lack of it – than they have been for many
years. Time, they feel, has been squeezed. All over the world, the old ways of managing time are
disappearing. Fixed jobs, shared rhythms of shopping, travel and leisure, and common patterns of
learning, marriage, work and retirement are on the way out. Instead, the world has to come to terms
with just-in-time production and multi-tasking computers, 24-hour shopping, time-share holidays and
on-line banking. All these are symptoms of a revolution, a transition from an industrial time culture
based around fixed timetables and a clear division of labour between men who went to work and
women who looked after the home, towards a new culture based around flexibility, customisation and
rapid flows of information.

This new post-industrial culture offers, perhaps for the first time in history, the promise of
people using time for their own needs. But far from ushering in a leisured utopia, its most immediate
effect has been a growing divide between those with too much work and those without any. In top
jobs, long hours have become a mark of status and success. One in eight British managers work more
than sixty hours a week and more than half take home work during the week. Some of the costs of the
transition to a post-industrial order are all around us. Not only unemployment and overwork, high
stress and high anxiety, but also less obvious ones like fatigue. But little has been done to address
them head on, or to adapt institutions to a post-industrial way of life. Most institutions remain stuck in
the industrial era. Within the family, even though most women now have jobs, they still do the bulk of
domestic work – and consequently have fifteen hours less free time each week than men. Taken as a
whole, time remains off the political agenda, treated as far less important than money or production.
No political party seems to have acknowledged how much the landscape of time has changed. No one
is responding to the mood that we need to find a better balance between work and life.

For those seeking a better life-work balance, there is already a marvelous institution waiting to
be used. Sabbaticals offer time off to recharge the batteries, to learn a new skill or just to travel the
world. At the moment, these are a rare treat for academics. With the right funding arrangements, it is
not inconceivable that we could, in the future, see every seventh year taken off as a matter of course.
A previous generation of writers thought the goal was to escape from work. But this misses the point.
Many people enjoy work. They find it fulfilling not only because it is a way to meet people but also
because it sets goals and stretches capacities. The challenge of post-industrial age is not to escape from
work but rather to achieve more autonomy and more ways for people to control the terms on which
they work, its pace and texture.

I. For each question decide which answer (A, B, C or D) fits best according to the text.
(5x
2=10 points)
1. What is the writer’s verdict on post-industrial culture?
A. People have more choices in their life.
B. The amount of leisure time has increased.
C. It leads to bigger social divisions.
D. Everyone is obliged to work harder.

2. According to the writer, very long working hours

A. affect everyone who has a job.
B. are a problem in top jobs.
C. are found at all levels of society.
D. are mainly a result of technological change.

3. What does the writer say about political attitudes to changes in work?
A. There is a failure to address the problems.
B. The balance of work and leisure is a matter of personal choice.
C. The old industrial model should continue to apply.
D. Changes are too expensive to implement.

4. The writer regards sabbaticals as

A. self-indulgent.
B. essential in academic fields.
C. one way of improving efficiency.
D. something that all workers should have.

5. Which statement best sums up the writer’s attitude to work in the last paragraph?
A. Today’s workforce demands a balance of work and leisure.
B. Financial benefits make it worthwhile.
C. Work allows people to develop their potential.
D. Work leads to an improved social life.
II. Starting from the text above, write a for-and-against essay on “This new post-industrial culture
offers the promise of people using time for their own needs”. (200-250 words)