OLIMPIADA DE LIMBA ENGLEZA - ETAPA LOCALĂ

23 FEBRUARIE 2019
CLASA A X-A SECȚIUNEA B Varianta 1

SUBIECTUL A – USE OF ENGLISH (40 points)

I. Read the text below and do the tasks that follow. (20 points)

For years video games have been criticised for making people more antisocial, overweight or depressed.
But now researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better and improve both our
body and mind.
Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive games such as the
ones available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills, for example they can kick, catch
and throw a ball better than children who don’t play video games. A study of surgeons who do
microsurgery in Boston found that those who played video games were 27 per cent faster and made 37
per cent fewer errors than those who didn't. Vision is also improved, particularly telling the difference
between shades of grey. This is useful for driving at night, piloting a plane or reading X-rays.
Games also benefit a variety of brain functions, including decision-making. People who play action-
based games make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and are no less accurate, according to one
study. It was also found that the best gamers can make choices and act on them up to six times a second,
four times faster than most people. In another study by researchers from the University of Rochester in
New York, experienced gamers were shown to be able to pay attention to more than six things at once
without getting confused, compared with the four that most people can normally keep in mind.
Additionally, video games can also reduce gender differences. Scientists have found that women who
play games are better able to mentally manipulate 3D objects.

A. Answer the following questions. (8 points)

1. What point does the author make about video games?
2. What positive aspects related to gamers’ physical skills are mentioned?
3. How can the ability of discerning among different shades of grey help?
4. What evidence was found by the researchers in New York ?

B. Choose the right synonym. (6 points)

1. skills: a. gifts b. know-how c. abilities d. expertise
2. vision: a. perspective b. foresight c. apparition d. eyesight
3. keep: a. bear b. store c. delay d. hide

C. Rephrase the following sentences so as to preserve the meaning. (6 points)

1. Researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better.
That games can actually change us for the better……………..…………….
2. People who play action-based games make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and are no
less accurate.
People who play action-based games make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and………….
 3. Scientists have found that women who play games are better able to mentally manipulate 3D
objects.
It ..................................................... that women who play games are better able to mentally
manipulate 3D objects.

II. Use the word given in brackets to form a word that best fits in each sentence. (10 points)

Baseball is the (0) FAVOURITE non traditional sport in Japan. FAVOUR

Sports in Japan are a significant part of (1)_________ culture. Both JAPAN
(2)_________ sports such as sumo and martial arts, and Western TRADITION
imports like baseball and association football are popular with both
(3)_______ and spectators. Sumo wrestling is considered Japan's PARTICIPATE
national sport. Baseball was (4)_______ to the country by visiting INTRODUCE
Americans in the 19th century. The Nippon Professional Baseball
League is Japan's largest professional sports (5)_________ in terms COMPETE
of television (6)________ and spectators. Martial arts such as judo, RATE
karate, and modern kendo are also (7)________ practiced and WIDE
enjoyed by spectators in the country. Association football has gained
wide (8)_____ since the founding of the Japan Professional Football POPULAR
League in 1992. Other popular sports include figure skating, golf,
and racing, especially auto racing. There are opportunities to play
various sports for all ages, and school plays an important role in the
community. Kindergarten and lower elementary school students can
play in a sports club that can be joined (9)_____ for a moderate fee. PRIVATE
Most martial arts can be started as young as 4 or 5 years old. When a
student starts 5th grade, the school offers free after-school (10)_____ ACT
for its students to participate.

III. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits in each gap. Use only one word
in each gap. (10 points)

The Brontë Sisters

The Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne were born and brought up in a lonely village high on the
Yorkshire moors, yet all three became famous novelists. (1)___________ father, Patrick Brontë, was the
parish priest of Haworth in Yorkshire. He was very strict (2)___________ his children, and also a little
eccentric. After his wife died, the girls and their brother, Branwell, were looked (3)___________ by
their aunt.

When they were still very young, the sisters were sent to boarding school. They received a better
education there than was usual for girls at that time, but lived (4)____________ conditions which
encouraged the spread of disease. The girls did not get enough food and the buildings were cold and
damp.
There were no jobs available (5)__________ women at the time, and the sisters, except for occasional
jobs as governesses or school teachers, lived their whole lives (6)_________ home. They occupied their
time with music, drawing, reading and, above (7)_________, writing.

Charlotte Brontë’s famous novel, Jane Eyre, recounts the boarding school life Charlotte hated, and her
experiences (8)__________ a governess. Emily Brontë wrote only one novel, Wuthering Heights,
(9)____________ is considered a romantic masterpiece. Anne was the mildest and (10)__________
patient of the sisters; both her novels can be regarded as softer versions of Jane Eyre.

SUBIECTUL B – INTEGRATED SKILLS – (60 points)

Read the following text and do the task:

What is happening to our weather?

What is ‘extreme’ weather? Why are people talking about it these days? ‘Extreme’ weather is an unusual
weather event such as rainfall, a drought or a heat wave in the wrong place or at the wrong time. In
theory, they are very rare. But these days, our TV screens are constantly showing such extreme weather
events. Take just three news stories from 2010: 28 centimetres of rain fell on Rio de Janeiro in 24 hours,
Nashville, USA, had 33 centimetres of rain in two days and there was record rainfall in Pakistan.

The effects of this kind of rainfall are dramatic and lethal. In Rio de Janeiro, landslides followed, killing
hundreds of people. In Pakistan, the floods affected 20 million people. Meanwhile, other parts of the
world suffer devastating droughts. Australia, Russia and East Africa have been hit in the last ten years.
And then there are unexpected heat waves, such as in 2003 in Europe. That summer, 35,000 deaths were
said to be heat-related.

So, what is happening to our weather? Are these extreme events part of a natural cycle? Or are they
caused by human activity and its effects on the Earth’s climate? Peter Miller says it’s probably a mixture
of both of these things. On the one hand, the most important influences on weather events are natural
cycles in the climate. Two of the most famous weather cycles, El Niño and La Niña, originate in the
Pacific Ocean. The heat from the warm ocean rises high into the atmosphere and affects weather all
around the world. On the other hand, the temperature of the Earth’s oceans is slowly but steadily going
up. And this is a result of human activity. We are producing greenhouse gases that trap heat in the
Earth’s atmosphere. This heat warms up the atmosphere, land and oceans. Warmer oceans produce more
water vapour – think of heating a pan of water in your kitchen. Turn up the heat, it produces steam more
quickly. Satellite data tells us that the water vapour in the atmosphere has gone up by four percent in 25
years. This warm, wet air turns into the rain, storms, hurricanes and typhoons that we are increasingly
experiencing.
Climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer says that we need to face the reality of climate change. And we
also need to act now to save lives and money in the future.

I. For each question choose the correct letter A, B or C. (10 points)

Read the article and choose the correct option.

1 The article says extreme weather is ...

a becoming more common.
b not a natural occurrence.
c hard for scientists to understand.
2 According to the article, extreme weather is a problem because ...
a we can’t predict it.
b it affects places where lots of people live.
c it’s often very destructive.

3 Extreme weather can by caused by ...

a satellites above the Earth.
b water vapour in the atmosphere.
c very hot summers.

4 Why was the rain in Nashville considered to be an extreme event?

a There was a lot of rain over a long time period.
b It doesn’t usually rain in Nashville.
c There was a lot of rain in a short time.

5 What happened after the extreme rain in Rio de Janeiro?

a There were major floods.
b There were many deaths.
c Millions of people were affected.

6 What caused many deaths in 2003?

a a period of hot weather
b floods that followed a bad summer
c a long drought

7 Which of these things is the basis of normal weather patterns?

a greenhouse gases.
b human activity.
c El Niño and La Niña.

8 Where does atmospheric water vapour come from?

a the land
b the ocean
c greenhouse gases

9 We can use satellites to ...

a change where storms will happen.
b trap greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
c measure changes in atmospheric water vapour.

10 According to Michael Oppenheimer ...

a we don’t understand extreme weather events.
b we can limit the effects of extreme weather.
c we can stop climate change.

II. Starting from the text above, write a narrative-descriptive essay about a storm when things
went wrong. (200-220 words) (50 points)
TOTAL : TOATE SUBIECTELE SUNT OBLIGATORII. TIMP DE LUCRU 3 ORE. NU SE ACORDĂ
PUNCTE DIN OFICIU.