Bacalaureat de Nota 10 Engleza

v

LIMBA ENGLEZAevaluareacompeten,e orlingvistice de com icare

30 de variante pentru scris90 de variante pentru oral

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Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Nationale a RomanieiLimba engleza: bacalaureat scris ~i oralTania Mu~ina (coord.)Bra~ov: Aula, 2010

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'-'LIMBA ENGLEZA

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- 30 de variante pentru scris -- 90 de variante (subiecte) pentru oral -

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EXAMINARE SCRISA.·

.WRITTEN EXAMINATION.

30 de variante rezolvate

- 30 de subiecte de tip I A(Reading Comprehension)

- ~Ode subiecte de tip'I B(Writing)

Pentru Examinarea scrisa (Writing Examination), care dureaza90 de minute, exista doua tipuri de cerinte (subiecte), fiecare cudoua niveluri de dificultate (elevii pot alege unul din cele douaniveluri). Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-7 'Right' (A) or

'Wrong' (B)? If there is not enough information to answer'Right' (A) or 'Wrong' (B), choose 'Doesn't say' (C). Mark A,B, or C on your exam sheet.

- 15 variante cu 7 itemi (mai u~oare)- 15 variante cu 10 itemi (mai dificile)

I moved from Korea to the USA when I was 14 years old. Thefirst few weeks were great - everything was exciting and different.Going to the supermarkets was an adventure: the foods were allnew to me and everything was so big!

The biggest culture shock for me was going to high school. Firstof all, I looked different. All the other girls looked so much olderthan me. They wore make-up and coloured their hair.

And I never went to a school with boys before. So the first thingI did to try to fit in was have a perm. I also started wearing make-up, but I wasn't very good at putting it on. My eye-liner alwaysseemed to smudge and my lipstick was always the wrong colour. Iloved nail polish though. I used to wear different colours on eachfinger. I also got my ears pierced.

I found Americans a lot more open than Koreans. When I ate mydinner in the cafeteria, I always tried to ignore the boys and girlskissing each other over the table. People don't do that in Korea. Ifound it hard to eat my dinner! The other thing I found hard washolding hands (or not holding hands). In Korea girls hold handswith girls, but in America people think that's really weird. Insteadgirls hold hands with their boyfriends. I thought that was reallyweird! I wasn't cool either. In Korea it's good to be clever and dowell at school, but in America I was a nerd for liking study (and Iwore glasses, which made it worse). I found making friends reallyhard. (www.hveser.de)

"Write an email to your English speaking friend explaining thatyou would like to apply to do a course at one of the colleges in thecity he lives. Tell him/her what type of studies you have been doingfor the past few years and ask for assistance in contacting anappropriate institution.Write your answer in 80-100 words."

"You have seen this announcement in a high school magazine:"Describe you best experience as a student. ".Write your answer in 180-200 words."

Indiferent de ce veti alege la examen, rezolvarea tuturorvariantelor va asigura 0 pregatire completa pentru Limbaengleza. Examinare scrisa (Writing Examination).

round face is framed by a mass of wavy white hair and her sparklingblue eyes show her humour and friendliness. She prefers wearingcasual, comfortable clothes. I don't think I have ever seen her in aperfectly ironed suit.

As for her personality, Mavis's most striking characteristic is hergenerosity. My house, as well as most of our neighbours', nearlyalways has a vase of flowers from her garden in the living room.Mavis is very good-natured and always has time for a chat. She isalso patient. She hardly ever gets annoyed about anything, excepther children pick her favourite roses and lilies. However, she tendsto be quite stubborn - once she has made a decision, nothing canchange her mind.

All in all, Mavis is the perfect next-door neighbour. Since the dayshe moved in, we have grown very close and I am very fond of her,even if I am woken up by the noise of her lawnmower early in themorning!

Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-7 "Right" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough information to answer"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, B, C on your exam sheet.

Mavis has been my neighbour for six years. I first met her whenshe knocked on my door and asked for a spade because she hadn'tyet unpacked hers. She had arrived in our neighbourhood two daysbefore.

Physically, Mavis looks younger than most other women in theirlate sixties. She is of average height, neither fat nor thin. Her plump


Remembrance Day takes place in Britain every year on the Sundayclosest to November II tho It is held to remember all the heroes whodied while fighting in World Wars I and II.

Prior to the actual event, many schools and organizations rehearsefor the parades which will be held on the day. Paper poppies aresold to the public, and they wear them in their lapels for a week orso before the event. The poppy flower, due to its bright red colour,symbolizes the blood shed by the soldiers during the war.

On the actual day, war veterans join the parades, proudly displayingtheir medals, and they march or are pushed in wheelchairs down thestreets to the cheers of the crowds. In the evening there is always aremembrance service, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London,which is televised live. Hymns are sung, speeches are made, and atthe end of the service, thousands of poppies are dropped from theceiling onto the audience below.

Remembrance Day is a very important event. We should respectand feel proud of those peopl~ who died fighting in the wars as theyplayed a very significant role in securing our country's freedom.


As I was just making my nightly rounds on Monday evening, Inoticed a light coming from a third floor window of Scope Ltd. Itmust have been about 11.15 p.m. because I had checked my watchjust minutes earlier. As I was proceeding to the maIn entrance tocheck for signs of a break-in I saw two men running out of the doortowards the gate.

Both men seemed to be in their mid thirties and were rather tallwith short brown hair. The) were wearing dirty ripped jeans andblack leather jackets. They must have been professionals becausethey managed to get in and out of the bui Iding without setting offthe sophisticated alarm system. 1 tried to go after them but wasunable to catch them because they got into a black Ford Cortina anddrove off in the direction of Tackinton.

About two minutes later 1 heard a bomb explode and saw flamescoming out of the third floor windows. The fire soon spread toother floors, and the whole building was in flames within minutes.

I quickly called the police and the fire brigade who arrived at11:30.


Over the past few years, people have begun to travel to placesthey would only have dreamt of visiting thirty years ago, thanks tothe possibilities offered by air travel. In my opinion, travelling byaeroplane cannot be compared with any other means of transport.

To start with, there really is no faster way to travel. You can gofrom one country to another in a few hours which gives you moretime to enjoy your trip, rather than waste time travelling anddragging your luggage around.

Furthermore, you always feel well looked after on an aeroplane.You are served drinks and meals and offered newspapers andblankets which all help to make the journey mo~e comfortable andenjoyable.

Of course, there are people who consider that travelling by planecan be a nightmare, with airport delays, cramped seats and turbulenceto put up with. What is more, aeroplanes and airports are oftentargeted by terrorists, which makes some people think that travellingby plane in not safe. What they forget is that the number of deathscaused by cars is larger than that caused by planes.

1 consider that air travel will always remain popular. Its speed,comfort and convenience are very hard to beat.

1. Thirty years ago people only dreamt at the places they aretravelling to now.

Haven to help wash the birds. They say the effects of the oil disasterwill last for at least two or three years. Planes are now flying overthe sea, spraying the sea with detergents to stop the oil.

The accident happened when the "Sea Empress" was going to anoil refinery at Milford Haven. Organizations, such as Greenpeaceand World Wide Fund for Nature, are calling the situation a disasterand are asking the Government to check the standard of oil tankers.The Government says that the Department of Transport willinvestigate the accident.

Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-7 "Right" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough information to answer'"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, B, C on your exam sheet. 5. The birds, the dolphins and other species will be affected by

the accident.

Helicopters rescued 28 sailors from the oil tanker the SeaEmpress last night. The tanker is spilling tons of oil into the seafrom its broken tanks. It crashed into the rocks near Milford Havenin bad weather on Thursday night.

The tanker is now losing oil from five of its twelve tanks andthere are already reports that hundred of sea birds are covered inoil. Philip Rothwell, from Royal Society for the Protection ofBirds, said that the news was extremely bad: "This accident willaffe~t n~t o~ly. the birds but also dolphins and many underwaterspecies. Wildlife experts and volunteers are waiting near Milford

14

Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-7 "Right" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough information to answer"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, B, C on you r exam sheet.

Another day has passed and I am still here. I am alive.b~t n?w allmy friends and relatives are gone. Today I. went to VISIt NicolasSmith, my only friend, and when I got to his house, I saw the redcross painted on the door. This cross shows that the people in thehouse have the plague; nobody can enter into the house. It is oneway to try 1'0 stop the disease. An?ther way is. to ma~e big firesoutside in the streets, to clean the air. But there IS nothmg that canstop the plague. .

This terrible illness began last year and already there are at least60000 people dead. The same symptoms appear all the time: thevictims feel pains all over their body, especially under the arms,and their bodies get hotter and hotter and then they go mad. After afew days, they die. I think that there is no cure for the plague. A lotof people get special medicine from the doctors, but it does not helpthe patients; they still die. . .

Where does the illness come from? Many people thmk It comesfrom God. He is angry with us for the bad things that happen in theevil city. Some people say that dogs and cats are responsible; theythink that animals carry the disease, so they kill them. Now, thereare more rats than usual; I can see rats everywhere in the streets.When will this plague disappear? How long will I live?

("The Diary of Samuel Pepys from 1659-1669", in "The ShorterPepys ", London, Bell & Hyman, 1989)


I've lived in Chalham all my life. In general I like living here, butthere are problems. For example, my school is 30 kilometres away.in Benton, and I need two hours to get there by bus. That is veryboring. Finding things to do during the weekend is also difficult.Generally there aren't enough things to do in the village. There'sonly a sports club, and there are no discos. The closest town isMilton, but we can't go to the disco there, because the last bus toour village is at 6 pm. There exist only three busses a day, so we area bit isolated around here.

The village changes very much in summer. Normally. around 1000people live here, but in July and August, there are about 3000 peo~l~here. Some of the visitors were born here, and they return to VISittheir relatives; others are tourists. I'm not a big fan of summer, forme the noise is a problem too. Riding your bike becomes dangerous.

That is one of the advantages of living in a village: you don'thave traffic problems, and there is no pollLltion, at least in winter.


Two years ago Steve and Margaret Smith took a very difficultdecision. They decided to sell their house and buy a new home.Their family thought they were mad and their friends couldn'tbelieve their ears. Why such a change? Well, what's unusual aboutthe Smiths is that they left a house with three bedrooms in Londonfor something totally different. "

Where they live now, they don't have neighbours, there's notraffic and they only see countryside from their wi.ndow. When theyget tired of one place, they simply move to a new place. Up t6 nowthey moved three times - they stay in one area forpbout six months.Of course, this can be a problem because their friends never knowwhere they can find them.

Their new home is very small. In fact Steve and Margaret sleep,cook, eat and relax in a single room. The kitchen area has a sinkand a cooker, and there is a separate bathroom. But they are notbothered by the size - they say it's very comfortable and they have

.everything they need. They have a television set and a microwavetoo.

For the Smiths shopping is very difficult as the shops at a bigdistance from their home. Steve says that the next stop will beoutside a supermarket!

Now they are thinking of the summer holiday. Hotels won't be aproblem for them!

penguins to advertise fridges. and a cat to advertise heating. In thecommercials \:ick 's character move and speak. Although th; advertswere only around one minute long, the process of making them wasextremely slow as every movement needed to be fi Imed and therewere thousands of movements in each advert.

Since the film "Creature Comfort", Nick has won more Oscarsfor cartoons using plasticine characters. These films last 30 minutes.In the near future Nick intends to make a full-length film. The onlyproblem is time!5. When they are bored of one place the Smiths can change their

address. .

2. Nick started to be interested in animation at the age of ten.


Nick Park is famous all over the world for his animations. Hisinterest began when he was 12. He saw a documentary about WaltDisney and the way he made his cartoons and decided to experimentwith his father's old film camera. He created his first ·animatedcartoon at the age of 13. Twenty years later, Nick was awarded theOscar for a short film entitled "Creature Comforts".

After this big success an electricity company decided to use theanimals to advertise their electrical products, for example they used

6. In the commercials ick's characters moved but didn't speak.

Subiecte

k.3d·The author can remem bel' the faces of the persons who ran the

In ergarten.Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-7 "Right" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough information to answer"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, B, C on your exam sheet.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn't say

4. The author is sure the persons who ran the kindergarten were nice.

A Right

It is amazing how little we remember about our life before theage of seven or eight. I can tell you different things that happenedto me from eight onwards, but just a few things before that. I wentfor a year to Elmtree House, but I can't remember how myclassroom looked. Nor can I picture the faces of Mrs Corfield andMiss Tucker, the two sisters who ran the kindergarten. although ('msure they were very nice and kind. I vaguely remember sitting onthe stairs and trying over and over to tie my shoelaces. This is whatI can remember at this distance of the school itself.

On the other side, I can remember very well the journeys I madeto and from the school as they were extremely exciting. This becauseevery day I rode my tricycle on my way to school, together with mysister and her tricycle. We used to race at enormous tricycle speedsdown the middle of the road and then, most glorious of all, whenwe came to a corner, we would lean to one side and take it on twowheels.

This is about all that I can remember from my kindergartenperiod, sixty-two years ago. It's not much but I treasure it!

(Excerpts from "Boy: Tales of Childhood " by Roald Dahl (JonathanCape/Penguin Books» .

5. The author remembers very well hisshoelaces: experience with the

A Right B Wrong C Doesn't say

6. The author was a beautiful child in kindergarten.

A R.ight B Wrang C Doesn't say

7. The author liked riding the tricycle with his/her sister.

A Right

" Read ~,hete?xt below. Are the sentences 1-7 "Right" (A) or,,:r~~,~ (B). If there is not enough information to answer

Ig (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, B, C on your exam sheet.

1. People don't remember too much about their life before theage of seven or eight.

If There ar.e only two types of dinner party: successes and failurese~erythlng go.es well, you will have the satisfaction of bein~

c~nsldered a SOCIal:uccess by all your acquaintances; if it doesn't~ llyour ~ay, you WIll encourage the silences that will explore theu meaning of the word "awkward".

B The most sensible. course of action is never choose to be a hostut you want to be m the lime-light, so here it is. .

Although it might seem a contradiction, wherever possible, avoidhaving dinner parties in your own home. An alternative locationwith great success is a restaurant. You don't have to serve the guestsand you don't 'have to cook. The most satisfying aspect is the factthat you split the cost of the evening with your guests.

If you have no choice and throw a dinner party at home makesure you don't have too many guests, the ideal .is to have three orfour couples and a single person who will be your rescuer. At thetable try to involve your guests in serving the food by telling themthat this an old Tibetan custom. This will be a conversation point.Try to avoid talking about politics as it is all the time an argumentfor contradictions. .

("The Observer ", "Protocol: a guide to modern living: how tohold a dinner parry ", "High-tech disaster threatens police computersystems" by Robin McKie and Richard Sharpe)

5. A good choice for a dinner party place is the restaurant.

fA Right B Wrong C Doesn't say

Read the text below. Are the sentences I~7 "Right" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough information to answer"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, B, C on your exam sheet.

Butterflies have from early time been associated with humansouls. In ancient Egypt, the soul at death was considered to leavethe body just like the butterfly leaves the chrysalis. In Burma thesoul-butterfly is believed to fly abroad when its owner sleeps, meetingthe soul-butterflies of other persons and animals and returningwhen the person wakes up. The children from Burma learn to neverawaken anyone too suddenly because it is believed that if the soul-butterfly can't come back in time the person will die.

In Gaelic tradition, the persons who died recently were thought tobe sometimes visible in the form of a butterfly hovering over thecorpse. In Ireland, this was a sign of everlasting happiness for thesoul. In Scotland, a golden butterfly over a dying person wasconsidered to be a very good omen for his or her future welfare.

A legend tells how a soul wandered through time and place, andcame back to the body in butterfly form. When it almost entered theman's mouth a neighbour killed it. It is said that the man died at once.

(A P Watt Ltd on behalf of Edith M Horsley and Christina Holefor "Butterflies" from "The Encyclopedia of Superstitions " by E andM A Radford, edited and revised by Christina Hole)

In the south west of England, one can find small villages forfishing purposes and also for a peace and quiet period. In the northeast of England you can walk along the coast of J\orthumberlandwithout meeting anyone at all. On the south coast you can enjoy thesun and the beautiful beaches of the English Riviera.

If you prefer a holiday with a lot of people and a lot of fun thenyou can go to a big holiday resort like Blackpool on the west coastof England or Brighton on the south coast. Or maybe you wouldlike to spend your holiday in a cam. You can find them allover thecountry, especially near the popular resorts. In a camp you havedances, palties, special arrangements for children and a lot ofgames and Sport.

5, In Scotland golden butterflies are considered good omens.

A Right 8 Wrong C Doesn't say

6. The butterfly from the legend managed to enter into the man'smouth. 2. In Britain people have two weeks of holiday.

3. July is the only popular month for going on a holiday.

4. On the roads to the seaside you can't find motorbikes.

Read the text below. Are the senten~es 1-7 "~ight" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough mformatlOn to answer"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (8), choose "Doesn't say" (C). MarkA, 8, C on your exam sheet.

5. You can fish in the south west of England.

HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS

Some towns on the English coast have only small population~ inwinter but in summer there come thousands and thousands oftounst~.Most 'people in Britain have at least two weeks to spent .thelrholiday. July and August are the most popular months for .holIdaysand there is always a lot of traffic on the roads to the seasIde.

6. Beaches can be found on the English Riviera.

Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-7 "Right" (A) or"Wrong" (B)? If there is not enough information to answer"Right" (A) or "Wrong" (B), choose "Doesn't say" (C). Mar:kA, B, C on your exam sheet.

The common meals in Britain are breakfast, lunch, tea, and supper.Traditionally, breakfast is a bigger meal than on the continent, butduring the week, when everybody works. there is no time for a richbreakfast, just for a cup of coffee or tea, a piece of toast or a bowlof cereal. On Sundavs breakfast consists of half a grapefruit ororange juice, porridg~, bacon and eggs and toast and marmalade, ifyou are very hungry.

On a weekday, lunch is not a big meal. The people who work eatsandwiches, or a salad, and some fruit, or yoghurt. If you want a hotmeal you can go to the canteens.

Sunday lunch is the main meal of the week. Now you can eat roastbeef or chicken, accompanied by potatoes a'nd one or two vegetables.Desert can be anything: ice-cream, apple-pie or a h'ot pudding.

The traditional practice of afternoon tea, consisting oftea., sandwiches,cake and biscuits, is not so frequent- nowadays. as people don'thave time.

The evening meal is the meal for all the family. Dinner takesplace early in the evening, around six 0 'clock when all the membersof the family come home from work or school. This is a hot meal,usually with meat and vegetables.

Supper is usually later, or out at a restaurant.

Read the text below. For questions 1-10, choose the answer(A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

In ancient societies, athletics and especially competitive contactgame~ aI.ways have been, but aggression in the past was temperedby a~ II1slstence that playing hard, playing to win, did not countenanceplayll1g to cheat and to hurt. One of the very first nations thatexpresse~ a~hleti: ideals, were the Greeks. As enunciated by Pindar,t~e ~thletlc Id~all~corpora,ted courage and endurance with modesty,dl~lty, and falr-mmdedness, thpse elusive qualities the Greeks called:'ldos .. As spo~s becan;e more specialized, the general populacemcreaslngly Withdrew mto spectatorship. Sports history revealsthat al~hough Greek sports had increasingly marred by corruptionand bnbes, nonetheless they flourished in an era which witnessedthe rapid expansion of stadiums and arenas under the Roman Empire.

I. During the week the British eat a lot in the morning.

During the Roman Empire. violence in sports became the generallyaccepted principle and spectators not only endorsed it but alsoembraced it as a social norm.

[n recent years sports violence has become to be perceived as asocial problem. Commissions have been appointed in Canada andEngland to investigate violence among hockey players and soccerfans. Numerous examples of violence in professional sports existtoday, as countries like the United States, Canada. Greece. [taly andGermany, report court cases have been heard which concern thevictims of violence perpetrators. Newspapers, magazines and televisionprograms portray bloodied athletes and riotous fans at hockey,boxing. football, soccer. baseball, and basketball games with whatappears to be increasing regularity. But are sports violence incidentsactually increasing, and if so. what is the reason of such a negativeincrease? Or does the heightened public attention and media focuson sports violence reflect not an increase in the incidence or severityof aggression, but greater public concern with moral issues andpolitical discourse?

Contrary to popular belief, there appears to be growing dissatisfactionwith sports violence.

Changes in sports rules, developments in the design of equipmentand even the physical characteristics of modern sports arenas evolvedin an effort to reduce violence or its consequences. But still, amongathletic management teams, government officials, fans and athletesthemselves, there is an ambivalence attitude towards sports violence.The ambivalence takes the form of justifying the existence ofviolence in sports, but not taking personal responsibility for it.Coaches and managers tend to blame fans, saying that violence iswhat attracts people into stadiums, as the risk entailed makes thegame more "interesting".

Athletes frequently admit that they are opposed to violence, butit is expected of them by coaches. Fans justify it by attributingaggressiveness to athletes and to situational aspects of the game.Spectators view violence as an inherent part of some sports as onecannot play games like hockey or football, without accepting thenecessity of violent action.

Nevertheless, public opinion tends to focus more and more onsports violence as major advances in the technologies used haveincreased media coverage making information available to a vast

global audience. Thus. contemporary critics tend to consider sportsviolence as a worldwide phenomenon with highly disturbing futurecourse and social outcomes.

(Jonathon Hardcastle. ).11).1111'. enzinearticles. com)

I. [n ancient societiesA athletics and competitive contact games were rough.B football and contact games were rough.C only competitive contact games were rough.D no game was rough.

2. During the Roman Empire, spectatorsA tried to tolerate violence in sports.B detested any type of violence in sports.C regarded violence in sports as a social norm.D did not support violence in sports.

3. Sports violence has started to be regarded as a social problemA lately.B since the 70's.C these days.D since the beginning of the 20th century.

4. Canada and EnglandA are able to explain violence among hockey players.B are trying to discover the cause of violence among hockey players.C show no concern about sports violence.D are in favour of sports violence.

5. Regarding sports violence there seems to be a feeling ofA appreciation.B dissatisfaction.C indifference.D support.

6. In order to reduce violenceA only sports rules have been changed.B mass media coverage has been banned.C sports rules and equipment design have been modified.D sport rules, equipment design and sports arenas have been adjusted.

7. Government officials, fans and athletesA have the same attitude towards sports violence.B are ambivalent towards sports violence.e take personal responsibility for sports violence.D try not to justify sports violence.

cultures are, by way of contrast to the British, much less concernedto avoid conflict private or personal encounters.

Perhaps there is a principle in '"aggression management" here:every culture has developed some ways of fetting off steam, hassome areas in which people are allowed to express their true feelings.

The immediate linguistic consequepce of open conflict - avoidanceis that you need to know what to do and what to say, for example,when someone takes a position in a queue in front of you, accidentallystand son your toe in a bus or disagrees with you in a publicgathering. In the public gathering, depending on the nature of themeeting, the British reaction may be to confront disagreementopenly and respond vigorously. In the other more personal situations,the same individual may work hard at taking a middle routebetween doing nothing and engaging in open conflict. In doing so,he or she will expect a similar cooperative response from the otherperson, such as an apology like, '"Oh, sorry, I didn't realise .. :'. Inother cultures, behaviour might well be the opposite - a great effortto reduce conflict in a public meeting and robust responses in theprivate situations. Within our own cultures, w.e understand theconventions and know when people are being normally polite ornormally outspoken. The difficulties come when we make errors inan unfamiliar environment.

("British Shibboleths, One language, different cultures ", editedby Eddie Ronowicz and Colin Yallop, The Continuum InternationalPublishing Group Ltd.)

8. Risk makes the game more interesting according toA coaches.B fans.e athletes.D government officials.

9. The tendency of the public opinion towards sports violence isA to show less interest.B to be more concentrated on it.C to show disapproval.D to accept it.

10. Critics regard sports violence asA an international reality.B a local reality.e a regional reality.D a national reality.

Read the text below. For questions 1-10, choose the answer(A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. 1. An underlying principle of cultural behaviour reflected in the

language is:A avoiding face-to-face conflictB using face-to-face conflicte creating face-to-face conflictD understanding face-to-face conflictAn underlying principle of cultural behaviour, which is closely

reflected in the language, is the need to avoid face-to-face conflict.Even though the British may appear unpleasantly blunt when comparedwith some Asian cultures, they are on the whole concerned to offera way out whenever a potential conflict between individuals occurs.

This may be compared with public confrontations in large committeesor the Parliament where much more confrontation goes on. Some

2. The BritishA don't want a way out from conflictsB are just like the Asians regarding conflictse are preoccupied to find solutions for conflicts between individualsD ignore face-to-face conflicts

3. Other culturesA are more concerned to avoid conflicts -B don't talk about conflictsC consider conflicts insignificantD are less concerned by avoiding conflicts -

C show more respect and offer more vigorous responsesD are extremely violent

10. A problematic situation isA when we make a mistake in unknown environmentB when we make errors in another countryC when we don't care about the othersD there is no problematic situation

4. Every cultureA the same way to calm downB has its own way to calm downC tries to have less confl ictsD lets off steam with a lot of work

5. When you want to avoid a conflictA you must know what to doB you must be carefulC you must know what to do and what to sayD you must know what to say


6. In public confrontations the BritishA avoid open conflictB are vigorous in responseC are confronting openlyD are vigorous in response and confront openly

INTERVIEWER: Considering you belong to one of the glitziestprofessions there is, along with showbiz, you seem to have yourfeet pretty much on the ground.

HELENA CHRISTENSEN: I truly believe that who you are isbecause of your family, you know, the way that you were broughtup, the love that you get from your family, the discipline fromthem. It all goes back to childhood no matter what happens later inyour life. And also, probably, coming from Denmark has kept mevery grounded because there's not too much about fame, the sameway that other countries are obsessed with it. In Denmark it's whoyou are and you shouldn't think you are more than anybody else.And, all in all, I would really say that it has helped me coming froma country like Denmark.

INTERVIEWER: You have a really good reputation in the industryfor being very professional; you come in, you do the job, you gohome. There's no baggage, noJantrums and tempers.

HELENA: Well, that's nice to hear, but, for me, that was the onlyway to deal with the job because it's such a strange job. If I didn'tdo it that way, if I created problems for myself, not just coming in,showing up, doing the job and leaving, if I thought too much aboutit, then I don't know if I would've been able to do this job. I thinkthe only way to do it was just actually doing it that way.

7. In personal situations the BritishA are less conflictiveB are more agressiveC are extremely diplomaticD are looking for the middle route

8. In other cultures, in public confrontations peopleA make a lot of efforts to reduce the conflictB make less efforts to reduce the conflictC ignore the people aroundD don't do anything

9. In other cultures, in private conflictuaI situations peopleA offer more vigorous responsesB show more respect

INTERVIEWER: I know it's a difficult question, but why do youthink you rose to the top? Was it a mixture of talent and luck, beingin the right place at the right time? ,

HELENA: It was a mixture of all that. You know, you can't reililydefine your look, or why your look was perfect for the time. But Iwas really lucky. When I went to Paris for the first time I didn'treally have any intentions of working as a model. I came down toeat, basically because I was invited to a week-end of good food,and it was the show week that week, and I went to see some clientsand met some of the most amazing people in the industry. But itwas not really that important to me. It wasn't what I wanted to doat that time.

INTERVIEWER: What did you want to do?HELENA: I·wanted to travel the world and take photos. Most

people think I'm starting photography now, but actually, I did itbefore and did a bit of modelling in between.

INTERVIEWER: Did a bit of modelling in between! That's oneway of putting it. Do you think that all those years that you spentin front of the camera make you a better photographer?

HELENA: Obviously, working with some of the most amazingphotographers in the world, you soak it all in and get a bit of theirexperience. And I'm very curious about everything I see in life.

INTERVIEWER: What kind of photographs do you take, is itglamour shots or do you tend to go more for the real person as itwere, showing them 'as they really are, warts and all?

HELENA: I'm definitely more into taking portraits of people asthey really are, getting something from them deep inside out throughtheir faces. And i.t's an amazing thing taking photographs, portraits,as every time it's such an intimidating sensation when you takeportraits of someone, and I know it makes me feel a little shy andnervous and it also makes the person that you do portraits to feel alittle strange about it because it's a very naked feeling to be thatclose to someone.

2. In Denmark peopleA are not preoccupied by fameB are obsessed by fameC crave for fameo consider fame useless

3. Coming from DenmarkA was an insignificant aspectB was the best thing in Helena's lifeC didn't matter too mucho helped Helena in her career

4. For the reporter being professional meansA just do your jobB come in time to workC go home after you've done your jobo come in, do your job and go home

5. Being a modelA is the strangest job in the worldB is a strange job to haveC is a pleasant jobo is a prosperous job

6. Helena got to the topA because she was luckyB because she was in the right place at the right timeC because she had talent, luck and she was in the right place at

the right timeo because she had talent and she was lucky

7. The first time Helena went to Paris wasA for a photo shootingB to eat good food during one weekendC for a shooting and for good foodo to take photos

I. Helena considers that a person's way of being is due toA that person's familyB that person's friendsC that person's family and friendso all kind of factors

8. Helena started taking photosA when she was a modelB before she was a model

C before she was a model and during her model careero after her model days

were signing a promissory note to which every American was tofall heir. This note was a promise that all men. black men as well aswhite men. would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissorynote insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead ofhonoringthis sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people'a badcheck, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds".But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. Werefuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaultsof oPPOltunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check-a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom andthe security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot toremind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time toengage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drugof gradualism. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksandsof racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

(Martin Luther King, "/ Have a dream ", Speech delivered on 28August /963, At the Lincoln Memorial)

9. Helena takes more portraits becauseA people's face is expressiveB this way things from the inside are taken outC the eyes show everythingo people are easy to work with

10. When one takes a portraitA the photographed person feels a little bit nakedB the photographer feels nakedC it's a great feelingo the photographer and the photographed person are too close

Read the text below. For questions 1-10, choose the answer(A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. I. The Emancipation Declaration was signed by

A a wonderful AmericanB a great AmericanC great Americanso a great presidentFive years ago, a great American signed the Emancipa:ion

Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon I1ghtof hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in theflames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to endthe long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. Onehundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled bythe manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. Onehundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty inthe midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred yearslater, the Negro is still languished in the corners of Americansociety and finds himself an exiled in his own land. So we havecome here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check.When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words ofthe "Constitution" and the "Declaration of Independence", they

2. "The Proclamation" is a sign ofA hope for all the peopleB hope for the white peopleC freedomo hope for the black slaves

3. One hundred years later the NegroA is in his own landB has a big role in the American societyC feels isolated in his own lando has a better life

4. The architects of the country areA all the citizensB the white people

C the rich peopleD the leaders

5. The promissory note was forA black people and white peopleB the young peopleC the young people, for black people and white peopleD the rich


6. All men were guaranteed the rightA to lifeB to happinessC to freedomD to life, happiness, freedom

The world's scientists have given their harsh warning yet thatfailure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will bring devastating climatechange within a few decades. As droughts affect more areas formore prolonged periods. it is estimated that global food productionwill fall by 10%. Conversely. we are experiencing more .powerfulhurricanes which result in both human tragedy and costly damageto infrastructure. There are dire predictions of 80 millio[l peoplebeing exposed to malaria and 2,5 billion to dengue fever.

The 2007 report the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(JPCC) concludes that average temperatures could increase by asmuch as 6.,4°C by the end of the century if emissions continue torise at the present rate. However, they do concede that a rise of 4°Cis more likely. The forecast is still higher than previous estimatesbecause scientists have discovered that the Earth is less able toabsorb carbon dioxide than previously believed.

What would a 4°C increase in temperature mean? According tothe IPeC, it would wipe out hundreds of species, bring extremefood and water shortages in vulnerable countries and hundreds ofmillions of people would be displaced as a result of catastrophicflooding. As warming is likely to be more severe towards the poles,the melting of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets wouldaccelerate.

Dr. Wainwright explained that the 2007 report painted a gloomierpicture than the 200 I report because scientists have discovered"feedbacks" in the global carbon cycle that seem to be adding to theamount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and producing acumulative effect. She goes on to suggest that this could mean atleast another 1°C should be added to present estimates. Moreover,Dr. Wainwright concludes that there is little room for doubt thathuman activity is to blame for the global warming.

However, Mark Gibson of Environment Watch goes to. greatlengths to point out that such an outcome is not inevitable. If there

7. The author considers AmericaA has respected the promise made to all menB hasn't respected the promise made to black peopleC has respected the promise made to the citizens of colourD has repe~ted the promise made to white people

8. The Africar-AmericansA were given a bad checkB received no moneyC received a blank checkD got what they wanted

9. The Afro-Americans want to cash the check which gives themA everything they wished forB richesC freedomD freedom and justice

10. The author wants all the people to beA solid like the rockB brothersC friendsD equals

were a significant switch to clean and resource efficient technologies,we should cut expected temperature rises by half. He stresses thatwhat is needed is international political commitment to take action -something which has been absent so far.

(Extract ii'om "What's the Weather? " in New Scientist J 6. 09. 2000,www.Newscientist.com )

C hunger may appear . .. .o hunger and big floods will appear and species will disappear

7. Dr. Wainwright saysA it's people's fault'for global warming "B we can doubt about people's contribution to global warmIngC global warming is not dangerous yet .o it's not just the people to blame for global warmIng1. The greenhouse gas emissions

A will cause devastating changes in futureB are devastatingC will be devastating for natureo are not dangerous yet

8. Mark Gibson says .A there is no chance for us to stop temperature risesB we might be able to cut temperature risesC we can't find solutions to our problemo nothing about temperature cuts2 Global food production

A won't be a problemB will be better by 10%C will be affected by 10%o will be by 10% bigger

9. Mark Gibson considersA politics can't helpB politics not importantC politics should get involvedD politics a cause for our problem3. The powerful hurricanes

A determine human tragediesB cause material damagesC have no solutiono cause human tragedies and material damages

10. PoliticiansA have been preoccupied by global warmingB don't have an opinionC showed no interest in global warmingo wanted to take action4. IPCC says

A temperature will be affected in futureB temperature will decreaseC temperature will be dangerous for peopleo nothing about temperature changes in future

5. Scientists discoveredA that the Earth can absorb more carbon dioxideB that the Earth can't absorb carbon dioxide as it did in the pastC the Earth has big problemsD noth~ng new


YOU'RE FAT? IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S THE GENES

6. If temperature increasesA floods will appear

. B animal species disappear

CHOCOHOLICS no longer need to feel guilty about their craving.They are simply the victims of their genes, scientists have found.

The so-called "sweet tooth gene" has been identified by separateteams of researchers and helps explain why some find it harder to

. resist chocolate bars and cream cakes.

http://www.Newscientist.com

It also raises the possibility of designing a drug which could "switchoff' the geNe and help people resist sugary foods. Children. inparticular, risk their health by eating too many sweets and chocolates.

To identify the gene, the research teams - based at HarvardMedical School in Boston and Mount Sinai School of Medicine inNew York - conducted almost .identical experiments using micewhich have differences in their ability to taste sweet foods. Theycompared the DNA of the two types of mice and noticed differencesin the gene called TI R3.Dr. Gopi Shanker, of the Mount Sinaiteam, said: "It contains information which produces a protein called«the sweet taste receptor».

This recognises the sweet content of food and initiates a cascadeof events which signal to the brain that a sweet food has been eaten.Dr. Shanker added: "Exactly the same gene exists in humans, so itmeans that, if your parents have a sweet tooth, then you probablywill as well."

Research by the Harvard team has come to the same conclusion.But Aubrey Sheiham, professor of dental public health at University

College. London. said the results did not provide chocoholics withan excuse to give up dieting.

He said: "We have always known that some people have a sweetertooth than others. But it has also been proved that if you graduallyexpose people to less sugar. then the body becomes accustomedwith a lower level of sweetness.

Mr. Sheiham warned against any form of gene therapy whichsought to deactivate the sweetooth gene.

We have produced this gene through evolution because sweetfoods in nature are not poisonous and also give us energy. We allneed to have some sugar in our diet.

The U.S. researchers are using their discovery to develop artificialsweeteners without an aftertaste.

("If bingeing on chocolate ... " by Paul Kendall, "Daily Mail23.0-1.2000, "Daily Mail")

2. The sweet tooth gene explainsA-why we eat so much chocolateB why we eat creamy cakesC why we eat chocolate barsD wl~y it's so difficult to resist to eat sweets

3. A possible drug wouldA make us eat less sugarB be a huge progressC help us resist the temptationD not be good for the sweets companies

4. In their experiments with mice the researchers noticedA different things in a geneB the mice were identicalC the mice eat the same sweetsD nothing relevant

5. The sweet taste receptorA tells the brain what sweets have been eatenB announces the brain that the person has eaten a sweetC announces the brain how the body feelsD doesn't offer crucial information

6. If your parents have a sweet toohA you will have a stronger sweet toothB you might not have a sweet toothC a sweet tooth for you is out of the questionD you will have a sweet tooth too

l. Scientists have discovered that eating too much chocolateA is not healthyB is caused by the genesC is our faultD make as stronger

7. The results of the experimentsA were an excuse for chocoholics to give up dietingB didn't represent a reason for chocoholics to give up their dietC were not concludentD were the perfect excuse to continue eating

8. If people don't see/eat too many sweets/more sugarA the body gets used to fewer sweets/less sugarB the body craves for sweets

C it's dangerous for chocoholicso it's not a problem

Framton wondered whether Mrs. Sappleton, the lady to whom hewas presenting one of the letters of introduction, came into the nicedivision. .

"Do you know many of the people round here?" asked niece,when she judged that they had had sufficient silent communion.

"Hardly a soul", said Framton. "My sister was staying here, at therectory, you ~now; some four years ago, and she gave me letters ofintroduction to some of the people here:'He made the last statementin a tone of distinct regret.

"Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" pursued theself-possessed young lady.

"Only her name and address", admitted the caller. He was wonderingwhether Mrs. Sappleton was in the married or widowed state. Anundefinable something about the room seemed to suggest masculinehabitation.

"Her great tragedy happened just three years ago:' said the child;"that would be since your sister's time:'

"Her tragedy?" asked Framton; somehow in this restful countryspot tragedies seemed out of place.

"You may wonder why we keep that window wide open on anOctober afternoon," said the niece, indicating a large French windowthat opened on to a lawn.

"It is quite warm for the time of the year:' said Framton; "but hasthat window got anything to do with the tragedyT'

(Extract from "The Open Window", by Saki (H. H. Munro) fromwww.classicsshorts.com )

9. One can have a dietA without any sugarB with a lot of sugarC with some sugaro with candies

10. The American researchersA want to create new kinds of sweetsB want to create artificial sweetenersC want to develop natural sweetenerso don't want artificial sweeteners


"My aunt will be down presently, Mr. Nuttel", said a very confidentyoung lady of fifteen; "in the meantime you must try and put upwith me."

Framton Nuttel endeavoured to say the correct something whichshould duly flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discountingthe aunt that was to come. Privately he doubted more than everwhether these formal visits on a succession of total strangers woulddo much towards helping the nerve cure which has supposed to beundergoing.

"I know how it will be", his sister had said when he was prepairingto migrate to his rural retreat; "you will bury yourself down thereand not speak to a living soul, and your nerves will be worse thanever from moping. 1 shall just give you letters of introduction to allthe people 1 know there. Some of them, as far as 1 can remember,were quite nice."

1. Mr. NuttelA has to take care of the young ladyB has to stay with the little lady while waiting for her auntC has to tolerate the young ladyo is the girl's guest

2. Framton NuttelA was embarassed by the situationB was distant with the nieceC ignored Mrs. SappletonD flattered the young lady

http://www.classicsshorts.com

3. Framton \luttelA considered the visits useful for the nerve cureB wasn't sure the visits were useful for the nerve cureC wanted the visits to help the nerve cureD was sure of the success of his visits

C the French window is opened on an October afternoonD the French window is not opened in October

10. Mr. NuttelA looks at the French windowB wonders if the window has a connection with the tragedyC wants to know if the window is FrenchD wants to know if the winodow has a tragic story

4. Framton NuttelA moved to a big rural mansionB moved to a rural houseC moved to a rural retreatD moved in with his sister

5. Framton Nuttel receive letters of introduction foA all the people his sister knowsB all the familiesC a few peopleD the richest people in the area

Read the text below. For questions 1-10, choose the answer(A, B, C or D) which you think fits best ~ccording to the text.

TRAVELLING BY PLANE - "I FEEL ABOUT AIRPLANESf THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT DIETS."

6. Framton NuttelA knew Mrs SappIeton was from the nice categoryB knew Mrs. Sappleton would receive himC knew Mrs. Sappieton could help himD didn't know whether Mrs. Sappleton was from the nice category

"They are wonderful things for other people to go on," Jean Kerr,an American dramatist once quipped. Flying has become safer,faster and cheaper but it seems ever more stressful. One frequentcause is the noise that children, especially bored ones, inflict on theother travellers. A year ago one magazine proposed that all planesshould have child-free zones, just like no-smoking zones; children(and parents) should be confined to the back of the plane. As yet,sadly, no airline seems to agree that children should be screenedand not heared.

Un'deterred, we would like to raise another case of what economistscall a negative externality. i.e. something which is nice for you butimposes costs on others. This is excessive carry-on luggage. InAmerica six out often passengers now take a suitcase on to a flightrather than check it in, three times as many as in 1990. The resultis delay, because flights take longer to board. Passengers trying tosqueeze 3-foot suitcases into 2-foot bins hold up, people trying toboard behind them. Some travellers have tried to take refrigerators,television sets and even a stuffed moose-head on board.

The problems of both children and luggage could be solved inone stroke by putting the children in the hold, to make more spacefor carry-on luggage. But that, we concede, might be unacceptable.Instead, to reduce delays, most airlines are rightly imposing str icter

49

7. Framton Nuttel knewA something about Mrs. SappletonB a lot about Mrs. SappletonC only the woman's name and addressD nothirig about the woman

8. Framton NuttelA was sure a man lived in Mrs. Sappleton's houseB had a feeling that a man lived in Mrs. Sappleton's houseC wanted to know about the masculine presence in the houseD didn't see a man in the house

9. In the houseA the windows are opened on an October afternoonB the windows are opened on a September afternoon

limits on the size or weight of bags that can be carried on to planes.This has provoked outrage as passengers are forcibly separatedfrom their belongings at check-in. Understandably: if you putluggage in the hold, you have to wait ages for it at the other end -if it shows up at all.

Once you have experienced the nightmare of waiting at theluggage carousel until it stops, with no sign of the suitcase youchecked in, it is clear why people prefer to lug their cases on board.You took a flight from London to Tokyo; your luggage and yoursmart clothes decided to hop on to one to Los Angeles. Not anexternality but certainly negative.

In America only 0,5% of bags go missing, but if you are a frequenttraveller, that risk is too high. A survey of 150 frequent fliers foundthat two thirds had experienced some sort of delay or loss to theirluggage in the previous 12 months. And, if luggage remains lost,your likely compensation is paltry - a maximum of$I,250 regardlessof whether your clothes were bought at Wal-Mart or Armani.

If airlines are to restrict carry-ons, therefore, they also need tooffer better compensation for delayed or lost luggage. At the leastthey should extend frequent-flier miles to luggage as well as itsowner: if your luggage travels to Tokyo via Los Angeles, you shouldget triple frequent-flier miles.

In addition, passengers could be made to pay if they want to takeextra luggage on board. Better still, given the frequent correlationbetween the size of the traveller and the weight of his (yes, his)carry-on, why not take a tip from Papua New Guinea? When flyingwithin the country, a passenger used to be weighed along with hisluggage before boarding the plane. Fight the flaband you can bringyour bag on board. Aeroplanes and diets would then indeed beclosely connected.

(Extract from "Gh, what a carryon! ", The Economist NewspaperLimited, London)

2. A magazine suggestedA children should not be allowed on planesB that the planes should have special chairs for children -C that the planes should have zones where children shouldn't be

allowedD more non-smoking zones

3. AirlinesA take into consideration putting the children and their parents at

the back of the planeB don't agree with the isolation of the children on planesC want to keep the children screened and not heardD ignore all the problems

4. Another problem regarding flying isA the luggageB the pilotsC the food and the blanketsD the the food, blankets and luggage

5. Unchecked luggage causesA much money to be paidB nervesC boarding delayD much money to be paid and nerves

6. TravellersA put too many things for the number of suitcases they haveB take only what they needC take stupid things from the duty free shopsD take many suitcases

1. For Jean Kerr flying isA cheaper and fasterB safer, faster and more stressfulC safer, faster, cheaper and more stressfulD cheaper, faster and safer

7. Airlines are imposingA weight limjts for the bagsB size limits for the bagsC size and weight limits for the bagsD nothing

8. Passengers don't like when theyA are separated from their belongingsB have to respect weight limitsC have to take one bag with them on the planeD are separated from their belongings at the check-in

9. When you travel by plane there is a risk thatA you take 'other person's luggageB your luggage is stolenC your luggage doesn't appear at the carouselD your luggage is confiscated

weak and tired in the real world. We've seen the headlines. "Pressuresof work too much for our teenagers", they scream. Now we haveMr. Marsh's contribution about too many horrid exams spoiling theschool's broth.

In our child-obsessed society, the worst sin of all is to stop a childhaving ·'fun". It is right up there with smacking in the new milleniumbook of bad parenting. Children must be endlessly indulged, treatedwith kid gloves, escorted to amusement parks, given computergames and showered with pocket money.

They must never have a minute when they're neither protectednor enjoying themselves. Heavens forbid that they should be told tostudy, strive and compete - words which seem to have taken on thequality of blasphemy.

But whoever said school was meant to be fun? Yes, school isa place where a child develops and a rounded curriculum is vital.Our children should play sports, do drama, join choirs, hang out atplaytimes. The rest of the time, however, they are there to learn andto achieve some basic qualifications that will, whether they want toaccept it or not, cushion them when life gets really hard. Yet, in thecurrent climate, saying that exams matter is tantamount to sayingthat our children should spend their teenage years at an Army bootcamp.

This is the same mentality that dictates there should be no winnersat sports day in case other children get upset by coming second. It'sthe same misguided attitude that drives parerts to spray their kidswith antiseptic to protect them from all known germs when actuallythey only end up sickly because their immune system never develops.Cosseting children in cotton wool does them few favours in thelong run.

Mr. Marsh is right when he says that we should shelter ourchildren from the pressures of growing up too soon but there is adifference between sheltering and smothering.

If he really wanted to do us all a favour in his speech, he shouldhave told parents to get real. School can be tough and exams alwaysare but then so is life - and it's best that children learn thatparticular lesson ~s early as possible.

(Extract from "Don't criticise exams ... ", "Daily Express, 28.09.2000)

10. Planes and dietsA have nothing in commonB are both usefulC are for men and women alikeD have the weight as common element


They're a lesson in life! .George Marsh, head of posh Dulwich College Preparatory School

in London, probably thought he was doing kids and parents afavour with his rousing speech at the annual prep school conferencethis week.

He spoke of the pressures facing young people, who need to benurtured during difficult pre-teen and teenage yea:s. Ab.ove all,. hesaid, we had researched a stage where the obsesSIOn wIth passmgexams was "killing the fun" of school. .

We've all read this before. We've heard of the burnout kIds,pushed by ambitious parents until they're at the end.oftheir tethers,and gasped at the stories of the hothouse tloer chddren who feel

1. George Marsh talked aboutA being a teenagerB the pressures faced by the youngstersC teenager problemsD parents and teenagers

C with treatments against germsD with vitamins

8. Mr. Marsh underlinesA the problems in raising a childB the importance of sheltering the childrenC the importance of smothering the childrenD the difference between smothering and sheltering

2. People are familiar withA the idea that the children are burnt outB the idea that parents are very ambitiousC children being greatD children being burnt out because of ambitious parents

9. Mr. Marsh should have told the parentsA to be carefulB to be real parentsC to get realD to pay attention

3. The headlines scream thatA there is too much pressure on childrenB children aren't left aloneC parents spoil all the funD children are tired

10. It's best for the children to learn that schooL exams and lifeare tough

A very earlyB later in lifeC as early as possibleD when it's possible

4. In our society it is considered like a blasphemyA to tell a child to work hard, study, compete and respectB to tell a child to work hardC to tell a child to compete, to work hard and to studyD to tell a child to study

5. At s'chool the childrenA play sports and do dramaB join the choirC study, play sports, do drama, join the choir, socializeD make friends


6. Some people consider it's betterA to have no winners at sportsB to have all the children on the second place at sportsC not to have competitions at sportsD competition is not important

When the 27-year-old Susan Maushart arrived at her maritalhome with her new husband after their honeymoon, she foundherself suddenly acting very strangely. She proceeded directly tothe bathroom and started cleaning and didn't stop until it had beenscrubbed and polished from top to bottom.

When that was done, she moved to the kitchen, pulled out arecipe book and started work on a casserole. Perfectly normalbehavoiur for some blushing brides maybe, but for Maushart, anardent feminist and hardened New Yorker who'd previously existedon fast food, this was decidedly out of character. "It was like some

7. Some parents protect their childrenA by spraying them with antisepticB by giving them antiseptic substances

weird way of marking out female territory", she says. "Scrubbingthe bathroom felt good. Wifely, even."

What Maushart had unwittingly found herself doing was participatingin what she now terms "wifework" - that is the extra, unpaid labourthat a woman takes on when she ties the knot. "I thought I was thelast person it would happen to", she says. "But when I got married ametaniorphosis happened to me, it was bizarre."

In her book, entitled "Wifework", Maushart sets out to explain. why an intelligent PhD student like herself should suddenly regressinto archetypal fifties housewife mode. And by contemplating marriagein terms ofa simple calculation - a balance sheet, if you like, of thecost of getting hitched weighed up against the benefits - Maushartdraws some disturbing conclusions.

"The moment a man gets married", Maushart says, "his domesticworkload almost disappears. He immediately gets about 70 per centless cleaning, 50 per cent less cooking and 90 per cent less laundry.There are nowhere near these benefits for a woman when she getsmarried. And these days you're at pains to deny that you're doingit because apart from being exhausted by it, you're ashamed ofyourself. "

Maushart's motivation comes perhaps from her own maritalexperiences. Perhaps the alarm bells should have started ringingprior to tying the knot on her happy day. "[ remember being surprisedwhen he requested, rather firmly, that [ refrain from smoking duringour outdoor wedding reception.", she writes of her husband-to-be inthe book. "But why now?" I wanted to know. "My cigarettes havenever bothered you before. And everybody else will be smoking." "I'djust prefer that you didn't", he replied evenly.

Things quickly went from bad to worse and within three years,the marriage had broken down and they went their separate ways.

Drawing together research from the UK, America and Australia,"Wifework" is littered with some highly revealing nuggets ofinformation. That two thirds to three-quarters of divorces are initiatedby women, that ex-wives are much slower to re-marry than husbands,and that wives reported levels of depression two or three timeshigher than unmarried women.

(Extract from "A woman's work is never done" by Lena Cornercopyright Independent News and Media Limited/Lena Corner 2002.first published in "The Independent" on 14.01.02)

1. Susan Maushart marriedA when she was very youngB at the age of twenty-sevenC very quicklyD in her husband's home

2. When Susan came from her honeymoon she firstA cookedB washed the clothesC cleaned the bathroomDate

3. When she cooked SusanA used a recipe she knew by heartB cooked her favourite dishC used a cookery bookD an old recipe book

4. Susan's behaviour at her return from the honeymoon wasA was normalB wasn't normal for a feminist like herC was of great characterD was great

5. SusanA lives in New YorkB considers that it is hard to live in New YorkC hates New YorkD wants to leave New York

6. For Susan "wifework" meansA a wife's workB a woman's work in the houseC unpaid work done by the wifeD unpaid work done by the wife after she has married

7. After a man and a woman get marriedA the man works less around the houseB the woman works less around the houseC the man works moreD the woman works more around the house

"Well, it seems to me that here are at least three areas worthlooking into, I announced. following close behind Will. as headvanced up the slope in long strides." The first is to check out theLondon end, which I'll arrange. The second is to make sure that nolocal infonnation has been missed - make sure the police havemade sufficient house-to-house enquiries, asked the neighbours ifthey saw anything odd, that sort of thing. Sometimes neighboursdon't realize the value of what they've seen, don't think of tellinganyone about it until they're actually asked. The third ... "Will.listening hard, slowed down and I almost bumped into him ..." is todecide if the police search was adequate, to make sure they haven'tgone to or"' - it had to be said - "been taken to. I would add a fourtharea - forensic testing, fingerprints and so on - but ifit wasn't donealmost immediately .. ." ,'It wasn't", he reported darkly. "And voudidn't notice anything when you got back that morning - or si;ce?Tyre marks, smears of dirt, footprints, things like that?"

"No!" The agitation had come back into his face and I addedhastily, "It was only a thought. It's very rare to find anything likethat." Reaching the path, Will paused. "Look... perhaps it might bethe best if you did go and talk to the police", he said awkwardly."you know which questions to ask." I said, in a rush, "Of course."

"I always get so angry when I see them! I feel they're being sobloody useless! And the way they look at me, Alex! I know whatthey're thinking - they made it so bloody obvious!" He gave a shortbitter laugh before shooting me a quick glance to see if I couldguess what was coming. "They think I'm responsible! They think Imust have done away with her." "They're bound to think that." Hewasn't quite sure how to take this remark. "The great majority ofdisappearances are linked to family situations," I explained. "Tostress or money worries. Or violence within the family. It's astatistics that gets drummed into the police, I'm ~farid. They're aptto get tunnel vision." He gave a long ragged sigh which was almosta laugh. "So I shouldn't take it personally?" "Absolutely not.""You're sure about that?" But he wasn't really expecting an answerand, walking on, we fell into step. Aware of his eyes on me, I lookedacross at him. He said, in a rough voice, "Glad you're here, Alex."

"Me too." And I reached for his hand and squeezed it.(Extracts from "A Dark Devotion ". by Claire Francis copyright

Pan Macmillan/Calire Francis 1997)

8. After getting man-iedA the man has more benefitsB the woman has more benefits, the mas has fewer benefitsC the mas has fewer benefitsD the Woman has fewer benefits, the man has more benefits

9. At the wedding reception, Susan's husband asked herA to quit smokingB not to smoke during the receptionC to smoke lessD to smoke just a few cigarettes

10. Who have stronger depressions?A wivesB single womenC lonely womenD lonely wives


"So, who was the last person to see Grace before she disappeared?""We don't know". His voice rose again in agitation. "Well, thepolice aren't sure, which amounts to the same thing. After Charliegot back from school, Grace took him over to Mum's .. ."

"She drove?" "Yes. She stayed for a while, then drove backhome." "At what timeT "About four, I think." "So, after Maggie,no one else seems to have seen her?" "Well, no one so far. Butsomeone might well have seen her driving back or parking the caror going into the house. Or .. ." I thought he was being ratheroptimistic. Marsh House stood alone at the end of the quay somedistance from the nearest house. It was perfectly possible that shehad returned home - or travelled elsewhere - unseen.

1. The missing person isA GraceB CharlieC MaggieD not known

C the rolice are awkwardD the police are suspicious

8. The person who knows which questions to ask the police isAAle>-.B WillC GraceD Maggie

2. Charlie isA a boyB a girlC it doesn'{ sayD we don't know

9. WillA thinks the police consider him responsibleB is responsible for the disappearanceC is afraid to go to the· policeD has no problems

3. The last person who saw Grace wasA CharlieB MaggieC the policemanD the author

10. Disappearances are connected withA family situations, stressB money worries and familyC money worries, stress or family situations, violence in the familyD money worries and vilence

4. There is the possibility that GraceA returned homeB went to another placeC went to another place without being seen by anybodyD went to another place and being seen by somebody

5. The search hasA three optionsB two optionsC four optionsD no solutions


6. The policeA looked for fingerprints immediatelyB found some fingerprintsC ignored the fingerprintsD didn't look for fingerprints immediately

For the first time in my life I have been dumped by a friend. Ishould have seen it coming: the phone calls not returned, theexcuses about "not feeling very sociable right now", the emails thatI~nguished unreplied in the ether. Yet the letter suggesting that thetime had come for us to move on still came as a shock.

It didn't seem to fit in with our modern ideal of friendship. Asgrowing numbers of us live alone, friends are becoming moreimportant. They are our families of choice, we're told, taking on·theroles of parents, spouse, sibling - and best friend.

Tula and I had been firm friends for nearly ten years. We met ata singing workshop and took to each other immediately. She was

7. Will considersA the police are angryB the police are of no use

warm and vivacious, and we shared an enthusiasm for grapplingwith life's conundrums over glasses of wine or long walks in thecountry. She helped me to move house and, when her long-termpartner walked out, I put the kettle on and supplied tissues.

But life changed for both of us: I got married and she responded toher newly single status by developing a fresh set of social networks.Then she took a long holiday, reviewed her life and decided what tokeep and what to throw out. In her letter she described our friendshipas a "borderline" case and suggested it might be time we "let eachother go."

I'm all for letting go of bad habits and boxes of old schoolexercise books. I've even deleted the names of acquaintances notseen for one year to the next from my address book.' But surely closefriends are not consumer. goods to be discarded or replaced at hefirst hint of trouble. We are encouraged to believe that friends willbe around for ever. "You've got a friend", sang Carole King and "I'llbe there for you" promissed the theme tune of "Friends". Suchsentiments have sunk deep into the collective unconsciousness, orinto mine, at least.

So, what did I do with Tula's letter? I re-read it umpteen times,agonized over where I'd gone wrong. And then I wrote back. "Yes,you're right", I wrote, "things have changed. But aren't we goodenough friends to hang in there?" Since then we have exchanged acouple of e-mails. A walk has been suggested. It would be easy notto make the effort and let this friendship go, but "Stay" is a charmingword in a friend's vocabulary!"

(Extract from "End of the Friendship" by Jane Munro TheTimes/Jane Munro 2006, first published in The Times on 04.03. 06)

3. Tula's break up letterA was unexpectedB was expectedC was quite longD was rather short

4. Tula and the author had been friendsA for ten years .B since the age of tenC for almost ten yearsD for life

5. The long-term-partner dumpedA TulaB the authorC it doesn't sayD a young lady

6. When the author married, TulaA went on holiday to the seasideB was happyC was the same person she was beforeD met new people

7. The author considers close friendsA can be replacedB are like consumer goodsC can't be replacedD useful

t. The authorA knew her friend would dump herB didn't expect to be dumped by her friendC didn't want to be dumped by her friendD ·wanted to dump her friend

2. The ending point of the friendship was represented byA the not returned phone callsB the unreplied emailsC different excusesD a letter

8. !he id~a of friends being around for ever can be foundA 10 movIe soundtracks .B songsC movie soundtracks and songsD books

9. In her letter the authorA gives up her friendship with TulaB doesn't give up her friendship with TulaC is distantD doesn't want Tula back

10. The authorA is willing to make efforts to keep their friendshipB doesn't like the word "stay"C wants to stayD wants Tula to stay


There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them saidto his father, "Father, give me the share of property that falls to me".And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, theyounger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a farcountry, and there he squandered his property in loose living.

And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in thatcountry, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himselfto one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fieldsto feed swine.

And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; andno one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said,"How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough andto spare but] perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to myfather, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against Heavenand before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treatme as one of your hired servants:'

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at adistance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran, embracedhim and kissed him.And the son said to him: "Father, I have sinnedagainst heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be calledyour son."

But the father said to his servants: "Bring quickly the best robe,and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet;and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry;for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and isfound". And they began to make merry.

64

Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew nearto the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of theservants and asked what this meant.

And he said to him: "Your brother has come, and your father haskilled the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound."But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out. andentreated him, but he answered his father, "Look, these many yearsI have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet younever gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. Butwhen this son of yours came, who has devoured your living withharlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!"

And he said to him, "Son, you are. always with me, and all that ismine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for yourbrother was dead, and now is alive; he was lost, and is found."

("The Parable of The Prodigal Son", in The Gospel of Luke, TheNew Testament of The Bible, 15: 11-32)

1. The father gave the share of property toA the elder sonB none of his sonsC the younger sonD both his sons

2. When the younger son spent all his money heA gave fOQd to the swineB bought swine to make profitC ate swineD killed swine

3. The younger son intends toA make money againB ask for his father's forgivenessC ask for much money from his fatherD steal from his father

4: The younger son is willing toA administrate his father's moneyB be his brother's right handC work as a servantD what his brother tells him to do

5. The younger son receives from his fatherA moneyB a robe and a ring .C some shoes, a robe, a ring and moneyD shoes, a robe and a ring


6. The elder sonA is happy for his brotherB is angryC wants to make merry with his famillyD goes to the party

I had scribbled in my diary as if to make it irrevocable: "I shalltake a child out of Sarajevo when I leave. Check orphanage aboutlittle girl Natasha! A decision had been made and that was that! ButI had overlooked a rather crucial point; would the orphanage allo"wNatasha to leave and did she want to go with a complete stranger?

That evening 1 persuaded our interpreter, Jacko, against his betterjudgement, to take me back up to the Ljubica Ivezic orphanage, adangerous journey at dusk through the hills, when the gunnersbegan to adjust their sights on the city in readiness for their night'sdeadly employment. The streets were empty, the city's people alreadyback in their attics or their cellars to hide the night away in darknessand much fear.

"Why Natasha?" Vera Zoric, the director, was not as surprised asI had expected. I explained there were other children in her care Icould choose if she thought Natasha was not the right choice or ifshe felt another boy or girl had a greater priority. I would leave itto her to decide, assum ing I had her agreement and support.

"But why Natasha?" she asked again. I shrugged. Why do youselect one among so many? Why is one face remembered above therest? "She shines", I said. Mrs. Zoric did not understand but Jackoexplained and she laughed.

I went on: "She doesn't seem to belong here." "None of thembelong here." "She seems different to me."

She came to me and held my hand in both of hers. "You want totake this child out of Bosnia and in normal times you could not. Butthese are not normal times. My children are in danger and everyday I am working to find a way to get them out... anywhere, toanyone who will look after them. I do not care where they go aslong as they are safe, where there are no shells and no bombing,away from Sarajevo."

(Extracts from "Welcome to Sara;evo" by Michael NicholsonFaber and Faber Publishers/Michael Nicholson 1994)

7. The elder sonA disobeyed his father in the pastB made merry with his friendsC didn't disobey his father in the pastD wanted his share

8. The elder son complainsA he didn't get a kid from his fatherB about his father's attitudeC about crucial thingsD about nothing

9. The parentA didn't care about the elder sonB didn't care about the younger sonC loved his sonsD loved the younger son more

10. The parent is happy becauseA the younger son came backB of the partyC the younger son came back and has changedD the younger son has changed

1. The authorA !s not sur~ about taking a child OLitof SarajevoB IS determmed to take a child out of SarajevoC has doubts about taking a child out of SarajevoD doesn't know what to do

C because she is niceo without any reason.

8. In normal timeA the author couldn't take NatashaB the author could take NatashaC it would be easy to take NatashaD Natasha wouldn't want to leave

2. The author wants to take Natasha fromA the orphanageB the streetsC a poor familyD dangerous orphanage 9. Safety for the children means

A no bombsB no shellsC being away from SarajevoD no bombs, no shells, being away from Sarajevo

3. JackoA wanted to take the author back to the orphanageB didn't want to take the author back to the orphanageC had to take the author back to the orphanageo got a lot of money to take the author back to the orphanage

4. The jourey to the orphanacre was madeA during the day '='B when it was darkC i.n the morningD in the afternoon

10. Vera ZoricA cares about the childrenB doesn't care about the childrenC wants to get rid of the childreno doesn't want to help the children

5. People hidA in cellarsB in atticsC in attics or cellarsD where they could


6. The author wanted to take out of SarajevoA any childB only NatashaC if not Natasha then another childD a boy

Few people would contest the value of the arts in a civilizedsociety. Great art enriches people's lives by providing pleasure,stimulation and an escape from the pressures of everyday life.However, it is also true that many of the arts, such as classicalmusic, the ballet, and the visual arts have always attracted a minorityaudience. The question is whether the arts should be publicly funded,or whether it is the consumers who should pay.

It is my view that the government should subsidize the arts, fora number of reasons. First of all, without 'subsidies, many artists

7. The author wants NatashaA because she has a shining faceB because she is different

would undoubtedly be unable to survive financially. Governmentgrants can enable them to work with artistic freedom and integrity,whereas if they worked independently or relied on private subsidiesthey might be subject to market pressures and the need to makeprofit. Secondly, the arts contribute to a nation's cultural heritageand can create a sense of social cohesion and identity. They canalso play an important role in education, comlnunity regenerationand even crime prevention.

However, the main argument for public funding of the arts is notsocial usefulness, but rather because they are important for theirown sake.

Of course, there are those who argue that public money would bebetter spent on meeting the needs of the poorer members of society,and on healthcare, education, and social welfare schemes, ratherthan catering for the interests of an elite. However, I believe that ahealthy society is one in which art and creativity are valued alongsidethese basic needs. Indeed, a civilized society ought to make the artsaccessible to everyone, regardless of their background or income.

In conclusion, the arts should be funded across a broad spectrumof activities, for example: by supporting community or school theatreprojects, or bringing sculptures and art installations to public places.This is not for purely social reasons, but because enjoyment of artis part of what it means to be human.

C should be helped by its consumerso need no help

4. Money from the Government ensuresA the artist's objectivityB the artist's popularityC the artist's richnesso the artist's integrity and objectivity

5. The arts meanA richnessB povertyC unityo richness and unity

6. Funding the arts is good because they are usefulA from the social point of viewB from the financial point of viewC for old peopleo for rich people

7. In a healthy society we have to cherish.A creativityB the artC the art and creativityo everything

1. The art offersA pleasure and stimulationB an escape from everyday life pressures, pleasure and stimulation,

relaxationC pleasure, stimulation and an escape from everyday life pressureso relaxation

2. The arts attractA a lot of peopleB not that many personsC the majority of peopleo the minority of people

8. The artsA should be accessible to the educated personsB should be accessible to the richC should be accessible to all the peopleo shouldn't be accessible to any kind of people

9. Bringing sculptures to the public places isA good for the artistic areaB bad for the artistic area

3. The author considers the artsA should be helped financially by the GovernmentB should be helped with publicity by the Government

70

e not important for the artistic areaD a way to make money

10. To be human in some part meansA to organize artistic eventsB to adore the arte to enjoy the artD to help the art

I. The author moved to the USA when she was in kindergarten.B Wrong

2. The author liked her first weeks in the USA.A Right

3. High school girls wore uniforms in the USA.e Doesn't say

4. The author had a perm.A Right

5. In Korea girls hold hands with girls.A Right

6. It is good to do well at school in Korea.A Right

7. It was not difficult for the author to make friends.B Wrong

I. Mavis is the author's neighbour for seven years.B Wrong

2. Mavis asks for a spade as her things weren't unpacked.A Right

3. Mavis is sixty years old.e Doesni say

4. Mavis has a sense of humour and she is friendly.A Right

5. Mavis wears perfectly ironed suits.B Wrong

3. The witness saw two men.A RighI

6. Mavis has different types of flowers in her garden.C Doesn.'t say

4. Both men were quite ugly.C Doesn't say

7. The author likes Mavis very much.A Right

5. The alarm system was very expensive.C Doesn't say

6. The two men got into a black Ford Cortina.A Right

7. A part of the building was in flames in a few minutes.B Wrong

l. Remembrance Day is a British event.A Right

2. On Remembrance Day people remember the Heroes from Vietnam.B Wrong

3. Paper poppies are made by children.C Doesn't say

1. Thirty years ago people only dreamt at the places they aretravelling to now.A Right

2. Travelling by plane can't be compared to anything else.A Right

4. The war veterans feel proud at the parades.A Right5. The service is held at the castle.B Wrong

6. The poppies are dropped from the ceiling by little children.C Doesn't say

3. The plane is not that fast.B Wrong

4. You can go from U.S. to U.K. in a few hours.C Doesn't say

5. In a plane you are well taken care of.A Right

6. Airports and aeroplanes are targeted by terrorists every day.C Doesn't say

7. For the author travelling by plane wi)) remain popular.A Right

7. Remembrance Day is a v~ry important event in Britain.A Right

l. The witness saw a light coming from the third floor.A Right

2. The witness is sure it was J I. I 5 when he saw the light.B Wrong

6. In the city there is no rat that one can find.B Wrong .

I. We don't know how many sailors were savedB U'rong . 7. People think the illness comes from God.A Right

2. The tanker looses tons of oil into the seaA Right .

3. On Thursday night it was a storm.e Doesn't say

1. The author wants to leave from his village.e Doesn't say

4. The tanker is loosing oil from six tanks.B Wrong

th5. T~ed birds, the dolphins and other species will be affected bye aCCl ent.A RighI

2. The author needs two hours to get to school.A RighI

3. The author has fun on his/her way to school.B Wrong

6. Expensive detergents are dropped into the seae Doesn't say .

4. In the village there aren't too many things to do.A Right

e7.TDhe Gov,emment will take drastic measures against the companvoesn t say .'

5. You can go to a swimming club in your free time.e Doesn't say

6. In summer the village is completely different.A Right

I. The author's relatives and friends are deadA Right . 7. Visitors come in the village with expensive cars.

e Doesn'l say

2. Nicholas Smith is the author's best friend.B Wrong

3. The cross on the door symbolizes faith.B Wrong

1. Margaret and her husband decided to move in a big house ..e Doesn't say

4. People wash their clothes very often.C Doesn't say

2. Their family and friends were not very surprised.B Wrong

5. On~ of the symptoms is the pain under the armsA RIght .

3. The Smiths left from a house with a big kitchen.e Doesn't say

4. Now the Smiths have a few new neighbours.B Wrong

5. When they are bored of one place the Smiths can change theiraddress.A Right

I. People don"t remember too much about their life before theage of seven or eight.

A Right

6. The new home is very comfortable.A Right

2. The author remembers very well how his/her classroom looked.B Wrong

7. The only problem the Smiths have is shopping.A Right

3. The author can remember the faces of the persons who ran thekindergarten.

B Wrong

4. The author is sure the persons who ran the kindergarten werenice.A RighII. Nick Park is not that famous.

B Wrong

2. Nick started to be interested in animation at the age of ten.B Wrong

5. The author remembers very well his experience with the shoelaces.B Wrong

3. Nick's first experiment was made with his father's camera.A Right

6. The author was a beautiful child in kindergarten.e Doesn't say

4. Nick received an Emmy for his animation.B Wrong

7. The author liked riding the tricycle with I)is/her sister.A. Right

5. A famous electricity company offered Nick a contract.e Doesn~ say I. In the text are mentioned three types of dinner parties.

B Wrong6. In the commercials Nick's characters moved but didn't speak.B Wrong 2. A successful dinner party means a social success.

A RighI7. Nick's future plan is to make a full-length film.A Right 3. If you cook very well you can be a good host.

e Doesn~ say

4. We are recommended to avoid dinner parties at our home.A Right

5. A good choice for a dinner party place is the restaurant.A Right 3. July is the only popular month for going on a holiday.

B Wrong

4. On the roads (0 the seaside you can"t find motorbikes.C Doesn't say

6. At the restaurant you can have any type of food you wish.C Doesn't say

7. Politics should not be a discussion theme at the table.A Right 5. You can fish in the south west of England.

A Right

6. Beaches can be found on the English Riviera.A Right1. Butterflies are just like the people.

C Doesn't say 7. You can also have fun at youth hostels.C Doesn't sa)'

2. In Burma the soul at death is compared with a butterfly.B Wrong

3. In Burma the people believe in the soul-butterflies.A Right . 1. During the week the British eat a lot in the morning.

B Wrong

4. In Burma the children are awaken suddenly.B Wrong 2. In the morning the British drink coffee or tea.

A Right

5. In Scotland golden butterflies are considered good omens.A Right6. The butterfly from the legend managed to enter into the man's

mouth.B Wrong

3. On Mondays breakfast is very rich.B Wrong

4. The British usually have lunch at restaurants.B Wrong

5. On Sundays lunch is the most important meal.A Right

7. Butterflies are protected species.C Doesn't say

6. In the evening guests are expected at dinner.C Doesn't say

1. On the English coats people come in winter.B Wrong 7. One can have supper either at home or at a restaurant.

A Right2. In Britain people have two weeks of holiday.A Right

2. The BritishC are preoccupied to find solutions for conflicts belVl'eenindividuals

I. In ancient societiesA athletics and competitive contact games were rough. 3. Other cultures

D are less concerned by avoiding conflicts2. During the Roman Empire, spectatorsC regarded violence in sports as a social norm. 4. Every culture

B has its own way to calm down3. Sports violence has started to be regarded as a social problemA lately. 5. When you want to avoid a conflict

C you must know what to do and what to say4. Canada and EnglandB are trying to discover the cause of violence among hockey pla1'ers. 6. In public confrontations the British

D are vigorous in response and confront openly5. Regarding sports violence there seems to be a feeling ofB dissatisfaction. 7. In personal situations the British

D are looking for the middle route6. In order to reduce violenceD sport rules, equipment design and sports arenas have been

ad;usted.8. In other cultures, in public confrontations peopleA make a lot of efforts to reduce the conflict

7. Government officials, fans and athletesB are ambivalent towards sports violence.

9. In other cultures, in private conflictual situations peopleA offer more vigorous responses

8. Risk makes the game more interesting according to .A coaches.

10. A problematic situation isA when we make a mistake in unknown environment

9. The tendency of the public opinion towards sports violence isB to be more concentrated on it. 1. Helena considers that a person's way of being is due to

A that person s family10. Critics regard sports violence asA an international reality. 2. In Denmark people

A are not preoccupied by fame

1. An underlying principle of cultural behaviour reflected in thelanguage is:

A avoiding face-to-face conflict

3. Coming from DenmarkD helped Helena in her career

4. For the reporter being professional meansD come in, do your ;ob and go home

5. Being a modelB is a strange iob to have

7. The author considersB America hasn ~respected the promise made to black people

6. Helena got to the topC because she had talent, luck and she was in the right place at

the right time

8. The African-AmericansA were given a bad check

7. The first time Helena went to Paris wasB to eat good food during one weekend

9. African-Americans want to cask the check which gives themD freedom and iustice

8. Helena started taking photosC before she was a model and during her model career

10. The author wants all the people to beB brothers

9. Helena takes more portraits becauseB this way things from the inside are taken out I. The greenhouse gas emissions

A will cause devastating changes in the future10. When one takes a portraitA the photographed person feels a little bit naked 2 Global food production

C will be affected with 10%

I. The Emancipation Declaration was signedB a great American

3. The powerful hurricanesD cause human tragedies and material damages

2. The Proclamation is a signD of hope for the black slaves

3.' One hundred years later the NegroC feels isolated in his own land

4. TPee saysA temperature will be affected in the future

5. Scientists discoveredB that the Earth can i absorb carbon dioxide as in the past

4. The architects of the country areD the leaders

6. [ftemperature increasesD hunger and big floods will appear and species will disappear

5. The promissory note wasC for the young people, for black people and white people

7. Dr. Wainwright saysA it s people s fault for global warming

6. All men were guaranteed the rightD to life, happiness, freedom

8. Mark Gibson saysB we might be able to cut temperature rises

9. Mark Gibson considersC politics should get involved

10. PoliticiansC showed no interest in global warming

1. Mr. NuttelB has to stay with the little lady while waiting for her aunt

2. Framton NuttelD flattered the young lady

1. Scientists have discovered the need to eat too much chocolateB is caused by the genes

3. Framton NuttelB wasn ~sure the visits were useful for the nerve cure

2. The sweet tooth gene explainsD why it s so difficult to resist to eat sweets

4. Framton NuttelC moved to a rural retreat

3. A possible drug wouldC help us resist the temptation 5. Framton Nuttel receives letters of introduction

A to all the people his sister knows

4. In their experiments with mice the researchers noticedA different things in a gene

6. Framton Nuttel knewD didn ~know whether Mrs. Sappleton was from the nice category

5. The sweet taste receptorB announces the brain that the person has eaten a sweet

7. Framton Nuttel knewC the woman s name and address

6. If your parents has a sweet toohD youl will have a sweet tooth too

8. Framton Nuttel . .B had a feeling that a man lived in Mrs. Sappleton shouse

7. The reuslts of the experimentsB didn ~represent a reason for chocoholics to give up their diet

9. In the houseC the window is opened on an October afternoon

8. If people don't eat too much sweet food/many sweetsA the body gets used to less sweet food/fewer sweets

10. Mr. NuttelB wonders if the window has a connection with the tragedy

9. One can have a dietC with some suggar

10. The American researchersB want to create artificial sweeteners

1. For Jean Kerr flying isC safer, faster, cheaper and more stressful

2. A magazine suggestedC that the planes should have zones where children shouldn ~he

allowed

4. In our society it is considered like a blasphemyC to tell a child to compete, to work hard and to study

3. AirlinesB don ~agree with the isolation of the children in planes

5. At school the childrenC study. play sports, do drama, ioin the choir, socialize

4. Another problem regarding flying isA the luggage

6. Some people consider it's betterA to have no winners at sports

5. Unchecked luggage causesC boarding delay

7. Some parents protect their childrenA by spraying them with antiseptic

6. TravellersA put too many things for the number of suitcases they have

8. Mr. Marsh underlinesD the difference between smothering and sheltering

7. Airlines are imposingC size and weight limits for the bags

9. Mr. Marsh should have told the parentsC to get real

8. Passengers don't likeD when they are separated from their belongins at the check-in

10. It's best for children to learn that school, exams and life aretough

C as early as possible

9. When you traveJ by plane there is the riskC that your luggage doesn't appear at the carousel

1. Susan Maushart marriedB at the age of twenty-seven

2. When Susan came from her honeymoon she firstC cleaned the bathroom

10. Planes and dietsD have the weight as common element

1. George Marsh talked aboutB the pressures faced by the youngsters

3.- When she cooked SusanC used a cookery book

2. People are familiar withD children being burnt out because of ambitious parents

4. Susan's behaviour at her return frQm the honeymoonB wasn ~normal for a feminist like her

3. The headlines scream thatA there is too much pressure on children

5. SusanA lives in New York

6. For Susan "wifework" meanso unpaid work done by the wife after she has married

9. WillA thinks the police consider him responsible

7. After a man and a woman get marriedo the woman works more around the house

10. Disappearances are connected withC money worries, stress or family situations, violence in the family

8. After getting marriedo the woman has fewer benefits, the man has more benefits

1. The authorB didn 1expect to be dumped by her Mend9. At the wedding reception, Susan"s husband asked her

B not to smoke during the reception2. The ending point of the friendship was represented byo a letter10. Who have stronger depressions?

A wives3. Tula's break up letterA was unexpected

1. The missing person isA Grace

4. Tula and the author had been friendsC for almost t.enyears

2. Charlie isA a boy

5. The long-term-partner dumpedA Tula

3. The last person who saw Grace wasB Maggie

6. When the author married, Tulao met new people

4. There is the possibility that GraceC w~nt to another place without beeing seen by anybody

7. The author considers close friendsC can 1be replaced

5. The search hasC four options

8. The idea of friends being around for ever can be foundC movie soundtracks and songs

6. The policeo didn 1look for fingerprints immediately

9. In her letter the authorB doesn 1give up her friendship with Tula

7. Will considersB the police are of no use

10. The authorA is willing to make efforts to keep their friendship

8. The person who knows what questions to ask the police isA Alex

3. JackoB didn ~want tv fake the author back to fhe orphanage

I. The father give the share of property toC the younger son 4. The journey to the orphanage was made

B when it was dark2. When the younger son spent all his money heA gave food to the swine 5. People hid

C in attics or cellars3. The younger son intends toB ask {or his {ather S {orgiveness 6. The author wanted to take out of Sarajevo

C ifnot Natasha then another child4. The younger son is willing toC work as a servant 7. The author wants Natasha

B because she is di{{erent5. The younger son receives from his fathero shoes, a robe and a ring 8. In normal times

A the author couldn ~take Natasha6. The elder sonB is angry 9. Safety for the children means

o no bflmbs, no shells. being away {rom Sarajevo7. The elder sonC didn ~disobey his father in the past 10. Vera Zoric

A cares about the children8. The elder son complainsA he didn't get a kid from his father

9. The parentC loved his sons 1. The art offers

C pleasure. stimulation and an escape (i-omeveryday life press.ures

10. The parent is happy becauseC the younger son came back and has changed 2. The arts attract

D the minority of people

3. The author considers the artsA should be helped financially by the Government1. The author

B is determined to take a child out of Sara/evo4. Money from the Government ensureso the artist s integrity and objectivity2. The author wants to take Natasha from

A the orphanage

5. The arts meanD richness and unity

6. Funding the arts is good because they are usefulA from the social point of view

7. In a healthy society we have to cherishC the art and creativity

Write an email to your English speaking friend explainingthat you would like to apply to do a course at one of the collegesin the city he lives. Tell him/her what type of studies you havebeen doing for the past few years and ask for assistance incontacting an appropriate institution. Write your answer in 80-100 words.

8. The artsC should be accessible to all the people

9. Bringing sculptures to the public places isA good for the artistic area

Dear Tom,How are you? How is your family? I hope everybody is well.I am writing to let you know that I am planning to apply for a

course at one of the colleges in your city. I am also asking for yourhelp in finding the best course that can help me in my future careeras an accountant.

Let me tell you a few words about my studies. For the last 4 yearsI've been studying maths and economy and I really enjoyedworking with numbers so I decided to try and go in that directionbecause I believe that being an accountant is a very interesting job.

I really hope that you can help me in choosing the appropriatecourse at the right college.

Your friend,Tom

10. To be human in some part meansC to en;oy the art

Write an informal letter inviting a friend to a party. Don't useyour real name.

Dear lIinca,Thank you for your letter. I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner but I've

been on holiday in Italy. I had a wonderful time and want to showyou all my photos very soon!

Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to come to a small dinnerparty at my house on Saturday 23rd at 8 pm. Alex and Margaret

will be there and two other friends that you don't know yet. Do letme know if you can come. I hope you can! Looking forward toseeing you very soon!

Love,Steve

It is a lovely place to go in every season and the weather is notimportant. When it's very hot, you can keep cool under the trees. Ialso like walking in the woods in the rain. My favourite time to gois autumn when the leaves are fantastic colours - red, yellow,orange and gold.

Leers Wood is a very special place for me. It is an escape fromthe noisy, crowded city I live in. The wood is beautiful and peacefuland I always feel well when I go there.

Write a formal letter requiring information about a summercourse. Ask for specific details. Don't use your real name.

December Blvd.Brasov City 52919

Romania

Write a story about a frightful and interesting experience youlived.

Sutton School of EnglishSutton ColdfieldBirminghamBA822f16 May 2010

It all happened last summer. I was staying at my cousin's housein the mountains and I was bored. I really wanted somethingexciting to happen so I decided to go for a walk alone.

At first, it was sunny, the mountains were beautiful and I felthappy. But time passed quickly and I realised that I was far frommy cousin's house and I was completely lost!

Suddenly, I heard a bizarre noise and I saw a huge bear. He wasmaking some sort of noise and he seemed to be asking me to gowith him. So, I decided to follow. After a while, he took me to mycousin's house. He disappeared in the night and I never saw thehuge bear again.

Dear Sir/Madam,I have recently seen your advertisement for Summer Intensive

Courses and I would like some more information.Firstly, can you tell me the specific dates of the course during

June and July? Secondly, do you know how many students will bein one class?

Finally, c.an you tell me if you arrange accommodation with localfamilies or is that something I have to do myself?

Yours faithfully,George Balasescu Write a formal e-mail inviting Mr. Thomas to dinner. Don't

use your real name.

I would like to invite you to dinner after your visit to ourcompany next week, if you have time. Our Managing Director,Alison McDermott, will also come.

One of my favourite natural places is a wood near where I livecalled Leers Wood. Many of the trees are very old - some of themhave been there for hundreds of years.

96

] will book a table at a Chinese restaurant in Nightingale Road,for 7, 30 p.m. on Friday evening. The restaurant is next to yourhotel in Blueberry Road. '

I hope you can join us. Please, can you let me know this week?

Write a letter offering a position in your company to a person-that came to an interview. Don't use your real name.

Best wishes,John Smith

73 West StreetLondon BC2

John Smith - Head of PRThompson WeldingBox 79 , London 82

Mr. Gary Thompson64 Thames RdAlton-on- ThamesSurrey6T63FR

Write an informal e-mail to a colleague offering informationabout a new product your company sells.

Dear Mr. Gary Thompson,We are pleased to inform you that you have been successful in

your application for the position of PR assistant in our company.As agreed in the interview, we would like you to start on I March

in our Central office. Your starting salary will be £32,000 per annum.Please sign and return a copy of the contract enclosed to confirm

acceptance of this offer.We look forward to hearing from you soon.

I made an interesting contact at the seminar last week. PaulYoung is in charge of the Acquisition Department at HMC inDublin. He is very interested in our new product and wants you tocontact him.

At this time I think it is a very happy situation for us to receivesuch demands for our products. I am really happy I can help and besure that every time I will meet a possible client I will put him/herin contact with you.

Sincerely yours,Patrick SmithHR Manager

Hope it's useful for you!·CUTina

Is the time for beginning a child's education important? Shouldchildren begin their formal education at a very early age andshould spend most of their time on school studies or should theyspend most of their time playing?

In my opinion, children should learn playing and communicatingwith their friends and parents. I think that such basic qualities as

kindness, self-confidence and just a good sense of humour cannotbe achieved from studying at school. Children should spend moretime with their family, playing and learning. Imagine that a child isnot playing with his friends but he does his homework and feelsexhausted and tired. Another important issue is that children at veryearly ages need more physical exercise because at this age thedevelopment of their body is an essential aspect. Children, first ofall, must be healthy.

family has two funny little twins. Once, their parents asked me tobabysit their chi Idren because they had to attend an unexpectedpresentation.

Parents influence greatly their children for a lifetime. I thinkpeople are modelled by two factors, family and the society. they areliving in. From birth, human beings are influenced by the envlronme~tthey grow up in. Parents have a big role in bringing up thwchildren, which affects their lives for ever.

In their early years, babies are looking to their mu':ls' and da~s tolearn basic manners so that they can be accepted In the socIety.Some of these manners include not running around in restaurants orhitting other kids. As they grow up, they learn more from theirparents about social etiquette, which makes them more properlytrained for living in the society.

Which movies do you prefer? Those that make you think orthose that make you laugh?

Different people like different types of movies and this is a verygood reason for having so many kinds of movies nowadays. Somepeople like to watch a movie that makes them think. They prefermovies with a murder investigation or some kind of complicatedplan. Other people prefer movies that make them laugh.

Personally, I. like comedies more than anything, but sometimesmy friends insist on watching a fantastic or a scary movie and I gowith it.

Comedies make us laugh. People can just sit and relax at home,drink a bottle of soda and have some popcorn while enjoying thesemoments. It is a means of eliminating stress and tension.

It is known that nowadays people live longer lives. Usespecific reasons and details to develop your essay.

Statistics show that people live longer nowadays. There are sev~ralreasons for this. First of all, hundreds of years ago, mankIndsuffered from many different kinds of diseases which have found acure only now. The success of conteIl}porary medicine allowspeople to live with artificial arms, hands, legs ~nd even hearts.

Secondly the life conditions have greatly Improved. A persondoes not h;ve to sleep on the wet and cold ground, defend himselffrom predators in the wild forests and fight for his life on cruel warswith the sword in his hands.

All of these things mentioned above allow people to maintain ahealthier life, to spend more time with the family and friends andmake their lives longer and happier.

If you decide to give a few hours to improve the communityyou live in what is one thing you will do?

I know a couple of families with little children, who cannotafford to spend much money on paying for a baby-sitter. I'mthinking now .of a single mother with a little girl. Julia, this is hername, is a waitress in a restaurant. She is a great person and wehave become close friends lately. So, sometimes I offer her my helpwith her child when she has to work in the evenings. Another

Being self-employed has many benefits too. One knows that themore he works the more he earns. I think that being self-employedis not as easy as it may seem. A person must be self-confident,strong and patient. He must know exactly what he wants and to beready to sacrifice all his time to it.

To sum up, we all take decisions that are right for us. There areno good or bad decisions in our lives just decisions ....

Write a formal letter answering an offer to live in a differentcity for a while. Don't use your real name.

Thank you very much for the letter. I am very pleased that I'vewon the prize. I would like to go to Washington because I have neverbeen to the USA-before.

Still, there are several questions I would like to ask.First of all, I would like to know whether the return flight is a

direct flight or not. I would like to book a direct flight because it isso much easier for me.

Secondly, I wtluld like to know for how many hours we are goingto study every day and of course if there are classes in the morningor in the afternoon.

Finally, I would like to ask you if it is possible for me to stay atschool for an extra week. If that's possible, please let me know theprice I have to pay. .

I want to thank you in advance for your assistance and I'm looking. forward to hearing from you.

Faithfully yours,Michaela lonescu

You have seen this announcement in a high school magazine.Describe you best experience as a student. Write your article in180-200 words.

I love high school. In my opinion it is the best period in one'slife. I enjoy every minute of my high school experience. I can'treally say that I love learning and being the best student in myclass, but I really love the weekends I spend with my class mates,the trips we're. planning, the concerts we're going to. I rememberabout one trip we've planned so attentively. We were so excitedabout going to a rock concert to Sighisoara. We were in the 11thgrade. Ii was spring time and we were very happy to leave for twodays and see that concert. We considered every single detai I, but thereality was totally different. We wanted to go by coach but weended up travelling by train because one of us had forgotten to setthe alarm clock the night before and woke up only when we ranghim. On the train it was great, we sang, we laughed, we evendanced and got on very well so that we were surprised when wesaw that we arrived in Sighisoara. The town was wonderful. Afestival was also organized at that time so we enjoyed listening tocountry music, painting our faces and drinking and eating all sortsof traditional things. The concert was fantastic and I happilyremember this as the best experience I have had so far as a student.

Would you prefer to be self-employed, work for someone else,or own a business?

Basically, people work for money and personal success. However,some people prefer to be self-employed and others prefer to workfor an employer. As for myself, I haven't made my choice yet. Ithink that each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Working as an employee brings many benefits. First of all, onecan spend more time with his family helping his child with thehomework, spending time with the whole family etc.

Do you think advertising encourages us to buy things wereally do not need or by watching advertisements, we findinformation about new products that may improve our lives?Use specific re,asons and examples to support your answer.

Objects around make us what we are, help us develop andimprove the world we live in. If you could make a gift to a child,what gift would you give him to be sure that this is about to helphim in his development?

I think that everyone can divide all advertising products andservices into useless and Llseful ones. It is like scanning a brochureand paying attention to those messages that interest you. Take mefor example.

I do not like jewellery. It does not mean I do not have any. I havesome inexpensive rings as gifts from my parents and friends. I justthink people pay too much attention to it. I believe this is the resultof mass advertising. Every day when we are watching TV, listeningto the radio or reading the newspaper we notice way too many adsabout getting an expensive ring, a chain, a necklace or some ear-rings. From my point of view these types of commercials areoverwhelming us. We are definitely encouraged to buy things wedo not really need. They make us believe we need such products inorder to succeed or be happy.

From the other side, I think that advertisements of the newdetergents with up-to-date formulas to help us maintain our clothesin perfect condition, the new cars with some extra features thatmake our trips more comfortable and sports goods that make ushealthier can help us in improving our lives.

Recently I saw an ad on the Internet for a very interesting andinexpensive vacation to Japan for a week. Is it not awesome? I liketravelling. So now I am planning to find out more about it and,probably, make reservations. I believe that without advertising wewould be unaware of the multitude of opportunities that can makeour lives happier, easier and less stressful.

In my opinion, every person has his own scale of values. We canwatch advertisements but we should not forget that we don't needso many things to keep us happy.

People learn and develop throughout their entire lives. I think thatin our modern world it is very important to be familiar with thecomputer technology. 'So, if I had a chance to give a child ~ gift itwould be a computer. I think that computers play an essential rolein our lives and they bring many benefits to our society. Moreover,children can learn a lot of interesting and useful things by usingcomputers. In the following paragraphs I will give my reasons tosupport my answer.

First of all, by the use of computers children can play .manygames which help to improve their abilities like: thinking logically,better coordinating their moves, improve their imagination, etc.Furthermore, playing games develop many important qualities suchas attention, patience, perseverence and many others. .

Secondly, computers help children to learn more about thmgsthey are interested in by the use of the Internet. They can ~nd newfriends even from other countries. Children will, as well, Improvetheir communication skills, gain more knowledge and experience.Furthermore, children have the great opportunity to learn moreabout other countries, their history, traditions and customs.

Finally, computer skills can help a child to find his or her firstjob. A child can find an ad on the Internet about a job offer an~ heor she can make a resume and send it in order to apply for that Job.Personally, I think it is a great experience and a big step forwardtowards a future career. .

In addition to those practical benefits, computer technology helpschildren to do their homework faster. They can type their data intothe computer, easily check the grammar, correct.mistakes ~nd thenprint it out. Moreover, there are plenty dIfferent kmds ofeducational programs that can help children learn how to read,write, draw and even how to behave and speak a foreign language.

To sum up, I believe that children should learn how to use. acomputer because this knowledge will help them in the future III

being more self-confident and innovative. Also, computers cangreatly improve and simplify their lives if children know how touse them. Compare and contrast the knowledge gained from experience

with the knowledge gained from books. In your opinion, whichsource is more important? Why? Give arguments.

If I had the opportunity to study a subject I would be interestedin I would choose to study the outer space. You might wonder why.Well, because I have been interested in the exploration of spacesince I was a young· boy. . .

In my opinion, it is a very interesting and chal.lengm~ Job, tha~ ofworking on a space ship and gathering diffe:ent kmds oflOfor~l1atlOn,probes and specimens. Many people thmk that these kmds ofexperiments are a waste of time and money. .

Nevertheless I believe that humankind is making steps forwardin understandi~g the outer space. We need to know what is beyondour solar system. We need to know what is beyond our uni~e~se.That is not only for our own safety, but also for our future. Llvmgin a better world with all the resources that we need is a dream wehave for our followers.

Another important aspect of studying the space is that scientistsare always about to make new discoveries. I. ~hink it is a .greatfeeling to give people new knowledge, opportumtles and expenence.Scientists often find and study new constellations. They launchsatellites and monitor them from land.

When I was a child I used to collect stamps and cards about spaceand I dreamed that someday I would be able to fly into the outerspace. However, my plans changed but my dream has ~ot vanished.I believe that in a not such a far away future people wIll be able tovisit the space just like they go to a museum now.

To sum up, I think that by having the chance to stud~ the space Iwould improve my knowledge and hopefully sometimes all myresearch will help in creating a better world for those to come.

People are learning and practicing throughout their entire life. Ibelieve that life experience and practice are the basic reasons of thehumankind's evolution. However, in my opinion, knowledgegained from books plays a very important role in one's life.

The most important advantage of books is that they hold allknowledge gained by previous generations. People write booksabout their discoveries and inventions, which are acquired bypractice and experience. This knowledge is fastened into books thatare passed on from generation to generation. So, basically, peopleget all the knowledge about the previous achie~ements from books,analyze it and then, according to their experience and new data,write new ones.

Personally, I think that books are very important because theygive us the basic and fundamental knowledge. Books store thehistory, the important events and the discoveries. Without them, itis difficult and sometimes impossible to move forward, make newdiscoveries and inventions.

To summarize, I think a person should take basic knowledgefrom books because all this will help him/her to make his owninventions, conclusions and discoveries. Only using both books andone's experience we can move forward.

What subject would you like to study if this opportunity weregiven to you? Explain your choice, using specific reasons anddetails.

In your opmlon, should businesses do everything to keepafloat and be profitable? Give arguments and examples tosustain your point of view.

I definitely disagree with the assertion that businesses should doanything they can to be profitable.

In my opinion, every company should have its moral values. Itmeans that a company ought to treat its clients properly and respect

their rights. Of course, a company may lose a part of its profits butthe clients' protection must come first. Otherwise, clients will switchto another company never to return. For instance, a few years agoa company produced a new type of painkillers. Unfortunately, thisproduct was not properly tested. As a result of this slip, manypeople got sick. The president of the company made a crucialdecision in withdrawing all the painkillers from all distributors andpaying to all ill-treated customers for their healing. It cost a lot ofmoney for the company but it saved its image and clients. It was avery difficult decision, but the president of the company understoodthat it would cost him even more in the future because he would notbe able to return his clients' respect. For a company, loosing itsclients means loosing its profit.

Of COl,lrse,in order to succeed in the modem world companieshave to compete against each other. Many companies record profitloss due to decreasing prices on their products. They do not aspirefor extra profit but for their clients' satisfactiQIl. Companies do itbecause they want their products sold and their customers satisfied.They offer discounts, free delivery, free service, free Internet access,good refunding service, etc. All these are. done to make theirpresent customers happy and to attract new clients.

To sum up, I think a company that has as its sole goal the profitwill certainly not succeed nowadays. Otherwise, companies thatrespect their clients and want to see them satisfied will be in abetter position of making a fortune.

The contributions of artists to the society are crucial. Art is oneof ~he.important flJ:1d<1J~lentalsthat form people's spiritual sense,their ,":Iewsand person-:.l.~les.People learn about history, the traditionsof their country because of art. We also watch movies that entertainand at t~e same tim~ extend ~ur range of interests. Another importantaspect IS that art IS an ancIent means of communication. In oldtimes people depicted the herds of mammoths on the walls of theirca,":es.They performed all sorts of rituals around the fire askingtheIr gods for health and good harvest. Our language is a result ofpeople's need to communicate.

From the other side, the scientists' contribution shouldn't beexaggerated. All humankind is indebted to the scientists because oftheir work and achievements. Scientists make our lives easier. Wehave cars and airplanes to move fast from one place to another. Wehave microwaves and processed food to make cooking much easier.W~ h~ve differen~ devices that simplify everything we do. Finally,SCIentIstsare makmg great achievements in medicine that make ourlives longer and happier. Nowadays people have the great opportunityof doing many things faster by the use of computers.

To sum up, I believe that artists nurture our souls when scientistsand technology feed our minds. So, in the end, we cannot eliminateor underestimate neither.

In your opinion, what are some important characteristics ofa co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons"toexplain why these characteristics are important.

Who brings more to society, artists or scientists? Whosecontribution do you think is valued more by the society? Givespecific reasons to support your answer.

A large number of people spend most of their time at work. Oureveryday lives are divided into three equal parts: 8 hours -sleep, 8hours - work, 8 hours - family time. So, in most of the cases, one'sco-worker plays an important role in one's life. In my opinion, theess~ntial characteristics of a co-worker are the following.

FIrst of all, a person who works closely to me must like his or herjob. I think it is very important for a person to feel the satisfactionof daily achievements on his or her job.

Sec?nd. of all, my co-worker must be persistent and never giveup. I lIke It when people who come across a problem try to solve it,

From my everyday experience and observation I think that artistsas well as scientists bring many benefits to our society. Thiscontroversial question whether the artists' contributions to thesociety is more or less important then that belonging to the scientists'has been discussed. so many times before and it will be in the future.For several reasons, which I will mention bellow, I think that bothare valuable, priceless and irreplaceable.

108

find a good decision instead of looking for another person to passthe responsibility to. Another important aspect is that a good workershould always ask himself"What can I do more?" and suggest newsolutions.

In addition, he must be a good team player. In the modem worldgood communication and team work are among the most importantdemanded skills when applying for a job. Personally, I think it isgreat to help each other, share new ideas, develop new solutions, etc.It helps to create a team spirit and improve our work.

Finally, my co-worker must be punctual. He or she should finishthe job on time. I think that it is unacceptable to make the rest ofa team wait while a person finishes his or her job. Also, my '"idealco-worker" should always be ready to offer his or her help and besupportive.

To summarize, I think that whether a co-worker possesses all ofthese qualities mentioned above he can make work with him reallyenjoyable and also he can generate a positive atmosphere.

every new or special food of the restaurant. I wi II recommend yourhotel and restaurant to my friends without any hesitation.

I hope your hotel and restaurant will be even more prosperous inthe future.

Sincerely yours,Tom Jones01.03.2010

Write a letter of request asking for information about facilitiesoffered for a party. .

Dear Sirs,We are planning a full day party to celebrate the completion of

our Business Language Training Course on July 27, 20 IO.One of our professors has suggested your hotel for our celebratory

party informing us about the many recreation facilities offered byyour hotel. Therefore, we would like to make your hotel the venuefor our party. We would like to reserve the following rooms: a bigmeeting room, the entertainment room and also 20 standard rooms.We would also want a buffet lunch including soft drinks, sweetsand champaign.

Let me offer you more information about the party. It starts at10:00. The president of our institute is delivering an opening speech.After lunch it comes the singing and dancing show, followed bysweets and champagne celebration at 17:00. Karaoke and discobegin at 18:30 and end at about 12:30. There are 40 to 50 attendeesfor the event and half of them will stay overnight at the hotel.

Please let us know the term of payment and other usefulinformation. Should you have further questions, please feel free tocontact me. Tel: (8610)68882150/68882151 Fax: (8610)68882250Thank you for your kind assistance we are looking forward to yourreply.

Write a letter in which you praise a restaurant for the qualityof their food and the improved menu.

Dear Manager,I am a reporter from the News Weekend. Because of the demand

of my work, I often come to London to take interviews. Your hotelis one of my favourites, because of the comfortable living conditions,and the good facilities and, of course, especially for your excellentfood.

The restaurants in your hotel have many disht.:s such as Chinesefood, Japanese food, and French food. Choosing from all thesedelicious dishes, I must say I like the Beijing Roasted Duck best,not only because of its Chinese characteristics but also because ofits special taste. Consequently, every time I come here I alwayschoose this course.

Furthermore, what impressed me most is the high quality service.It always makes me feel at home. Waiters and waitresses are sokind and warm-hearted that they always earnestly' recommend

Yours faithfully,Tina JonesCelebration Party Preparation Committee

Do you prefer to work for a big or for a small company? Usespecific reasons and examples to support your choice.

In so many parts of the world we are losing important naturalresources, such as forests, animals, or clean water. Choose oneresourc~ that is disappearing and explain why it needs to besaved. Give arguments and examples to support your ideas.The issue whether woFking for a large company is better than

working for a small company is a controversial one. From myeveryday experience and observation I think that every option hasits advantages and disadvantages. I support my opinion on thefollowing statements.

From one side, working for a large company brings many benefits.First of all, one has better working conditions and a higher salary.Often, employees of a large company have fewer responsibilities.Moreover, they feel more secure because their company has moreclients and this means a better chance to survive on the nowadays,so instable, market. However, if you work for a large company youmay not have the chance of being promoted because your manageris not promoted, as quickly as you might. Also, from my observations,managers of larger companies do not pay much attention to one'ssolutions and suggestions because of the big number of employees.

From the other side, working for a small company has its advantagestoo. Firstly, one has a better chance to be noticed. Secondly, one cantalk to the owner of the company about any improvements that canbe done in order to get more profit that is because of the smallnumber of employees. Another important aspect of working for asmall company is the opportunity of finding out more about how acompany works. As a result, one can gain more experience and getbetter recommendations. We can also refer to the disadvantages onemay have by working in a small firm. For instance, one can get asmaller salary, worse working conditions, etc.

To sum up, I think that every person chooses for himself what wewant or suits us. If one wants to climb the career ladder faster andacquire more responsibilities then it is important to think it throughvery carefully when choosing his or her job.

As human's population is dramatically ri,.,ing every year, people'srequirements are increasing too. We need more food, more freshwater, more space to Iive. As a result, many parts of the world arelosing essential and sometimes irreplaceable resources, such asforest, animals, or fresh water. In this essay I will focus on the threatofthe extinction of many wild animals.- The reason why I think that animals should be preserved is thatall living creatures on this planet are connected to each other. As itis, the disappearance of only one species can cause dramatic changesin the planet and even the death of many other living creatures. Forexample, the disappearance of bats will cause the huge increase ofinsect population and this will reflect on all the animals and theplants. Furthermore, if the bat population increases, the insectpopulation will decrease significantly, and this will cause thedisappearance of many plants. So, I think that it is very importantto preserve all species on our planet and live in harmony with ourenvironment.

It is also very important to leave the entire wilderness as heritageto our children, nephews and nieces so that those to come canenjoy, as much as we do, all that nature has to offer us. I do notwant my children to learn about ditferent animals from books andnot to be able to see them alive.

In conclusion, I believe that together we can make the difference.From my point of view, the first problem we should find a solutionfor is human's overpopulation. As I mentioned above people's demandsare growing and this means we consume more and more naturalresources. Another important issue on my list is the pollution, oneof the most important dangers we are confronting with nowadaysand which is affecting our beautiful blue planet in so many ways. Ibelieve we should never forget that being here is a privilege, andwe need to try and keep everything in the best condition we can.

Which are the changes the latest years have brought in ourlives as far as eating is concerned? Use specific reasons anddetails to develop your essay.

Write a cover letter applying for a teaching job. Don't useyour real name.

The latest years have brought along many advances. With thoseimprovements human lives have changed dramatically. In someways life is worse, but mostly it is better. Changes in food preparationmethods, for example have improved our lives greatly.

The convenience of preparing food today is amazing. Even stoveshave gotten too slow for us. Microwave cooking is much easier. Wecan press a few buttons and a meal is completely cooked in just notime. People used to spend hours preparing oven-cooked meals, butnow they can use that time for other, better things. Moreover, thereare all kinds of portable, pre-packaged foods we can buy at thesupermarket. Heat them in the office microwave, and lunch at workis quick and easy.

Food preparation today allows for more variety. With refrigeratorsand freezers we can preserve a lot of different foods in our homes.Since technology makes cooking so much faster, people are willingto make several dishes for even a small meal. Parents are morelikely to let children be picky, now that they can easily heat themup some pre-packaged macaroni and cheese. Needless to say, adultsliving in the same house may have different eating habits as well.If they don't want to cook a lot of different dishes, it's commonnow to eat out at restaurants several times a week.

Healthful eating is also easier than ever now. When people cook,they can use new fat substitutes, and cooking sprays to cut out fatand calories. This reduces the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol.Additionally, we can buy fruit and vegetables all throughout the year.They are easy to prepare, so many of us eat more of those nutritiousitems daily. A hundred years ago, we couldn't imagine the processof taking some frozen fruit and ice from the freezer, adding somelow fat yogurt from a plastic cup and some juice from a can in therefrigerator, and putting it all together in a blender and making adelicious dessert. Our lifestyle is fast, but people still love a deliciousmeal. Today, we can prepare food that is more convenient, healthierand of greater variety than ever before. But, we also should be verycareful because processed food can eventually be bad for our health.

June 4, 20102049 Palmers CourtWashington, WL 16293

Mr. James StuartAmax Independent School District4109 Blueberry Drive Amax, IZ 28366

The Education Service Center has recommended Amax as a schooldistrict participating in their 20 I0-20 II Alternative CertifyingProgram (ACP). As a participant in ACP, I am seeking for ateaching position in English as Second Language (ESL).

My commitment to working with students extends beyond myinvolvement in ACP. Over the past five years, I have been a teachingassistant, advisor, mentor, and tutor working with internationalstudents of all language backgrounds. I spent last summer tutoringadult immigrants in English and helping them to prepare for theCitizenship Exam. While a student at State University, I taughtEnglish part-time to ten limited-English proficient children at thelocal elementary school. I enjoyed working with these students andwatching their progress in English. I would bring the same joy andpatience to your school district as an ESL teacher this fall.

By sharing my enthusiasm and knowledge, I can make a worthwhilecontribution to your school. If you have any questions about ACPor my training, please contact Martin Lukas ACP Coordinator.Please contact me if you have any questions about my background.I will call you next week to talk about setting up an interview.

Customer servicesChina Express312, Bluebird LaneLondon, JC2 2B

EXAMINARE ORALA45, Book Avenue

Birmingham, BSB IMH14th February 20 I0

SPEAKINGI am writing to complain about the books I bought recently from

your company on the Internet and about the way I was treated by amember of your staff when I phoned to complain.

I ordered them on 8th of January and I was promised they wouldarrive in three days but they weren't sent to me for over two weeks.Then, when they arrived and I opened the box, I was shocked to seethat one of them was badly damaged.

When I phoned to complain, I was very disappointed by theway in which I was treated. The member of the staff who I spoketo was extremely rude and did not offer me any form of refund orreplacement. I would be grateful if you could send me areplacement book as soon as possible, or if this is not possible, Iwould like a refund. Thank you for your help with this matter.

30 de bilete complete/90 de variante

- 30 de subiecte de tip II a(univers personal)

- 30 de subiecte de tip II b(relatareldescriere)

- 30 de subiecte de tip II c(pdrere personalli argumentatd)

La proba de Exprimare oraHl (Speaking), care dureaza 10- I5minute, se of era 30 de bilete; fiecare bilet va contine cate 3subiecte de dificultate progresiva, In total 90 de subiecte (variante),~i &nume:

Thinking about future and taking decisions about our career isnot easy especiaJly when we are still young. Some of us discover apath to foJlow in life from a very early age, some of us don't. Butfor aJl of us taking the best decision is not easy.

Nowadays, after high school graduation teenagers start workingbecause either they find it difficult to be financially supported bythei~ parents or they want to be on their own, tc be able to dowhatever they want with their future. Having no experie:1,.:e is nothelping them in achieving the job of their dreams I·mt on the waythey gain a lot of experience and understand what workmg ir,\'o!ve~.

Regardless of having a job or not, all the new grads realis~ thatgoing to university is important in climbing their own career lacldcrand becoming successful people. So, they enrol for different COU1~es

at different universities according to their own skills, interests oreven taking in consideration the money they want to invest in the;reducation or the distance they want to take from their birthplac.:.

In the end, it is very important to do what you like, to study ancwork in a domain that makes you happy, money will eventually some.

As for me, it would be very important to find a job w!Ier~ i canwork with numbers. Being an accountant is the job I want ~o do fornow. I also believe that regardless the economic changes this is ajob that I can also do in the future. Everybody needs someone tohelp them with their bookkeeping, everybody needs r~ople to takecare of their financial situation and of course, they h8.'.e to hire aprofessional to do that. Nonetheless, there are so many pr()grammesthat specialists can use in order to make their job easier, bookkeepingis not as difficult to do as it was in the past. If you have a computerthat is connected to the internet at home you can do this job fromthe comfort of your own abode.

This is also a great advantage. In the future more and morepeople will be working from home because of the development ofthe technology and my job is a one for the future.

- 30 de subiecte care contin 0 parere personala, cu argumentare,pe 0 tema de interes, tip II c:

"Does modern technology make life more convenient or was lifebetter when technology was simpler?

Give reasons for your answers. "

Rezolvarea tuturor variantelor va asigura 0 pregatire completapentru Limba Engleza. Exprimare orala (Speaking)

It hasn't been easy for me to choose my job, and I really hope Imade the right choice, so please come and ask me in a few years'time if I still have the same opinion.

My favourite means of transport is the train. In my opiniontravelling by train can be very funny and relaxing.

I don't travel by train that often, only when I'm going on holidayswith my family or friends. In summer I go to the Black Sea andtravelling by train to the seaside has always been interesting.

When I voyage by train is really nice because I can relax andenjoy the beautiful view in front of me, especially if I travel throughnew places. Looking at the marvellous landscapes I can see fromthe window can be a very enjoyable activity. The change of scenerycan be very fast or very slow, and the anxiety arid the curiosity atthe thought that something unexpected is going to be seen are verynice experiences.

When I go to the seaside I.am always anxious to arrive closer tothe sea and wait impatiently for that very moment when the sea isgoing to reveal in front of me. Also the rising of the sun out of thesea watched with small and sleepy eyes is one of my favouritetimes during the journey.

When I travel by train, I can have a nice time reading a book, Iam not worried about the traffic jams on the highway. This is a hugeadvantage ... to know that I can be on time and have no worriesabout it. Yes, sometimes trains are late, but this happens morerarely than when I am driving because roads are so busy nowadays.

Another reason why I prefer travelling by train is that, when Itravel for a long time, I can always buy a ticket at the sleeping carand I can have someone to wake me up on my arrival. In this wayI gain more time for visiting around and I don't have to waste timesleeping because I had to drive the whole night.

Travelling by train is my favourite means of transport but thisdoes not mean I don't like to travel by car, by plane, or by busdepending on where I'm going. It's nice today to be able to choosefrom so.many means of transport and to use them whenever I wantto get in time and safe to my destination.

Speak about the importance of friendship in one's life. Youmay give yourself as an example.

Having friends is very important in everyone's life becausefriends are always there for us, whenever we need them. We needfriends to share our problems, worries, all the moments of joy andhappiness. Those friends are not easy to find, but when we findthem we know they will be like family to us. Whenever we needthem they will be there for us, no matter the late hours we call toask them for advice or support. We need friends to go out with, togo skiing, clubbing, and have barbeques, go hiking, share music,talk about boys and girls, and many other things.

It's great to have many friends because each'person is different,and, in this way, we can learn from different people different things,or we can share common things and ideas with people who have thesame interests. At school, we can share, for example informationabout papers, tests, homework with our colleagues. If we likecomputer games and one of our ffiends likes that as well, it is sonice to share with him our passion because he can understand usb~rter than others.

Sometimes friendships last for a lifetime, and this is the mostextraordinary thing, to share memories with our lifetime friendswho were there for us in the most important moments of our lives.

When young, we find it either easy or difficult to make friends.'ome of us are introverts and have a hard time in making friends,

others are extroverts and this is the reason they have a lot of friends.Teenagers can, sometimes, be cruel in their appreciations towardssomeone's appearance, and this can lead to hurting other people'sfeelings. We must try and respect each other more, and try to knowthe others much better and so we could make new and good friends.

I have many friends, and I truly believe that friends and friendship·~rethings we cannot live without.

or when trying to lose weight. But let's not forget the Latin saying"Mens sana in corpore sano"! What other better way is there tokeep healthy, and in a good mood than keeping ourselves on themove?

Besides, not only doctors recommend it. Wherever I look, I seeor hear slogans favouring it. If I turn the TV on, there are all sortsof commercials which promote healthy bodies. The same thinghappens when I turn the radio on, or when I go downtown: hugebanners with smiley healthy faces seem to invite me to the gym, tothe swimming-pool, or on the tennis ground.

Secondly, I try to eat as healthily as possible. I've learned to lovebalanced meals, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and avoid fats.chips, burgers, or any other junk food which is really dangerous forour bodies. Foods like cereals, white meat, greens, beans, fruits,vegetables, eggs and low-fat dairy products are always a better choicethan fast food.

Thirdly, I do not drink alcohol and I do not smoke. This is alsoanother important aspect of keeping fit. Everybody knows andagrees that they are real health-killers. Alcohol and cigarettes are infact poisonous drugs, and they destroy our bodies. One starts withsmall doses and before he knows it, his doses increase up to addiction.I do not wish that for myself. Then, I try not to exaggerate withanything. At my age, it is easy to do that. And no"rmal, responsibleteenagers will agree with me. Partying too much, overdrinking,smoking and eating junk food are surely not good for anyone.

My favourite holiday is the winter holliday. I know it is neitherthe longest, nor the hottest holiday we have, but it's the greatest, inmy opinion. There are so many things to do then: it's Christmas, atime of magic and fairy-tales, the New Year's Eve, with new wishesand hopes for the following year. Like everyone else, I'm waitingfor Santa, too, with the same enthusiasm I had in childhood. I somuch love it when the entire family gathers in front of the fir-treebeautifully decorated by my mother, we sing Christmas carols andwe have a cup of hot chocolate.

Now we have the chance to forget all the unpleasant momentsand start it allover again. Or, at least, this is the way I see it. We allwish for the better and hope to make our dreams come true.

For me, this is the perfect moment to visit my relatives, spendmore time with my family and stay around with my friends. Wehave long chats over a cup of tea and make it up for the weeks wehaven't seen each other so often because of the busy schedules, allsorfs of tests and exams, school preparations etc.

As you can see, there are so many things to think about and doover Christmas. Definitely, there is no time to get bored. On thecontrary, I may not have enough time to relax and sleep too much.What is sure is that I really enjoy my Christmas holiday.

Being a healthy person is a fortunate thing Fate treated you with,but keeping yourself in good health is something you should do allyour best to achieve. That is what I am trying to do all the time:preserve my innate health, and, to this outcome T, for one, havetaken several steps.

First of all, I practice sports. It has been proven that physicalexercise keeps the body in good shape. I know that many of us onlyconsider sports during the summer time, as a way of entertainment,

I really think that fashion is very important for everybody. The wayone dresses up is crucial. I know that there is a saying in Romanianwhich states that the human personality is more important than theitems of clothing. Well, I tend to partly disagree with that.

First of all, people seem to be judged according to the way theydress. For example, if you often wear a suit at the office, people tendto refer to you as a serious and reliable person. If, on the contrary,

you often wear jeans and a T-shirt people will consider you sloppyand disrespectful.

Of course, there are cases when a certain outfit is more appropriatethan another. This is imposed by the degree of formality of theevent or situation. You must identify these situations, act and dressaccordingly.

On the other hand, you must keep up with the fashion, or at leasttry to adopt some elements. As I said before, people tend to judgeyou by the way you look. If you are in fashion, you feel good andaccepted everywhere. On the contrary, if people say you are not infashion, you may feel rejected.

Another important aspect of this discussion is the statementpsychologists make: human personalities are strongly influencedby fashion, because this brings them acceptance, or rejection in thesociety. And not only that, but fashion also settles hierarchies amongthe members of a certain community.

In conclusion, I also consider fashion an extremely importantfactor for us and I try to keep up with it as much as I can.

I've always dreamt to be a great dancer but, above this, I'vediscovered that dancing is my way of living. Not just being, existingbut living with passion. When I hear music, my body becomespossessed by the beauty of tunes and rhytms and I let myself seducedby sounds. I free myself of thoughts and worries and bad feel ings,and the only thing that I keep on my mind is the music. It's ahundred per cent effective therapy!

My favourite season is summer. I simply love it from its beginning,when the joy of the spring turns, little by little, into a symphony ofenergy and colours and warmth until its end, when the time gets thegrave sounds of holidays, of adventure, of hot love ... No matterwhere you decide to spend it, it can be the time of your life. Youmay go to the mountains where the silence of the woods makes youforget about the civilised world where everything is so fast andstressful. Just listening to the wind, the rustle of the leaves, the songof the birds, the ripple of the running streams, yo!.!r thoughts canhelp you find a new meaning to your life, balance for your innerworld.

The decision to·spend the summer at the seaside can prove to bea good choice, too. Just think about the crowded beaches,full of lifeduring the day when the hot sun and the temptingwaves of the saltywaters give you so much pleasure ...The friends you can make, thegreat parties organised here, the dance and 'wild experiences ... thefreedom! Watching the magnificent show of the sunrise that makesyou feel on top of the world, or the splendour of a sunset is the mostromantic part of a day ... Long walks with the one you love alongthe beach when everything is golden-red... .

If I were to define summer in few words, I think these would be:freedom, light, passion, day-dreaming ... wild love, friendship.

What do you think about hobbies?

One of the things that sometimes help us forget how tough anddull life can be and that give us the joy of living is the pleasure ofdoing something in particular - the hobby. Be it reading, dancing,writing poems or dreaming, our hobby always makes us feel great.helps us find our balance after days of doing what we have to do(or what we are supposed to, whether we like it or not).

Many people have decided to make a permanent job out of theirhobbies. There are so many lawyers that have chosen this careerbecause they like to plead and talk; or successful designers thatreached the top doing something that they've always loved to do:drawing ... and so on. They are the most fortunate people, I think.

I don't know about the future of my hobby as a career (as a matterof fact I doubt this will happen), but I know this: what I like mostto do is to dance and to enjoy every minute of being with my.friends.

We walk him first thing in the morning, and then all the familyhas breakfast. After that, each of us leaves for school or for workand S'.mny stays at home watching the property for us. When I getback from school, I walk him again and then we have fun playingtogether, or he assists me when I'm doing my usual chores. In theevening he is to be walked again, and then we go to sleep.

But this is not everything I have to do for my dog. There is a lotmore to be done, such as going regularly to the vet's practise,washing him, cleaning him every time we get back after a longwalk, carefully watch the food he eats etc. Apart from that, when Iam to leave the house for a long time, I have to take him with me,as I can't leave him in the house all by himself.

But all these efforts are really worth it, because Sunny knows andfeels he is well t~ken care of and he pays it back twice by hisunconditional love he always proves.

My favourite sport is basketball. It has become a very popularsport in Romania recently. For the less knowledgeable ones, I willmake a short presentation of this game: it is an indoor game playedbetween two teams of usually five players each, in which each teamtries to throw a large ball through the other team's basket.

Any sport helps you develop your entire body harmoniously. andso does basketball. They say it even helps you grow taller, but I am

not sure this is true.Apart from keeping me in good health and shape, playing

basketball has helped me a lot to develop my innate skills andspeed at throwing and catching the ball, my attention and even my

imagination.Being a team game, it also teaches you very special things, such

as team spirit, fair-play, thoughtfulness, devotion. All this help younot only in sports, but also later on in life.

I always feel great when I play basketball and I hope I will playit in future, too, for as long as I can. And when I am old and grey,I will probably spend time watching others playing my favourite

game.

Do you believe in eating habits, as far as you are concerned?

I can say that I do believe in eating habits.The first things that come into my mind right now are Christmas

and Easter. The two holidays are both opportunities to give andreceive presents and also occasions to prepare and eat specificdishes: at Christmas there is pork cooked in all possible ways andthe various Christmas cookies; at Easter there is lamb and Eastercakes. People who celebrate Christmas and Easter all over theworld will consider such eating habits part of their celebrations.

In America and Canada, people also celebrate Thanksgiving Day,

when they eat turkey.The peoples around the world have probably all gained an

"inheritance" of specific foods: the French fries, the English teawith milk, or the Romanian traditional foods, such as stuffed cabbage

rolls.Apart from eating habits related to holidays or traditions, certain

families and individuals make their own eating habits according totheir tastes or for a purpose-keeping a slimming diet or a health-condition diet. I've known people concentrating on eating vitamin-rich food, vegetarian food, or foods that are not rich in fats or sugar.

What do you think about having a pet?

It is true that having a pet involves a lot of responsibilities. Thisis like a commitment taken towards the animal in cause be it a cata dog, a bird, a hamster etc. Some take things further a~d state tha~having a pet is like having a baby: permanently watching out for it,taking care of it and loving it.

I know how many responsibilities one has to cope with whenhaving a pet, as I myself own a dog. I can say that he has been inmy family for many years now and he has turned into 'one of us'.We got so much attached to little Sunny that we cannot have acomplete picture of ourselves without him.

Besides, in different walks of life, eating habits are quite different,most often determined by the financial aspect.

This argumentation could probably go on for hours on end. So, 1don't think that anybody can pretend not to believe, more or less,in eating habits.

What do you like about your home-town?

Braov is a beautiful town lying at the foot of Tampa Hill, in avalley surrounded by majestic mountains. .

In old times it used to be a fortress amid trick walls and bastIOns,whose ruins can still be seen today. The White Tower and the BlackTower still stand as landmarks of the past. Ecaterina's Gate is stillintact and the Weavers' Bastion hosts classical music concerts quite

often.In the Council's Square visitors can admire the Old City Hall and,not far from it, The famous Black Church. 1t is the old district of theTown, with old houses, narrow streets and alleys paved with cobblestone, where, history is hiding behind modem stores and restaurants.An authentic mediaeval town like many others in Europe.

The highlight of a sightseeing tour would be Poiana Brasov, amountain ski resort, 12km far from the town.

The.re are museums, theatres, concert halls, swimming-pools,discotheques, restaurants; one can never get bored here. If you lovethe view from the top of the mountain, there are cable cars and agondola that can take you there in just few minutes.

In spring the dales are carpeted with flowers and the town co~eback to life; in summer the hikers enjoy the paths and t~e mountaInSin all their glory; autumn sees the trees resplendent In shades ofrusset, gold and green; winters are long and cold with plenty ofsnow, but the landscapes are fairytale pictures ... Who would want'

to live elsewhere?

What is your favourite free-time activity?,

What is great about adolescence years is the possibility to havemuch free time. Youth is the time when we, the teenagers, knowbest how to enjoy every break, how to be happy without having anyspecial reason for that, how to feel good when being with ourfriends, how to laugh at poor jokes just because we like the waythey are told, how to be romantic ... Music, dance, "smart lines",

this is our world.Give me free time and don't worry about how I would spend it,

because I have lots of things to do. When I feel full of energy, I canturn to a simple going out downtown or to one of the best disco-clubs.In my quiet moments, when I feel like asking someone somequestions about this weird life, I meet my friends to have a chat onthe topic, or I grab a book to look for answers. Books also help merelax and forget about my anxiety. And so do movies. Whenever Idon't have the patience to read some pages, or I simply can't findthe mood for that, I watch a movie, according to my state of mindin that moment: a comedy, if! am happy, a romance if! feel in love,an action movie, if 1 feel calm etc.

These are my favourite free time activities, but I cannot forgetabout the responsibilities I have within my family, and those I havefor school: I have do my homework, I have to study, 1have to helpmy parents with some chores - and here, my biggest responsibilityis to keep my room clean. That's a lot of work to do, isn't it?

What is the present you would like to get for your birthday?

Celebrating birthdays is something special and unique. It is abouthaving a good time together with your friends and family. Andwhen it comes to presents, everybody is in a sort of trouble: whatwould be the best present? What exactly does the celebrated personwish for, or really needs? And so, the hunting for the right present

begins. So as to be sure, some even pop the big question: "What doyou wish for your birthday?"

Well, such a question was raised to me, too and, to be honest, thiscame as a total surprise both for me and for the person who hadasked. And this happened because I did not know what to answer.It may seem strange to you, but this is how it really was.

I know that everybody else would have taken advantage of sucha situation and begin listing what they wished to get for theirbirthday: perfumes, cosmetics, various objects, items of clothing,electronics etc. But surely, this is not like me at all.

I've never wished for anything special for my birthday. I justwanted it to be a happy day celebrated with my family and friends.Nothing more. What] really want to get is what I enjoy every year,namely special moments shared with my loved ones, the goodthoughts they convey and the feeling they truly are happy to bethere, by my side.

If I am to think more, this is what really matters to me and if ithappens for me to get some presents, it's even better: I appreciatethem all; equally, and I let my friends see this, because I know everysingle one of them comes from the very bottom of their hearts.

I consider that those feelings are what really matters in the end,and not the gift proper.

proud of having been capable of something like that. Neverthelessif our actions have proved to be wrong, we should not blam~anyone else and face the problem. Apart from that, we have to thinktwice before doing something, because there can be more than oneperson affected by our decisions. Besides, impulsiveness neverturned ?ut to be the best choice. Then, the voice of experiencemakes It all! We would not be that stubborn and not listen to theadvice given by our parents or wiser friends. Growing up is adifficult process and we must use all the help we can get.

When we are children or teenagers, we can hardly wait to turn 18,be~ause we think that this is the age of all possibilities, withoutbeing aware of the fact that it is more difficult nowadays to be 18or over 18 than ever was.

Being responsible for every step we make into this world is notan easy task at all.

When it comes to weekends, the only thing I regret is that theyare too short. There are so many things for me to do! My activitiesdepend on the weather. If it is fine, I meet my friends and we havelong walks or go swimming, fishing ... If the weather does not permit,we usually meet at my place and see what we can do indoors: weborrow a DVD and we watch it together over a bowl of pop com, weplay computer games, we play cards, or we simply have long chats.

If I am all by myself, I watch my favourite programmes on TV.When I have had enough 'intellectual junk-food' I listen to theradi~, write in my diary, read silly stories from tabloids, or I simplymedItate upon no matter what hot-issue which happens to bebothering me that very day. .

.1enjoy especially the last activity: meditation. Lying on my coachWIth my body relaxed, my mind wandering ... Imagining places I'vealways dreamt to be in, trying to find answers to merely rhetoricalquestions ... Or just trying to know myself better.

As I am not tired at the end of the day, I go dancing, or have myown party at home. Music is so relaxing and, moreover, it speaks

There comes a time when chi Idren become adults and demand tobe treated as such. That happens usually when we turn 18, or "ofage".

But, being a full-time adult implies being responsible for ouractions, as well. Now, we can no longer hide behind Mum or Dadevery time we make a mistake. Of course, everybody makes mistakes,but the secret is not to be afraid to admit it, stand up for our deedsand bear the consequences.

Adulthood has no secret recipe; we have to find our own way intothis and try to be responsible adults. For instance, if we do somethingremarkable by ourselves, the success will be totally ours. We can be

for us whenever we are too shy to say nice words to our partners ...Still, there are days when I feel the need to be alone. In such cases,a good book is my true companion together with my dog, Max,who follows me everywhere. It does not matter how many friendsI have, he holds a special place in my heart.

Other guiding principles inspired by my parents are self reliance,taking responsibility for my own actions, overcoming the tendencyto blame others for difficulties, trusting my own potential.

Modesty is another attitude I have learned from my parents.Modesty has made me see that there is greatness all around us.

These are just some of the values my parents educated me tobelieve in.

What do you think about the way in which your parents havebrought you up?

I consider myself fortunate to have been born in a family like mine.My parents love me dearly and they have tried to give me what is bestin life all the time; they have tried to give me best quality education,constant care and genuine love, financial and spiritual support.

When I say 'education', I mean both the one I've got in myfamily, and that in the schools I have attended so far. My parents •have always been kind .but firm, understanding, tolerant, but alsovery strict when circumstances demanded it. Like every child, I wasoften very unhappy about their decisions. I often considered my parentstoo unyielding, but now I'm grateful for their being demanding.

As regards my studies, my parents have always considered thatschool is extremely important and studies should never be neglected.They have sent me to the best schools, they encouraged and supportedme, checked on my progress, made sure there was progress, gaveme strength when I was weak, trusted me all the way, rejoiced atmy success.

I have been taught that honesty matters, that honesty should beexpressed in all circumstances, with other individuals, with institutions,with society, with myself. It is the inner strength and 'confidencethat is brought about by exacting truthfulness, trustworthiness andintegrity.

My parents have taught me to be brave. We need courage tosustain life's grieves and failures without being torn by them. Weneed to be daring to attempt difficult tasks that are good, acquirestrength not to follow the crowd, to say 'no' and mean it. Couragemeans being true to one's convictions and following good impulses,even when they are unpopular or inconvenient

Smoking has turned into one of the most serious "hot issues" thatour society has to face today.

I will begin by saying that I also consider smoking as a threat toour health and even to our life. It is true that smoking is consideredto be a legal drug, but, like any other drug, it seriously affectshealth and finally kills. Maybe it would give us a thought if weconsidered all the breathing disorders, tumors and/or types of cancerit certainly causes: every minute, one of three persons die becauseof this!

Smoking affects people of all ages alike: children, adolescents,old men and women. Here we are not only talking about activesmoking. We should also take into consideration the phenomenonof passive smoking, which affects people sitting around an activesmoker. Why should we be forced to assist our own process ofdestruction and not refuse it? This would be safer and healthier.

Generally, people take up smoking for fun, out of curiosity, togain importance in a group etc. That is how they have becomeaddicted to smoking before they know it and cannot quit it, unlessthey have an extraordinary will to do it. And, unfortunately, most ofthem actually lack it. .

What smokers must understand is that taking up smoking is notan act of courage, or mature thinking. It's not even an act of bravery,or importance. It's merely an act of cowardice and selfishness, oflack of conscience and a sure way to embrace a slow, painful death.

I will end my point here, but not before saying again that smokingdoes not bring us anything good, it does not help you relax and it

certainly does not help anyone lose weight, as it is generallybelieved, especially by girls. It only "helps" you destroy yourself.I, for one, am more than aware of all this and certainly refuse totake up smoking.

What is your opinion about mobile phones being used freelyin schools?

I can say the mobile phone is a piece of technology one cannotlive without; everyone owns a mobile phone which helps the ownerstay in touch with the rest of the world anytime, anywhere.

To be honest, I for one got so much used to it that I can't conceivelife without it. It's impossible not to have forgotten your mobilephone at home and left to work or to school without it. And wemust admit how bad and how useless we have surely felt when nothaving it! One might even call it a kind of dependency, a phone-addiction.

However, there are some situations when we should not use themat all, such as in meetings, at church, during classes etc. Using thecell phone in such cases may turn into a real nuisance and showsmere lack of respect on our part. .

Some argue that in schools, children do not really need to use amobile phone extensively, as they do not have so many urgentproblems to solve; they are not as busy as adults are, and have nobusiness to run or errands to make.

Besides, using mobile phones during classes disturbs both studentsand teachers, or there may even appear cases when mobiles phonesare lost during school time. Situations like those cause rurnours,tears and hard moments at school.

That is why school regulations forbid taking mobile phones or anyother modern technology device to classes: to avoid disturbance orstealing. Students must be aware of the risk they are exposed to ifthey fetch their fancy, expensive mobile phones to school.

I myself wouldn't go that far as to agree with total prohibition of~obile phones in schools, but I agree that they can be, at least, keptIn a safe place and turned off, or on the silent mode when in class.This will show respect and good breeding. And I'm sure that, in thisway, nobody will ever feel offended or disturbed by the respectivedevice.

What do you think about school uniforms being compulsory?

Well, the problem of school uniform has always been a problemof controversy. And, according to various periods of time, schooluniforms have either been in or out.

Generally, past times could be traced by the model ofthe uniform,and every school was to be recognized in its form and colour. Iremember the time of my school years. It was a real pride to belongto a certain school and wear its uniform. And when seeing otherstudents on the street, I could say immediately what school they

.belonged to. And this is what my parents and grand-parents tell me.They have worn them throughout their school years.

Our current education system does not keep this rule now.Nevertheless, most of nowadays students feel it as a relief and a

way to express their personalities. The way they see it, items ofclothing and colour help them show who they are and how theythink. They wish to state and defend their unique way of being byarguing that a school uniform tends to annihilate this aspect. In thisway, they would all be equal, and this is exactly what they wish toavoid.

I, for one, sustain their point of view, but also agree with schoolauthorities. They rightly voice that, as long as students are not forcedto wear a uniform, they should, at least, wear something decent.Students are to come to school and study, after all. And schools arepublic institutions which are to be respected.

We all agree that a pair of jeans, or a skirt and a jacket would do,but we should be attentive to how short that skirt is, or how wornout the jeans are. Equally, the colours we may choose for our clothesfor school are to be neutral, and not striking at all. But, after all, thisis a matter of taste and decency.

My brother, for example, is my elder by four years. And thisdifference accounts for my life"s being, so many times, a "hell onEarth". Or, more exactly, it used to be. I have to tell you that noteven my father was so bossy as my dear brother was: "Do this","Go over there", "Don't touch that", "Be careful with that" etc.

But as we grew up, I understood he was trying to protect me andmy rage against him changed into admiration. Whenever I wasfacing a problem, I knew from the beginning I could totally rely onmy brother: he was there to comfort me in my hard times, and wasstill the one who really listened to my problems, striving to find asolution for me. And I repaid this with my gratitude and the littlehelp I could offer him.

Now I can say that he was the one who taught me the hardshipsof life, but also the value of brotherhood and family. Of course, myparents also gave me good pieces of advice and all the help andsupport in the world, but somehow, I found it easier to share all mythoughts, frustrations and happy moments with my brother.

It wasn't easy for us to get to such a nice solid relationship, webuilt it in years, with a lot of patience and understanding, especiallyfrom his side. But I surely can say that it was all worth it.

What do you hate most in life?

It's difficult for me to answer such a question, especially becausethere are so many things to be hated around us. And there are alsomany things I could hate in this life, but, if I give it a thought, Ithink that what I most hate is hatred itself.

I cannot stand seeing and feeling so much hatred among us and itseems, sometimes, we were born to hate each other. Nowadays,everywhere I turn, there is harshness, indifference,opressionand alot of sadness. When I walk on the streets; I can see people'sfaces - they are all so preoccupied, gloomy, upset. Thei: ey~s arehalf-closed, as if thinking about the injustice and suffenng In t~eworld, their looks down the road and hurried steps betray theirconcern ... and all that make me sad.

But, in spite of that, I never give up my hope that, one. day,everything will have a good turn. I keep hopi~g that people. wIII.gosmiling down the road and merry laughter WIll fill the aIr, Just ltkein the days of my infancy. Those were happy moments, wheneverything was perfect and I felt great. I will always treasure theseand keep them hidden in my soul, expecting to live them oncemore, in adolescence, or adulthood.

I know that it's hard for us to change everything for the better, allof a sudden. But it's not impossible, either. Each and every one ofus can help a little. It doesn't cost much, but it makes the difference.What if we smiled more often? What if we used a more polite tonein our requests? And what if we forgot a little about our fights andthink twice before we make an unpleasant or mean remark?

No earthly creature can do it all - walking, swimming, flying. Forexemple, humans cannot fly.

Should this be a more or less conscious wish of each of us: to beable to float freely in the air and watch everything from above?

Travelling by plane has now&days become very common, especiallyin the U.S., where the distances to cover are huge.

I have never flown, but I would never miss the opportunity to doso. I don't think it's more dangerous than travelling by car or evenby train. Accidents have happened with all means of transport, evenif the latest technology has made travelling both fast and safe. It ismaybe everybody's fate to reach the destination safe and sound.

Besides, flying is believed to be the safest way of travelling in theworld! And let's not forget that so many people travel by plane

Do you think a relative may be considered your best friend?

I am not sure whether I can speak for somebody else, but I cancertainly say that my best friend is my brother.

However, things are not as simple as some people, who have.nobrothers ,or sisters, may believe. Brothers and sisters always thmkthey know best, especially when they are older than you.

everyday! For exemple, on Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europeevery 45 seconds a plane takes off or lands.

Apart from that, travelling by plane takes less time. And that is animportant aspect, especially for businesspeople, who have to coverlong distances in short time.

In my opinion, flying is not about additional risk, but it is aboutfast, comfortable travelling and more time saving.

When it comes to famous persons, it's so difficult to talk aboutthem and especially choose one of them as your favourite. All ofthem are special and original in their own way. .

However, I decided to speak about a famous singer who hasimpressed me: Kylie Minogue. At a first glance, one can see anagile little Australian girl, extremely beautiful and delicate. Whenhearing her voice and listening to her songs, one can sense hertalent, her sensitivity as well as her power.

It is impossible not to admire her determination when buildingher career. Though, at the beginning, it was so hard for her to getherself known and appreciated, she persisted in singing with thesame enthusiasm and passion. And soon, her efforts were to benoticed, her voice praised and her songs became famous all overthe world. Now everybody knows them and can even quote someverses by heart. Who can forget hits like "I should be so lucky","Where the white roses grow", "Red blooded woman", "Givingyou up" or "Can't get you outta my head"?

But this is not all. As fragile as she may seem, Kylie has provedto be a winner. In May 2005 it was officially announced that shehad breast cancer, but she was not to give up her fight for life. Afterlong exhausting chemo sessions and even longer moments of despairand depression, she has finally won it. Now she is stronger, morebeautiful and more ready to continue her "Showgirl" project.

As this was not enough, soon after announcing she had surpassedher cancer, she broke up with her boyfriend, the one who wasthought to be the love of her life. This was another turning point inher life, another difficult moment, but, as a real "showgirl" ready tofight it all, Kylie is still standing up and continues smiling.

From my point of view, this is a lesson. of life she gives, but alesson learnt the hard way. She is now a living model for all thosestrong persons who fight their destinies and are determined to win.

Now I can say that not only do I admire her, but she also servesas a role-model for me.

Considering that school attendance is compulsory in Romania upto 10th grade and that with no education you cannot make it in thereal world, I think it is rather false to pretend that we attend anyschool because we like something about it. Being 'young andrestless', usually children and teenagers miss the real point ofeducation and seem to be quite fond of wasting their time onunimportant things, on complaining about how much homeworkthey have to do, about a teacher's being unfair, or about the shortageof spare time they have.

I have to admit school is fun, after all. Of course, I can only speakfor myself because I don't know what things are like in otherschools. Even though it is a very serious school when it comes topreparing for certain examinations, be they term papers, or schoolgraduation exams, pupils studying here know they can have asmuch good time and relaxation during the summer holiday or overthe week-end.

Today I can pin-point the aspects that made me love my schoolover all these years: first and foremost, it must have been theteachers - so serious and fond of the subject-matters taught as onecould imagine; secondly, it must have been the colleagues I havehad since I came to this high-school. I must tell you that all my bestfriends are my former colleagues. Apart from that, some of myformer teachers are among my role models in life.

.C?ur town has gone through a lot of changes lately, but the mostvIsIble one has been the work that has been done to its roads. Allthe r~ads, wide or narrow, have been altered in a certain way lately,to adjust to the huge wave of cars that has appeared in the recentyears.

Our cit,Yis old, with many narrow streets and alleys, especially inthe old cIty centre. There are not enough parking lots, the roads' arealways crowded and it is difficult for drivers and pedestrians,equally, to find their way. The sidewalks became narrower so thatt~e roads can get a second lane. [n this way, sometimes, it's verydifficult to walk because the sidewalks became so very crowded.

If [ were to change something in this city I would definitelychange the way people try to make more space for the cars withouttaking into consideration the pedestrians, especially in the old partof the town where people go to enjoy the view, to shop, to sitaround the fountain in the Council Square, to listen to the concertsorganized there.

What ,:"ould [ do? I would restrict the car access to the city centre,and, as In other European cities, [ would add a road-tax for thedrivers who cross to the city centre. In this way, I think there wouldbe fewer traffic jams, and we won't end up without sidewalks.. I.would.als~ add some bike lanes, so that children should enjoy

ndm~ theIr bIkes particularly because the bike lane they alreadyhave 10 the Central P~rk is very narrow and difficult to use.

[ totally agree that cars should play their part in our lives, but weshould fight against pollution that affects the old buildings and thenoise that people living downtown have to put up with.

When we do something we have to think about all of us. we haveto consider all the options, not to see just one side of the coin.

What is your 0plDlon about the way in which televisioninfluences your life?

Of all the media, television seems to have the greatest impact onpeople's life. I think it influences people, especially teenagers, in anegative way. I, for one, dedicate less time to my friends, [ don't goout so often, and [ have given up going to the theatre, cinema orsporting events. Not to mention reading books or listening tomusic. All my free time'seems to be controlled by television.

For the sake of a programme I neglect my meals or I replace themby a sandwich. The family no longer sit at table and exchange thenews of the day. Thus, communication among the members of thefamily is broken. Sometimes I even neglect my homework and thechores and, most of all, [ go to bed very late.

I think that this leads to the alienation of the individual.The most dangerous thing is that, sometimes, [ am tempted to

watch diplays of sadism and violence which, to a certain extent,may distort my perception of what is normal. Not to mention thefact that television encourages passive enjoyment and it cuts peopleoff from the real world. [ prefer to stay at home and watch TVrather than go out with my friends for a walk or just to take somefresh air.

It is also true that television is the best source of news, fast andaccurate information from any corner of the world. Never beforehas communication been better

Television provides information, knowledge from all fields,entertainment, political debates, music of all kinds, for all tastes.Used wisely, with discernment and parental guidance, televisioncan really change young people's life for the better.

What was the life experience that has taught you a positivelesson?

Last year, me and Dan, one of my classmates, one of thosearrogant kind of boys, had a very "dangerous" idea, in order to solvesome misunderstandings .between us. I must admit that it wasn't

[ love my hometown, Brasov. I believe it is a very interesting town,with both old historic places and modern buildings.

the best way: a car race in the streets of our village. We arrangedeverything as if it were the date of a ball. The place where from, ata certain hour we would have started the race, the route, and finallythe "chicken test" - he who would stop first on the road that wentout of town and ended up in a precipice would have been declared"yellow", "coward" a.s.o. Dan and I chose as our race car Dan's"Peugeot" - whose brakes were known to be rather weak but,otherwise, everything seemed to be allright.

The former half of the race was fine, but the latter lacked inHollywoodian glamour and turned out to be a "lesson". As expected,the police patrols eventually spotted the two racing cars and, whenthe brakes of Dan's car gave way, the inevitable occurred: our bothcars crashed into the police patrol car exactly when it was trying toovertake the two cars while they were colliding.

Fortunately, nobody was really hurt, but we both had to paydamages for the police car and our driving licences were suspended.

Eventually we realised that this was not at all a good idea. Welearned that it really didn't matter who the first in class was, or whothe best at doing something was, as long as we are friends.

Our 'chiken test' could have ended up in a really tragic way. Thatwas the moment I realised that one s life is more important than anyof his ambitions, and that the only thing we managed to prove toourselves and to the others equally was how stupid one can getwhen one refuses to think twice before acting.

I have studied hard in highschool for my better future. I amcertain that all I've learned will help me at some point in my career.

After my graduation J want to enroll to classes at university andto study even harder. I will probably work as well, during universityyears, because .gaining experience for my career is another aim ofmine.

These two are the most important goals for the near future, as faras my career is concerned: to study and to gain experience.

Speak about what makes us live longer. Give reasons for youranswer.

I have recently read an article that stated that we, people, canchoose how long we want to live. There are moments when we say"It's enough!" and that's it.

Hmmm ... Could it be that easy?In my opinion, eating healthy is very important if one wants to live

longer. A recent study has shown that the life-span has increases inthe past 100 years. Now people live longer, up to their 70s or even90s, and it seems there is not actually a pattern to be followed inorder to live longer.

There are people who smoke, or eat fats, do no physical exercisewhatsoever and live a long and healthy life. Then again, there arepeople who lead a healthy life, and still don't live that long. In theend there are no rules.

Another study I've read concluded that it is all in our genes. ]fwehave good genes, we can live longer, if we don't we just don't. Thisis not a matter of personal choice, is not something we can do betteror fail at.

It is said that happier people live longer and sad people shorter1ives. It is easy to smile. Well, not all the time but still, we can try tosee the best in everything and keep our optimism regardless of thedifficulties we encounter in our lives.

I think that we should keep a balance in all we do, and keep ourfingers crossed for a happy, healthy and, hopefully, long life.

I cannot say that I'm a mere dreamer or, on the contrary, agrounded person. But what I can say about myself is that I'vealways thought about future. I cannot state that I have drawn aperfect line for my future and not all my dreams have come true ..

But still, plans, goals and dreams are what I generally do. It IS

true, sometimes they do happen, sometimes they don't, but I keepsetting goals for myself all the time.

Someone told me once to set up high goals so that I can reachhigher and higher. That person was right and this is what I do.

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I have to admit that we all need some sort of adventure in ourlives - without a slight touch of adventure everything would be sodull, the routine would change us into walking mummies, indifferentto what is happening around us.

I also think that Iife itself can be seen as an adventure - consideringthe ups and downs that we are going through, the problems, andtheir solutions, which may sometimes appear illogical. On the otherhand, there are so many those who have this strange idea thatadventure means risking everything.

The idea that two young men I know were obsessed with that ofconfronting danger so close to death as a man can face. For them,everything that broke the rules or endangered their lives was either"hot" or "cool". Mihai and Gabriel seemed to have the energy oftwenty of their age, when it came to driving someone mad orresponding stupid challenges. '

. . One of these challenges was that cast by one of the boys from~nother neighborhood: a car race in the streets of our village ... TheIdea was for the contestants to rove their "courage", skill at drivinga car and nerve in challenging the local police forces was somethinglike "The Outer Limit" for them. Not for a minute had they given athought to what they were risking.

So they arranged everything as if it were the date of a ball.This "adventure" gave me chills. On the surface it might have

seemed something "heroic", but when giving it a second thought, Ireal1zed how dangerous it could be and I tried to stop them but thetwo boys wouldn't listen to me ... They laughed at me and called me"chicken". I was invited to stay home that night, which I did.

Later on I found out that the police tried to trace them and, aftera real c~r race in the village - this time the police chasing the boys,the vehicles crashed and the adventure ended up hospital. Fortunately,nobody was seriously hurt, but all the cars were badly damaged.Now the boys have to pay damages, and their driving licenses aresuspended. So much for an adventure!

I love watching movies. This is one of my hobbies. I love goingto the cinema. I love the smell of the popcorn while watching agood movie. If I were to choose of.all the movies I've seen just oneto describe that would be "The Sound of Music". You might wonderwhy? The answer is simple, because it's the story of the love youfeel for your family, of going together as one through all thedifficulties of life with a smile one your face and with a songcoming out of your mouth and of staying together even though youmake mistakes.

The storyline is very simple. In 1930's Austria, a young womannamed Maria is failing in her attempts to become a nun. When theNavy captain Georg Yon Tr~pp writes to the convent asking for agoverness to handle his seven ill-behaved children. Maria gets job.The Captain's wife is dead, and he is often away, but when he is athome he runs the household very strictly as if his children werearmy soldiers. The kids are unhappy and not very pleased with thegovernesses their father keeps bringing at home, and they try andwork together on making their lives miserable. But, when Mariaarrives, even though she is not liked by the children with kindness,understanding, and sense offun she soon succeeds in drawing themto her and bringing some much-needed joy into all their livesincluding their father's, who eventually falls in love with Maria. '

I know you might say that "The Sound of Music" is an old movie.It mi.ght be, but till today it is a true story, a real story of joy,happiness and finding your way in life, even though at a certainmoment you thought there was impossible. I really enjoy this movie,the music, which is always so optimistic, the landscapes and thechildren. I believe that Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummerwere great in this movie, and I hope,that in real life people can try .to end up that happy as in the movies.

My parents had never allowed me to have a pet, because they saidI could no take responsibility for myself, not to mention a pet. In away, they were right: I was reckless, disobedient, stubborn and lazy.But I wanted so much to have a pet, especially a dog ...

They say that dogs are the best friends a human being can have.They are extremely loyal, they love you no matter what. They tryto make you feel better even when you are not in the mood, you canplay with them all the time etc.

On the other hand, for giving you so much, they have to getsomething back, namely your attention and care. They need to befed, washed, walked, taken to the vet's etc. and this is somethingyou have to do daily.

So, I wanted a dog badly, and, one day, a miracle happened. Itwas a cold rainy afternoon and I was walking back form school. Iwas all wet and frozen and I was hurrying to get home. Suddenly, Iheard a noise, like a baby crying at the corner of a little street. I gotcurious and I approached. There was a little puppy all wet, likemyself, trembling and whimpering. You can magine my happiness!I took it home immediately, bathed it and fed it.

When my parents got home, I was proud to show them I could bea responsible person, too. They were amazed and finally ceded myappeals, allowing me to keep it. I named it Leah, after my favouriteheroine in Star Wars.

From that day on, Leah and I are inseparable. We share all myfree time all my hopes and dreams, and all my sorrows, equally.

That was the day when I became a truly responsible person and Ihope I will stay that way.

The house I live in is simple and comfortable. It has tWo bedrooms,a livingroom, a bathroom, a balcony and a terrace. It is nothingunusual. Not too small, but definitely not very large, it is the placeI feel safe in; it is my own private space, my domestic world.Private doesn't mean isolated - I don't have anything againstneighbours, in fact most of them are my friends. What I meant tosay is that here I feel free from the tensions of the outer world; I canhave a rest and relax.

People say I am lucky to live in a house, and not in a block offlats, because I have a backyard. This is true, but I must tell you thatI've also lived in such an apartment. In my opinion, what reallymatters is the atmosphere, and not the number of rooms, how bigthey are and 'what kind of furniture you have in it. Of course,everyone wishes to arrange it according to his personality, but let'snot exaggerate!

I like the minimalist style, because it surely is functional andsimple, as I said before. I have everything I need here and I don'tfeel suffocated by useless things. My favourite colours are brownand beige, so that is how my house is painted: it represents mypreference for warm, earthen shades which bring peace andharmony.

Speak about a day in your life when something happened andchanged your life.

It is difficult to speak about a special day in my life, a day whichreally made a difference. There have been many good days, or badones for me, like in anyone else's life. Looking back, we sometimesrealize what made it special for us and see certain days eitherhappiness and melancholy.

In my case, such a day that made me change my behaviour andmy attitude towards life itself, was the day I got my little dog, Leah.

Strangely enough, my best friend is not a person, but an animal,a little spotted dog, Cooky. He (because my dog is a he) is awonderful terrier found in the street. I remember that it was cold,and he was lying there, almost frozen. I took him to the vet and heprescribed some pills and vitamins, as the dog was weak. Of courseI took the dog to my place and took care of him day and night.

Step by step. the entire family fell in love with the little wonder.and we decided to keep him. I felt like a rescuer, and he felt it, too.Every day he seems to thank me by doing all sorts of tr)cks. WhenI get up in the morning, he cheers me up while bringing my slippersand newspaper. Then, jumping in my lap, he likes to nest there andlay his funny head on my arm. Then, it is the time for his walk inthe park: He knows it, so he brings his leash as if he were saying:"It's a beautiful shiny day, let's go out at once!" When I get backhome, after a day's hard work and I'm exhausted, he is the first towelcome me and try to make me feel better. Still, the thing Iappreciate most is his behaviour when I'm ill or sad. He would doanything to make me smile. If I do, he is the happiest dog alive.How could I not consider him my best friend if whatever he does isjust to help me and make my day?

People who know her would say that she has a pleasant personality,and they can find a good piece of advice with her, whenever theyneed it. I can definitely say that, too. I know she is there for me andfor all the members of our family, as well.

From my point of view, she is the best example of someone whocan combine family and career extremely well. I've never seenanyone doing this so well before. One can say that this is hergreatest hobby, apart from travelling and going to the gym with herfriends. Unfortunately, this does not happen too often. Her workand her family take most of her time, and she tends to forget aboutherself She says that our happiness and smiles make her joy andsatisfaction.

If! am to continue speaking about her, I will probably never end,so I think I should stop here for the time being and close mypresentation hoping that one day, I can be like her.

When speaking about best friends, there are not many choicesthat come to my mind. Of course, I have many friends, and all ofthem have something that I appreciate a lot, but I cannot say that Ihave many best friends.

I know that this may sound like a cliche to you, but my bestfriend is my mother. She's been there for me since the day I wasborn; she is the one who knows all about me: my joys, my fears, thestrongest and the weakest points of my character. She can understandall this and supports me unconditionally.

Whenever I feel sad or I have a problem and I don't know howto solve it, mom is there to comfort me. Or when I am happy, sheis the first person 1 can share that with. My entire world is centredaround this wonderful woman.

Physically, I look very much like her: a tall and thin brunette withblue eyes. But her hair is short and straight, and she wears it with aFrench fringe. while mine is long and curly. She wears glasses,which give her a bossy appearance. Her style is classic, nothingunusual or strange. She wears casual items of clothing which arewell cut and fit her very well.

Both discos and parties are about having fun and sharing pleasantmoments with friends. Generally, these are moments to be treasuredand remembered for a long time.

If you decide, on the spot, to have fun together with your friends,you go to a disco. There you can find good music and the possibilityto dance a lot and spend your time in an entertaining atmosphere.

On the other hand, most of the parties are planned and organizedin advance and you know what the occasion is some time before,so you can get prepared for this.

I like going to discos, but I'm not a disco-girl. so I can't say forsure that I remember the last time I visited such a place. Yet, I cancertainly talk about the last party I had.

It was my 'birthday and all my friends wanted to make me asurprise, so they joined together at my place. It was somethingunexpected, I hadn't planned it in advance, but I guess this was thecharm and made it unforgettable. .

As it was my birthday, there was plenty of food, cakes and drinkswaiting for them. We turned the music on and, out of the blue ...

there was a real party, and I was the star! Imagine how importantand happy I felt that day!

It wasn't a big party, there was no special place, fancy tables andchairs, no formal dress, nor fireworks as this may have happened inan organized party. It was only a small apartment, with just one bigtable and lots or regular chairs, my friends were dressed casually,but the air was filled with joy and this wa~ what mattered to us.

T had the time of my life together with my loved ones. We danceda lot and I can say that the small talk and jokes made everythingspecial. It was definitely my best party ever!

I also visited St. Paul's Cathedral that impressed me by itshugeness - it is the second largest cathedral in the world.

What was both impressive and amusing was Madame Tussaud'sWax Models Museum, where you can recognize a lot of famouscharacters in all possible fields - politics, cinema, literature, music,sports etc. - and even take photos of and with them.

Of course, I saw the Tower Bridge, 10 Downing Street - theresidence of the British Prime Minister, Westminster Abbey andmany other place.

London is really worth seeing. My memories are so vivid that Ifeel as if I were still there.

I am very happy that I saw UK and,of course, London. A pieceof my heart is still there ...

Ever since I started to learn English I've heard so many thingsabout England, and especially about London, I've seen so manypostcards and sl ides, even documentary movies and I've read somuch about London and the royal family that it has become adream to see London with my own eyes.

This summer I've had the chance to fly to London due to a pen-friend of mine who invited me to spend two weeks there.

The day [ arrived in London was the happiest day in my life. Itwas like a dream come true.

Everything began at Heathrow airport where my friend wasexpecting me. It is one of the largest airports in the world and thebusiest in Europe. They say that every 45 seconds a plane takes offor lands here. Can you imagine that ... !?

My friend and I met in the Arrivals Hall and we went by car toher place. I could hardly believe I was in London.

I saw Buckingham Palace and the change of the Royal Guards atII :30am. Then we passed through Trafalgar Square and we wentand visited the National Art Gallery. This took us a lot of timebecause it houses an impressive collection of paintings - one of therichest in the world.

The next day we went to the British Museum where we could see.among others, displays ofvestigies from Egypt, Western Asia, Greeceand Rome.

Choose a building you like and decribe it.

I will speak about a monument that I find impressive in the oldcentre of our town: the Black Church, which was built around theyear 1380 and probably known, at that time, under the name of StMary's Church. .

One of the oldest monuments in Brasov, this old Gothic churchstands as its symbol and testimony of the past. Dominating all theother buildings, it got its name the name the Black Church, afterthe great fire in 1689. It was then that the old walls got their tintby smoke and fire, which, otherwise, could not destroy its strongarch itecture.

Every year, the Black Church attracts many foreign touristscharmed by its majesty and history. What they find fascinating isits organ made up of 4000 pipes, which is amongst the greatest insouth-eastern Europe and renown for its wonderful sound. And onecannot talk about the organ of the black Church without mentioningits choir and its organ-player, Mr Eckart Schlandt, famous all overthe world.

Apart from that, the pictures in the interior of the church areextraordinary, especially those representing the Holy Virgin, Saint

Katherine (with a wheel and a sword) and Saint Barbara (with atower). The Holy Virgin is placed between the two.

The most precious treasures of art in the Black Church are theAnatolian carpets of the 17th and 18th century. They form the richestcollection of this kind in all Europe. These carpets were given to thechurch by native merchants and citizens. The diversity of motivesand the rich colours give a particular charm to the interior.

The exterior shows all sorts of impressive columns, sculpturesand statues representing religious figures, such as Virgin Mary,little angels etc.

All in all the Black Church is also known for its dimensions,being 89 meters long and 38 meters wide. This is the most importantgothic building we have in our country.

Taking all this into consideration, you can now understand why Ihave chosen to speak about such an important building. It is notalways impressive through its architecture, but it also representshundreds of years of history and art.

nothing" and as a male prostitute in Gus Van Sant's "My ownprivate Idaho", perhaps his strongest performance to date. Recently,he was also highly acclaimed for the part in "Matrix".

Despite his reputation of "sex symbol", he has only been linkedwith few women.

What I particularly like about this intelligent and mysteriousactor is that he doesn't believe in the material world where men andwomen are trapped in the "reality" perpetuated by TV shows andadvertising. He remains aloof from it.

'The question of faith is important for Reeves. He is a searcherand this quality prompted Bertolucci to cast him in "Little Buddha".Every director Reeves has worked with has sought to exploit theethereal quality of his physique, the innocence they see in him.

Keanu Reeves has an inner drive which impresses the directorsand appeals to the public.

Speak about your favourite actor/actress.

I have chosen to speak about Keanu Reeves, who is so differentfrom other actors, that people say it would not be an exaggerationto say that he lives on another planet from the rest of us.

Born in Beirut in 1964, to a British mother and a Chinese-Hawaiianfather, Keanu (his name means "~ool breeze over the mountains")spent his childhood years in Australia and New York before his·mother eventually settled in Toronto after splitting up with herhusband. He had a difficult childhood, drinking heavily and partyingwildly while studying at the High School of Performing Arts inToronto. But he eventually dropped out and began making TVCommercials for Coke and other products. At the age of 19, Keanudecided enough was enough, packed up his car and drove to LosAngeles, where he has lived ever since. His first serious movie was"River Edge". Later that year he made his name as Ted in "Bill andTed's excellent adventure". Since then his most notable roles havebeen as an FBI agent Shakespearean rogue in 'Much ado about

It is so difficult to choose one particular object in my housewhich represents me. I consider that the entire house is centred onthe owner's personality and all the objects in it reflect it in a certainway.

For example, the style and colour ofihe furniture can speak aboutthe vision and tastes of the people who live in it. Equally, thepaintings hung on the walls show another aspect of their personalities.

In my case, I do not own a house entirely by myself, so what Ican say for now is that my room reveals all about me. The style Iadopted is extremely simple and functional: a bed with blue covers,because blue is my favourite colour, a wardrobe, a looking glass, adesk, a TV set and of course, a computer. Judging by the pieces Ichose for my room, one can easily understand that this is my style.Everything is simple and ordinary, like me. .

If I am to think well, definitely my computer represents me. Mychoice may seem strange to you, but you can imagine the personalityI have: I love technology and I try to keep up with it.

My computer is the piece I use extensively when I stay in myroom. It is my best friend, my diary, my connection to the world,and my possibility to do my homework. I am a rather quie.t person,and in this way, I find it easier to stay in front of my computer andopen up my heart.

If I want to finish a project for school, all I have to do is turn iton and write it immediately. If! need to talk to my friends, a simpleclick will do. If I need a piece of information, the same simple clickdisplays it immediately in front of my eyes.

As I am quiet and shy, the computer helps me communicate andmakes it easier for me to socialize in my own style and rhythm. Itrepresents an entire universe which offers a multitude of choicesand possibilities to build a character. The music, movies andinformation one can choose with the help of the computer says a lotabout one's personality and way of thinking.

In my case, the soul music, the psychological movies and goodcomedies reveal a peaceful and quiet person. That is why thecomputer is the thing that best represents me.

downtown ... But I think this year, I will give this "'tradition' up:I want something much smaller, no big parties for now: definitely,I got older!

.Party or no party, the most important thing is that my friends bewIth me. No matter how and where we spend this day, where or ifwe dance, whether we enjoy ourselves or find ourselves lost in deepphilosophical discussions, my satisfaction is always the same: I amsatisfied with having banished once more time fear and lonelinesswhich tend to overwhelm me on my birthday.

I can say that my room is an ordinary teenager's room, reflectingmy personality and preoccupations. If you are to take a quick look,you could definitely say it really represents me.

I will begin by saying it is placed in a peaceful comer of myhouse, away from my parents' eyes! I'm only joking, but this locationconfers me peace and privacy, which J so much appreciate.

. The furniture there is all white and blue, my favourite colours. J~ante? to c?mbine the two, because one represents purity andsIncerity, while the other one stands for serenity and tranquility.

An entire wall of my room is occupied by a huge wardrobe witha big mirrored door, meant to shelter all my pieces of clothing. AndI have so many of them, as you have rightly guessed.

Another important piece of furniture is my bed with two smallside bed-tables on which you will always find some books, freshflowers, my sunglasses and the phone.

Next, you can imagine that a TV set could not miss from myroom. It is fixed up on the wall on a special device and when sittingcomfortably in my bed, I can watch my favourite movies until I fallasleep.

Of course, I cannot forget my desk on which my computerpresides, the piece I cannot live without. My computer is so dear tome that I may safely say that it has turned into one of my best friends.I spend hours on end working on it, listening to my favourite music,watching movies and revealing all my secrets to its electronic diary.

My birthday is an occasion for me to meditate upon the passingof the years and to become more aware of the fact that every minuteof my life should be fully lived and enjoyed.

Most of the time, my birthday is the perfect excuse for me tothrow a party. I love music, dancing and being surrounded by myfriends and family. I love entertainment and good time, having funand ... opening presents. I must admit I love presents, too. And notonly getting them, but also giving. I adore making presents to mybeloved ones and most of all, I like surprising them ... seeing thereaction on their faces.

And knowing this, my friends do the same with me: they like tosee how I look when J myself open presents!

Every year, for my birthday, I invite my friends over, and we havea party... if there's not room enough for all of us, we move

To preserve the tone of the .entire room, the window-si lis arewhite, while the curtains covering them are very simple and bluish,with darker hangings.

Excepting some enlarged pictures of myself and the shelves fullof books and CDs, I have no other ornaments in my room. I like tokeep it clean and simple.

As you can grasp from my description, my room is an ordinaryone, but, to me, it is special, because I live in there.

I live in a very interesting neighbourhood with very sociable andfascinating people. I love watching them, talking to them, attendingtheir parties and asking for their help or offering mine.

I've been living here with my parents since I was vas born, so Ican say that my friends are my neighbours and I hope that I willnever change them for others because in my opinion they are thebest neighbours anyone can have.

All of them have something special and all of them have theirhobbies, interests and funny personalities. But there is one that isreally interesting and funny. Actually, he is my next-door neighbour.Our house is next to Mr. Petrescu, only one very small fencedivides our yard from his.

Every day when I go out he is in his small flower garden mendinghis flowers and he waves to me and asks me about a new film I'veseen because, I have to tell you that, we both enjoy very muchwatching movies. We can talk for hours and laugh remembering allthe funny scenes from different movies we've seen and discuss allthe interesting and unusual scenes.

In winter, when it's really cold and so much snow Mr. Petrescu isenjoying spending time shovelling the snow and sometimes he ismaking a snowman for his grandchildren who come to visit him forthe winter holidays. I love going out and helping him with thesnowman "look" and we try to make a more interesting and hilarioussnowman every year. For example, last year we made a snowmaninspired from the main character of "Cloudy with a Chance ofMeatballs".

In conclusion, I think all my neighbours are funny but Mr. Petrescuis my favourite.

Saturday - the most expected day of the week. A day to rest andmake plans for the other five days, when you have to work. For me,it is a day when I can afford to spend my weekend the way I like,a day when I pay more attention to my hobbies, without having thefeeling that I waste valuable hours that should be dedicated tolearning ..

First of all, on Saturday I never wake up early. If it rains, I evenwake up very late, around noon. Without thinking of what I have todo on that day, I spend another half an hour just lying in bed.Eventually, I get out of bed and open all the windows and have mymorning shower. Of course, I don't do that in winter! After cleaningmy room and having breakfast, or brunch, I do my very best to enjoyevery minute of a day when I do ... nothing. Nothing 'constructive'for my future, anyway ...

Turning on the TV set, I watch my favourite programs.Eventually, I contact my friends and we make plans for the

weekend, or we just hang on together. Sometimes we meet at myplace, or some friend's and we have fun. We watch a movie, or weplaya game on computer. Weather permitting, we go for a walk inthe park, or we go downtown. Rarely do we spend our Saturdaynight in a disco. This only happens on Saturday night, because wecan sleep more the next day.

Indeed, weekend is a great thing! To.rest after a week of hardwork and tension is something everyone deserves!

Talk about the ideal Romania. A country you would like tohappily live in.

I must say I love the internet. I think it is so very useful to goonline and spend time watching movies, listening to music, browsingfor useful information or just relax playing a new and interestinggame.

I spend about two or three hours a day on the internet and I neverget bored searchingJor interesting things.

First of all, I must say that I use Google for searching all sorts offascinating and useful information. I use Google because I find itvery clear and it also offering me the possibility of finding sites inRomanian and this is helpful especially if you need to find informationin your native tong.

Another site I'm using is Yahoo. I love Yahoo because I can finda lot of information from different fields in here. For example, if Iwant to find a new movie to watch I go on Yahoo Movies, if I wantto know more about music or listen to a new and interesting song Igo on Yahoo Music. There are also Facebook for socializing withmy friend, Messenger for chatting and so on.

One more site that I enjoy reading is wikipedia.org. In here I canfind useful information about anything really from music to art,books and even science. What I really love about this site is that theinformation is well structured and I can go very quickly through it.Also, there is information in so many languages and that is verygood because for example if you need to know more about a personand of course you speak more that one language, you can getinformation from different sources on just one single site withoutthe hassle of searching in other places.

These are only few examples I can give regarding useful, funnyand interesting sites.

I love my country. I think we are very lucky to live in here andvery unlucky at the same time. We have a beautiful country. Eventhough this may look like a cliche I know that this is very true. Wehave mountains, we have meadows, we have wild goats, we havebears, we have fields, and we have seaside, the Danube Delta andso much more. I could go on and on forever enumerating all thegreat things we have in this country. But still, we appreciate all ofthem so little. Why?

I don't know. Maybe because we got bored of them, because sincebirth we've been having air of these and we got used to them. It's likehaving the same pair of shoes for a very long time and you just feellike don't wearing them any more. This can be an explanation, butstill, there can be plenty more.

I would be very happy if people rediscovered all the beauties ourcountry has and try to show them to the world. We should be veryproud with everything we have and should be very happy andgrateful we have them.

If I were to change something in this country to make it a betterplace to live in I would firstly try to change the way Romanians seetheir country, then I would change the way we behave towards ourcountry, since we hardly give a penny on it. All these being said Ithink it's a very hard work to do these two tasks just to think furthermore. Let's start with these and then, we'll move forward.

I love watching TV. I spend enough time watching TV everyweek and I find it useful, r~laxing or just a waste of time. Watchingnews on TV is useful because in my opinion we have to know ofwhat's going on in the word. Also, I believe that watching moviesor entertainment shows is funny and relaxing. We need to relax attimes also.

One of the most interesting and funny shows on TV, for me, stillremains "How It's Made". I love this show because it's quite unusualjust to watch how things are done and, at the same time, we canlearn a lot about the world we live in.

Did you know that the show is actually a documentary programshowing how common, everyday items (including foodstuff likebubblegum, industrial products such as motors, musical instrumentssuch as guitars, and sporting goods such as snowboards) aremanufactured? There is always an offscreen narrator who explainseach and every process. Each show usually has three or four mainsegments, with each prbduct getting a demonstration of about fiveminutes, with exceptions for more complex products. It's veryinteresting because you can see closely the process of fabricationfor interesting products, and you can be really amazed by the waytoo many stages items can go through to end up the objects weneed.

To sum up, I would say that there are a lot of TV shows worthwatching but we should be careful with using our time in a usefulmanner so that we try to learn every day something new and interesting.

very quickly. Even though it is not a very cheap city, I believe thatwith the money I earn I can set myself living comfortably enoughin there. I have no high hopes regarding accommodation. A roomwould be sufficient for me at the beginning.

This is my dream and this is the country I would love to live in.So, please, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Talk about your highschool experience. Did you enjoyhighschool? Why or why not?

I am so close to graduation now that I can almost say I.graduatedfrom high school. For me, studying at highschool was a great anduseful experience. Even though it was not easy I must say that therewere good til\les and bad times, difficult and funny moments.

During the school year we had to learn a lot, to study for bigmarks and that was not easy at times, it would be exhausting anddifficult. But we managed to move forward, Iearn, and pass theexams with good, not so good and very good marks.

Still, besides learning I had a great time with my friends. I havenow a lot of friends, close and good ones that I've made in highschool.I am so grateful for them. Because of them my life was easier, moreinteresting and funnier, and because of our friendship we managedto go through difficult exams. That's because we've been supportingeach other at all times.

At weekends, in the summer holiday we went on trips, we wentcamping or by train, to the seaside. We used to sing, have fun, eatjunk food, drink fizzy drinks and go late to bed.

All in all, my highschool experience made me what I am now.I've become a more responsible person (I don't take decisions onthe spot, but I think carefully and not only about myself but thepeople around me as well), a more interesting person (I rememberthe time my two best friends and decided to get ourselves a tattooon the left hand), a more reliable person (whenever my friends needme I am there for them helping with whatever they need).

Talk about a country you would like to live in, besides yourown ..

I love travelling. I love seeing new countries and understandingand learning about new cultures. This is why I would like to live fora few years in another country so ~hat I can learn more about myselfand others. This is a good experience for us as social beings, for ourgeneral culture and for our career.

The country I am planning to live in for a few years is America.Yes, America, the brave new world that can help anyone in seeingthe world with different eyes.

I've heard a lot about American culture, the way differentnationalities live in there and I believe I could fit in very well. I amstill to see if I am right.

The city I am thinking about living in is New York. This is a verybig city with numerous possibilities and chances to find a new job

holiday I've spent two years ago, when, for the first time in my life,I had the chance to go on camp with my school-mates. I was on myown for the very first time, without any of my relatives to tell mewhat to do and especially, not to do! It was quite an experience. Nobed time restrictions, nobody to tell me to clean my room, do myhomework, cut the lawn, walk the dog ... but this freedom wasn'tthe only great thing about the camp. Not at all. The relationshipbetween me and my classmates got better. We were doing everythingtogether. Everyday we were downtown or on the beach, havingsun-baths, playing volleyball or other funny games, swimming inthe sea ... in the evening we were still full of energy, so the disco-clubs were the places where we were dancing all night. When wefelt like staying in, we were talking about ourselves, our work,dreams, or we were organizing small parties inside the camp. It wasour opportunity to make new friends and also to get to knowourselves. And, of course, to taste the freedom of what· we were tobecome ...

I love walking, especially in summer, when the weather is nice,when it's warm and the wind blows just enough to give you a littlebit of chill.

In summer people are more relaxed, happier, and joyful. They areusually on holiday and don't take things too seriously.

Last summer I was also on holiday and I was walking by a riverin a big and beautiful city and on the promenade there were a lot ofstreet performers that were entertaining the walkers by. They werecolourfulles dressed and everybody was looking at them in awe.

I remember seeing at that particular time all sorts of characters,from the tin-man to some weird animal. They were dressed as their,probably, favourite characters in books and movies. They had allsorts of crazy hats, magic wands, and weird pets to complete theirlooks. It was an image to remember. Some of them sat still for minutesin a row not even blinking with their faces painted in beautiful colors,some of them were having a whole show put together while otherswere resting.

All the people gathered in front of them laughing, singing withthem, watching them carefully and of course taking pictures ... a lotof pictures.

That day was a very interesting one for me because as that wasnot a theatre not even an organized activity, people gathered aroundand participated in this show.

This was one of the most interesting things I have ever seenhappening in the street.

What is your favourite computer game? Give reasons foryour choice.

I like playing computer games. They help me relax after a longand difficult day. The computer games I love are hidden objectgames. Further, I will tell you about my two favourite games.

"Mystery P.1. - The Lottery Ticket" is my favourite traditionalhidden object game. This one has great pictures to search through,with tons of hidden items. It has a medium level of difficulty. It hasa few side games, which are all pretty straightforward. While solvingthe mystery you get to unlock the "unlimited seek" and the "findmode" where you get to find all of the objects in each of thepictures. I've played through this one many times. I also had a lotof fun with the second game in the series, "The Vegas Heist". I havenot yet played the newest "Mystery P.1. game, The New YorkFortune". I hope it lives up to its predecessors!

My second favourite hidden object game, "Yard Sale HiddenTreasures: Sunnyville", was fun, but, unfortunately was too short.

I have always loved summer, because it is the time of travels forme. It's a time for discoveries and fun and a wonderful occasion forbuilding long lasting memorifls. Such an occasion was the summer

The basis of Hidden Treasures is that you are trying to decorate ahouse with items found in yard sales. Many of the items need to berefurbished, which is done in several simple mini games. I finishedit in a few days.

These are the computer games I like. I am really anxious to go tothe next quest of hidden objects.

Did you like your teachers? What teacher did you like best?

Looking back at all my school years I can say that I've spent a lotof time at school with my teachers, maybe sometimes more timethan I spent with my parents at home. I had a lot of teachers: nice,funny, old or young. I can definitely say that I learned from everyteacher that I had throughout time.

In my opinion, the best quality a teacher should have is to likehis or her job. If you are happy with your work it is easier to makethe others like it as well. When you hear a teacher passionatelyspeaking of a subject he is teaching, it catches your attention andmakes you also interested in that subject.

I remember my history teacher from the 8th grade. Our teacherwanted us to like history and not just learn dates and events. Shekrlew how to make us understand that behind any historical eventthere were people who put most of the times their lives in danger tomake important things happen. We used to watch and listen to hertelling us the stories of our wonderful heroes with our eyes wideopen and we learned so many extraordinary things from her .

I totally believe that she was the best teacher I have ever had andI know that we all have a teacher like Mrs. Tanase.

What do you think about You Tube? Do you have a favouritevideo that you watch?

In love surfing the internet. I love finding new and interestingthings on the internet that I can watch and send to my friends.

There are so many interesting sites that show funny movies and Ilove watching them and finding out what people do to entertain theothers.

One complex internet site that presents all sorts of movies is YouTube.. You Tube is very easy to use. If you have a Google or a Yahoo

account you can sign in with that email account and you can watchall sorts of funny, useful and weird movies. You Tube videos aredivided into categories so you can watch whatever you are interestedin. The categories are: Autos & Vehicles, Comedy, Education,Entertainment, Film & Animation, Gaming, How to & Stzle, Nusic,News & Politics, Nonprofits & Activism, People & Slogs, Pets &Animals, Science & Technology, Sports, Travel & Events, Shows,Movie, Contest and Events. I like this division because in this wayI can find easier what I am searching for.

As for my favourite video, I love watching movie trailers andevery time I find out about a new movie I check the trailer on YouTube to see if I like it.

I cannot say that I have a favourite You Tube video. I find newand interesting ones every day. .

Speak about your family. Do you have any brothers or sisters?

I am really happy with my family. We are a big and loud familyand we get along very well.

I have one brother and one sister and my parents love us equallyand we love them back. We spend a lot of time together and wenever get bored. We travel a lot. At the weekends in summer we goto the countryside to enjoy the fresh air and play all sorts of games.In winter we go skating or skiing and we have lots of fun.

My brother is the oldest so he is always teaching me how to skateor ski or how to play badminton. He definitely thinks that I can dobetter. I know, but, at times, I am really lazy and I don't feel like

playing so seriously. He is a severe person even though he is justtwo years older than me.

My sister is the youngest and she is only ten, so I sometimes amthe boss of her as my brother is the boss of me. She has to listen tome otherwise her life is not easy most of the time.

My parents try to keep us happy and teach us to be good to eachother. We do our best and we enjoy all the time we still have to betogether because soon we'll be on our own feet and lead our ownlives.

Speak about a colleague of yours that is very funny.

I enjoy spending time with my colleagues at school and outsideschool. I am so happy that I have great friends at school and greatcolleagues. We've been together for almost four years now and Iam so sad that we won't be together after the graduation.

We've spend so many merry time, together and I will alwaysremember laughing all the crazy things we did.

We .all have our different and fascinating personalities. We arehappy, smart, funny, interesting people. But one of us, the one thatkeeps us together and the one that has the most interesting andfascinating personality is our very funny colleague Robert.

He always has a smile on his face, he is always jolly. Wheneverthere is some tension in our group he comes with a prank or with ajoke and we all relax and laugh.

Nobody can be sad or serious around him. He always has somethingamuing to say to make you smile.

Robert is not only funny, he also has a good heart, he is verygenerous with everyone and he always help us.

These are the reasons why I am voting for Robert as the funniestand the most extraordinary colleague.

Have you got a hobby? Is having a hobby useful?

I might say that learning English has started as a hobby for meand I am really happy that I've developed this hobby.

For me, watching movies, listening to music or reading all sortsof interesting articles on the internet were just hobbies. Later, Irealized that my English has improved and I can understand easierwhat actors say in movies without using Romanian subtitles, or thelyrics of the songs I like. All this have led me to the conclusion thathobbies can be useful.

I must say that hobbies are important and we should all havehobbies. As Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's "The Importance ofBeing Ernest" said, we "should always have an occupation of somekind".

I know that I have to do more to speak good English. I have totransform my hobby into a serious activity. I am planning for nowto learn more grammar. Knowing all the grammar theory is noteasy, but in order to be a good English speaker, I have to work onmy grammar. It is not an easy job but not that difficult either. I amalso planning to start reading small books that can help me with myvocabulary ..

Speaking is also very important and this is why I am planning totravel to an English speaking country to combine another hobby ofmine, travelling, with improving my English.

In conclusion, hobbies are useful because you can always transformyour hobby into an activity that can help you in life. .

My best friend is Andrei. He is tall, with big brown eyes and shortblack hair. We spend every day together, studying and having funat each other's home. I have been to his place so many times that Iknow his family very well now. Andrei comes from a large family.He has three brothers and one sister.

As he is the youngest in the family, his grandparents and parentslove him very much.Andrei's parents are both economists. They arevery hardworking people that have always tried to do their bestfor the wellbeing of their children. The children have alwaysunderstood their parents' sacrifice and respect them so much morefor that.

I really like and respect Andrei's family, alI of them being rolemodels for me because they stay together and respect each other atall times and this, for me is the image of a real family.

I love Andrei's grandparents. They are very kind and generousold people. Whenever I visit them, they make s.ome de~sert for me.I think Andrei is very lucky to have such a 10vlOg famlly. Does modern technology make life more convenient or was

life better when technology was simpler? Give reasons for youranswers.

Speak about your favourite advertisement/so

Some people like advertisements, others don't. I, for one, amsomewhere in between. I can't say I don't like advertisements but]rarely watch them on TV. ,

Some ads are only made for people to see the products and t~eirqualities, not for the fun of watching them. As it is, it can be bOTlngsometimes just to watch the different presentations of some products,that you've actually seen for a million times before.

The commercials that [ like are those that have a story that youcan remember and laugh at on the bus or tell the story to yourfriends.

I always laugh remembering the Coca Cola commercials. ] lovethose with the body parts that are quarrelling over the Coca ColaZero taste. AII those creatures are really funny.

Other commercials that [ love are those for Schweppes drink. Thestories are interesting, always with a twist. The characters are sofunny and memorable. You can see that the company ~as inv~st~dmoney not only in the presentation of the product, but 10 creativItyas well.

Commercials are more that a simple presentation of a product butcompanies really needs to invest a lot of n;oney in order t? make acommercial that sells the product and not Just a commerclal.

['11 keep watching commercials and [ hope to see more and moreinteresting presentations and stories.

In my opinion modern technology is very useful. It helps us sovery much in our everyday activities. Using mobile phones we canphone our friends and family to talk to them, see how they areduring the day, and ask for their help in any situation. I'm onlythinking how life was before the mobile phone has become sopopular. It was difficult to talk to someone, to go to a pay phonewhich was sometimes not so easy to find.

Another means of communication is the internet. Today it is soeasy to talk to people who are far away from you, in another city,in a different country. You just download Skype or Yahoo Messengerand there you are ... face to face with someone you haven't seen ina long time. But the internet is so much more than communication.The internet is keeping up to date to the world's issues (joys, wars,holidays ... major events), is finding information about all sorts ofthings. Working on a project for school is not as difficult as wasonce. Now, you just Google the information and there you are,finding a lot of different sources for your project. Of course, theinternet is very useful, but there are drawbacks. Sometimes, peopleforget there is a world outside their computer screen. There are realpeople they can communicate with, face to face. The internet canalso be very dangerous for children who begin using it at a veryyoung age forgetting how to play outside the house.

[ remember someone saying. "We had no electricity for about twohours a few days ago and I went to make toast not realizing [actually ... couldn't because I had no power." We depend so much ontechnology to breathe fresh air, to eat, to drink, to keep warm or

. cold, to travel, etc. If there were no electricity for a week, whatwould happen to us? We hardly ever cook ... we eat precookedmeals that we put in the microwave, we drink juice that is squeezed

in a juice squeezer, we drink coffee made in an espresso machine,and we eat sandwiches made in a sandwich maker.

We are now at the point where we depend on technology verymuch and this is helping us and is making our lives so muchsimpler and easier especially when we know how to use it. In thepast, people used to spend way much time. trying to do ~ha~technology does for us today. Were they happIer, are we happIer.It's a difficult answer to ask but what we should know IS thatregardless the technology we are still human beings and we shouldtry and be ourselves as much as we can.

following day we have to wake up at six to go to school. The nextday the same thing may happen. And the situation may keeprepeating again and again ... In this respect, addiction is harmfulnot only in itself, but as distraction and time-eater, as well.

To draw a line between necessity and addiction may be verydifficult, especially if we talk about something that is not at allharmful from the beginning as alcohol, cigarettes or drugs are.

We can properly enjoy technology as long as we think thatcomputers are useful to accomplish one particular task, find somemore advanced information than we have in our school-books, butwe should also remember that there should also be a time for goingout, for spending time with friends, riding bicycles or read a goodbook someone has recommended to us.

We tend to become addicted to computers. Is this addiction agood thing or should we be more suspicious of its benefits?

People love the new technology that evolves so quickly nowadays.Everywhere we go we can see advertisements to the latest personalcomputer, laptop or mobile phones that have almost all thecharacteristics of a pc.

Yes we are becoming overwhelmingly addicted to computersbecau~e they make our lives so much easier. Having a computerhelps us with our homework, for instance. If I am a studen~, forexample, I am in need of writing an essay, a report or of mak10g .apres~ntation for a particular subject matter, so that ~can present Itto the teacher in a proper manner, but, at the same tIme, I may usethe computer to play games or chat with friends, ~.s.o ..

It's true sometimes we have to spend a lot of tIme 10 front of acomputer because we have to find information for tasks or assi?"nmentswe have at school and this can take time because, on the 1Oternet,we can find a lot of things and it surely is difficult to choose frombetween one thing and another. ..

But sometimes, between the moment we search for 1OformatlOnand the writing itself, one of our friends can tell us via 'the messenger',that he has just discovered a new game and he is sending it t.o us sowe may try it as well. At that moment we leav.e !he p~pe.r aSide ~ndtry the new game, of course, and we fi~~ out It IS q~lte. 1Oterest1Og.So until we've killed all the monsters It IS almost mldmght and the,

Do you agree with the idea that children should be raised bytheir grandparents?

Parents are - or should be - the most important persons in theirchildren's lives. They become role-models for their off-springs andthey shape their children's personalities in the long run.

But, sometimes, being a parent proves to be very difficult. In thepast years in our country was hard to find a well-paid job and thisis the reason why parents either found work in another toron orabroad. This is the reason why they had to find someone to lookafter their children who needed a stable environment to grow up in.Under these circumstances, parents rightfully consider that the mostreliable persons to bring up their kids are grand parents. In this way,children rriove in with grandparents who try, for a long or shortperiod of time to replace the parents.

Whether it is right or wrong that children are raised by grandparentsis difficult to say. That depends on the circumstances and theoutcome of each and every situation. Though, it is much better thatparents raise their son or daughter. Why is that?

Because, sometimes, grandparents tend to spoil too much thechild, either being over-permissive with them, or by overwhelming·them with too much affection trying to replace the emptiness left bythe parents' departure.

shopping bags we get for free at the checkout. But what we don'trealize is that all those plastic bags destroy the environment becauseit takes between 20 and 1,000 years for them to break down andthey may float and blow long distances polluting the environment.By their presence in the air, on the water, or in the soil, may choke,suffocate, and cause intestinal blockage in thousands of speciesincluding birds, fish, whales, turtles and many other livingcreatures.

Because we want to improve our living standards we use theearth's resources too quickly, too fast and sometimes on unnecessarythings. Cars consume too much gas; home appliances consume toomuch electricity.

We cut down the forests that need thousands of years to growback, and the worst pal1 is that we don't try to find - quickly·enough - ways to replace every source of energy we consume. Wedon't even care about all the trees we cut and never think to plantnew ones, destroying our source of clean air and oxygen'.

Pollution is one of the main factors that destroy our environment.This is all due to global industrialization. Big industrialists don't'even consider closing down or, at least, change the aggressivetechnologies they use, they do not invest parts of their benefits forresearches to cut down pollution. The steps - rarely taken - are,unfortunately, not fast enough for the already over-polluted cities orregions of the earth.

We should be more aware of the way in which our actions affectthe environment. We should, also, try to think that there are futuregenerations to come after us, and they also need to enjoy their livesas much as we do.

Another problem raised by the substitute-parents is that the gapbetween generations is twice wider this time, and this may causeirreconcilable problems. For example, the 2000's has a generationtotally different view on life than that of their parents', to saynothing about that of their grandparents' who surely find it difficultto adjust to these new times we are living, to the new technology;lifestyle, and needs of the youngsters. All this can lead to eithergiving too much freedom to their grand-daughter or grandson, or toisolating him/her too much. In the end this leads to strongarguments between them, arguments that may degenerate in merequarrels and end up in children's losing their bearings. Which may,consequently, lead to drug consuming, running away from home, orfinding untrustworthy friends.

Parents, on the other hand, because they see their children not asoften as they would like, don't understand their real problems and,similarly, tend to offer too much affection and compensatory giftswhich, in their opinion, can replace parental presence.

Of course, grandparents are great people and they can definitelyraise a child properly but, in my opinion it is much better thatchildren live with their parents

Damage of the environment is an inevitable consequence ofworldwide improvements in the standard of living. Discuss.

The environment suffers because of the growth of the population.There are so many people living in urban areas lately, big cities getbigger and bigger each day. People consider - sometimes startingfrom wrong assumptions - that they need more things to make theirlives easier, more comfortable or more pleasant.

For example, we watch, on TV, every day commercials that try topersuade us to buy new appliances for our homes new gadgets forour computers, new and more comfortable cars. But what do we dowith all the old stuff that we don't need any longer? Well, we mightthrow them away not realizing that thus we cause huge damage tothe environment.

We love to go shopping at the new, big and welcoming supermarkets .or malls. We buy so many products at once. We put them into the

Which place would you prefer to live in: a small town or a bigcity?

Living in a small town is quite pleasant, everybody knowseverybody, you breathe fresh air, and you live in a safer environment.

But I would never change my town for a small place. Why do Ilove my town, Brasov, so much?

Because whenever I want to have a good time I have severalplaces to choose from. I never get bbred because every time I mayselect a different place and make new friends from among people Ihaven't met before. And this is great. I even meet tourists that cometo my city because they love the history and the landscapes of theregion.

In winter, my friends and I use to go skating and skiing and havea lot of fun; in summer, spring or autumn we ride our bikes, go tothe movies or - very frequently, enjoy trips in the mountains orwalks in the park.

Another reason why I love my town is that I have many placeswhere I can go shopping. Lately, several malls have been built inthe city with movie theatres where I can go with my friends andhave a great time watching the latest movies sitting in comfortablechairs.

My city is also a beautiful old fortress that once was surroundedby defense-walls and towers that protected it against the enemies.In smaller places - be they towns or villages - you cannot find somany beautiful buildings, monuments and that much history as youcan find in a city like mine. There are so many history lessons I canlearn just from my everyday living in this interesting city that hasgrown so much lately.

In our city we have an Opera House, theatres, skating-rinks,tennis, basketball and football courts and some swimming pools,the new Aqua Park for those who enjoy practicing different sports,both outdoors indoors, all around the year.

Brasov also hosts a well known international music contest calledthe "Golden Stag", that is organized every summer, and the mostimportant national Contemporary Theatrical Performance Festival.Important jazz concerts are held here, as well al the Ethnics Festival'Etnovember' .

Another thing that I like about my city is that, in summer, thereare organized many rock concerts in the Council Square, which isa beautiful square located in the old city centre. There are manyfamous singers and bands that come and play here and this is greatbecause I don't have to travel to other cities to see my favouriterock bands or find entertainment.

These are just some of the reasons I like living in a city, the cityI grew up in.

What is your opinion about the way in which movies andtelevision influence people's behaviour?

Since 1895 when the Frenchman Luis Lumiere invented the firstmotion picture camera, more than 100 years have passed. Themovie industry has evolved, becoming one of the most popularmeans of entertainment. Throughout the time, different topics werethe viewer's favourites, from great books, to war stories, sciencefiction movies, and many others. The movies changed with theviewers' tastes and the industry developed very much. Most of themovies people watch nowadays are made by the biggest "industryof dreams" called Hollywood. Nowadays there are movies madefor children, for teenagers, for gown ups, for the whole family andfor every age.

In my opinion, children are the first affected by what they see onTV in cinemas or on DVD. They are too young to understand thedifference between reality ·and fiction, and, sometimes, mix thesetwo up. In children's movies there is a lot of violence. The heroesfight for rights, territories, in the name of a greater good. Childrenidentify themselves easily with all sorts of characters and end upcopying their behaviour, fighting with the colleagues at school,hitting them or behaving badly at home with parents.

But this does not only happen with children; teenagers and grownups are equally exposed to the danger of copying their models fromthe small or big screen. Teenagers start smoking easier if one oftheir idols is smoking; similarly, they may start drinking alcohol iftheir hero gets drunk. Many teenagers, especially girls, this time,want to copy the stars' appearance and try to lose weight ending upwith serious diseases like bulimia.

Whether we watch TV or movies is one and the same thing. Wecan watch on TV or on DVD, the same movies we watch at thecinema. And furthermore, on TV there are a lot of channels dedicatedto children entertainment and many shows or cartoons; some ofthem are quite harmful in themselves, others become harmful bymeans of the unhealthy habits they bring about. For example, thereare children who spend too much time in front of the TV and so

they lose contact with real life, they start to overeat; lose self-confidence, and social abilities, become lonely and pessimistic, inthe long run.

In my opinion parents should be very cautious and look after theirchildren, encourage them to make friends, and restrict drasticallytheir time in front of the TV set. They should be those who drag theyoung ones from the world of unrealistic dreams to firm ground.Life is not always a TV show and we must not remain passiveviewers. We have to make the most of our qualities and the timegiven, we have a duty to ourselves to live our own lives and not theothers'!

it is more difficult to put money aside when we are older. And,again, we need to save money for the children, for their education,for their needs ..

In my opinion we have to think about saving money even sincewe start working. We can make a life insurance or a health insurance,save money into a private pension account or just put a sum ofmoney into a bank account. In this way, whenever we need moneywe know that there is a place we can go and get it.

There are moments in our lives when we need money and even ifwe are old or young we have to think about those moments and, Ibelieve, it is very useful to have an account for "the rainy days". .

What is better: to enjoy your money when you earn it or tosave it for some time in the future?

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?Grades (marks) encourage students to learn.

But again, when we are young we need a lot of things that weconsider of utmost importance at the beginning, for later on torealize they are nothing but trifles.

Therefore, even if we enjoy our first salary we end up thinking itis not enough and we should make additional work to have moremoney so we can buy everything we need. Probably people arerarely happy with their salary because nowadays we have to buy somuch. There are so many things we have never thought about in thepast and now we have got to have them.

Moreover, there are so many places to visit, holidays at theseaside or to exotic countries to make, new clubs and restaurants togo to. For all these we need money. So, how can one possibly savemoney? Or, better said what money is there to be saved when oursalary is hardly helping us to keep up with our pressing wishes anddreams?

Generally, people think - especially when young - what for tosave money? They will have enough time to save money when theyare older, because then they won't need so many things. But this isa wrong assumption, because our needs sometimes grow with theage. We get married, have children, our expenses grow and sometimes

In my opinion grades are important for the school system becausein this way a student knows how much information acquires in acertain amount of time. Marks are those that tell parents if theirchild learns enough. When we graduate from high-school and wantto apply for a job or consider university admittance, our marks canprove to be extremely important.

Some universities give much consideration to high school recordwhen it comes to in the admission process. All these aspects shouldnot be disregarded by high-school students or graduates.

Marks or grades are very important nowadays not only in school,but also for our future. Students should be very proud when theyget a high mark, and also should try and work harder when theirmarks are not as high as they should be.

High grades give more self-esteem and make you feel moreconfident in your ideas, and thoughts. It's easier to talk if you knowthat you're appreciated. Sometimes students who get poor marksdon't believe that much in themselves and are afraid to expresstheir opinions for fear that what they say may be wrong or inaccurate.Poor grades can be harmful and, sometimes, students even end uphating one particular subject-matter just because of the grades hehas got.

Of course, sometimes, students say that teachers are subjectiveand they get lower marks then they deserve and declare that marksdo not reflect their knowledge. Indeed marks can be subjective onlywhen we think that we are all humans, we have good and bad days.This is the reason why probably once at one particular test we cando well because we feel well and, sometimes, we don't. There aretopics that we enjoy learning and topics we don't, and this reflectsinto our marks or grades.

In my opinion, high grades should not be the main motivation fora student in the learning process. We should not learn for grades,we should learn for ourselves, for our future. Only if we learn inschool we will have enough knowledge to help us "in life regardlessof what domain we are going to work in.

The Roman houses were built differently from one another, accordingto their respective owner's social and financial status. The richlived in the so called 'Domus', which were spacious houses withbeautiful gardens, whilst the poor lived in flats, in buildings ofthree or more storeys, which were very small, made of wood andstone.

Another interesting aspect of the Roman way of living is playedby the eating habits of the Romans'. They cooked meat, fish andeggs. They also ate a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables like apples,pears, apricots, turnips, carrots, coriander and asparagus, which leadsus to the conclusion they used to have a complete and healthy diet.

Romans spoke Latin, and everywhere the Romans went andwhatever place they conquered they imposed their language and,subsequently, their culture and civilization. That is the reason whyso many of to day's Romance languages developed from it: Spanish,French, Portuguese, Romanian. Even languages of Germanic origin,as English is, for example, contain many Latin words: colloquium-a,addendum-a, sanatorium-a etc.

The Latin literature is as extraordinary as the empire itself, andremained as a proof of what an extraordinary people the Romanswere. Let us just to remember the famous works of Aeneas' or '"Metamorphoses", Julius Caesar's '''De Bello Gallico" or PubliusOvidius Nasso's "Odes".

For me, the Roman Empire is a great example of ancient civilizationand I would travel anytime to see it with my own eyes.

If you could go back to some time and place in the past, whenand where would you go?

If I were to travel in the past I would be very curious to visit theRoman Empire. The Roman Empire was one of the most powerfulempires in history. The Romans succeeded in not only conquering,but also civilizing an important part of their known world.

The Romans built the first roads to help their big army to move.The Romans had a big army which was very well organized inlegions and auxiliaries. The army was self sufficient having doctors,aids, cooks, everything needed in order to function properly on itsown during military expeditions.

The City of Rome still witnesses displays of building, architecturaland artistic skills embodied in structures like Columna Traiani orthe Colosseum.

The latter huge architectural masterpiece was built to feed theRomans' thirst for blood. Gladiators fought one another for theirlives and, sometimes, they had to fight against animals too. In theColosseum, you could watch boxing-matches, archery-tournamentsand chariot races. There were also sea battles in which case thewhole Colosseum was flooded.

You have the opportunity to visit a foreign country for twoweeks. Which country would you like to visit?

The country I would like to visit is Australia. The country DownUnder is a beautiful place to visit, I believe, first of all because ofits warm and nice climate which makes it so different from ourcountry. Australia has beautiful beaches where I can enjoy swimmingand surfing but not only that.

What is really extraordinary about Australia is its wildlife. Thereare over 500 national parks on the continent. The scenery is

extraordinary. I love swimming and I would really love to go andsee the Great Barrier Reef that was explored by the captain Petrescuand which holds a great variety of swimming creatures like: greenturtles, whales. and dolphins.

Another thing I really want to see is the koala bears. They are themost popular animals on the continent and they are so nice, cuddlyand lovely. Together with the koala I want to see the kangaroosbecause, I think, they are so interesting and strong animals.

On our continent it is difficult to see all the animals and fish andbirds that live in Australia, and I believe it's a great opportunity togo and enrich my knowledge of wildlife on one of the mostinteresting continents on Earth.

A city I would like to visit in Australia is Syd.ney where there arebeautiful beaches, but I also can enjoy a lovely time if I decide totake the ferry from Sydney Harbour and unwind on a lovely cruisevessel and sail around the harbour.

The city of Sydney is very cosmopolite and very modern inits architecture. The skyscrapers in the business district, the amazingSydney Opera House, the impressive Bridge which is one ofAustralia's symbols and the Sydney Olympic Park.

All in all I would love to go and visit Australia some one day, andmany other countries, to see the beauties our planet has to offer.

from you. We may now communicate through e-mails, the Messenger,, send videos and photos etc. This means of communication is very .

useful in business, where business paltners can discuss businessproblems even if they are far away from each other.

This internet communication is very popular among us, theteenagers. We love to talk to our parents who sometimes are faraway from us, or with our dear friends, sending them all sorts offunny pictures; music and movies. But all this can lead to estrangement,lack of real communication, isolation if we use it in excess.

On the other hand, when children use the internet without an adultperson's supervision, they expose themselves, sometimes, to completestrangers who may mislead them as regards their identity andhidden interests. In my opinion this is a topic that should become amajor concern for their parents, since their children could easilybecome victims of some vicious minds.

Some people believe that the internet is greatly helping in thespreading of globalization and this can be very damaging for smallcultures, due to their absorption by the bigger and more powerfulones.

People use the same language' on the internet, share the samevalues, find useful information, and communicate at the same level.Young people are not concerned that much anymore with their ownancestors' values, but with the new values, the ones belonging tothe world's community, that of the 'global village' we are all creatingwith more or less awareness.

In my opinion, using the internet to find information, to talk tofriends is ok, as long as we don't forget that there is a whole wideworld outside the four walls we live in that waits for us to discoveredand thus enrich our living and to help us not lose - in this electroniccommunication era - the natural human touch.

State your opinion about the negative aspects of using theInternet.

The Internet can be very useful for finding information for work,school or fun. There are many positive aspects of the internetbecause the internet has helped us a lot in improving our lives. Butthe internet may also have major disadvantages.

For example, if I want to write an essay for school, I go onlineand Google for the information I need. But I have to be very carefulwith the information I'm choosing because on the internet everyonecan post whatever information they want, be it true or false,accurate or inaccurate in good faith or in ill-faith.

A positive aspect of the internet that can become negative is thatof being able to communicate with other people who are miles away

State your opinion about the importance of being well-manneredin one's life.

Being well-mannered has always been a matter of controversy:whether it is fashionable or not, whether people of all ages followand respect the same conduct rules.

I think I should begin by stating how important it is to definegood manners for each and every of the ages under discussion. Forexample, for our grandparents, good manners meant not to contradictan ~Iderly person, to date a girl only in a public place, to hold thechaIr when a lady wants to sit at the table, to help her put herovercoat on etc.

For?ur parents, things changed a little. They were not as rigorousas theIr parents, and good manners have got slightly differentmeanings. I can't say for sure if these are only good changes, or badones, but what I can see is that adolescents and children nowadaysseem to be totally "reckless" as the their parents and grand-parentstend to complain.

And everything starts with the same argument: "well, in my time,everything was different. We certainly knew how to behave. You,the young generation, do not know this ... " and so the story goeson and on all the time. Sometimes it is difficult to start such adiscussion, because children tend to get impulsive whereas adultsget angry.

It does not matter what 'good manners' means for any of the ages,everybody. agrees that it is really important to behave nicely andprove to be a well mannered person. Well-mannered persons arealw.ays more appreciated and might be easily promoted in oursociety. We all tend to behave more elegantly in the presence ofsuch a person and we certainly feel good doing that.

On the other hand, rude people (who are the opposite of well-mannered people) are not easy to tolerate. We tend to becomeangrier and more agitated when we are in the company of suchpersons. It's impossible not to change your mood or not react in any:vay to this. To s.um it up, good or bad manners have a strongImpact ~n our attitude to people behaving in one particular way,and, at tlme~ that may even change one's personality, even if wemay not realize that. .

Good-manners are not difficult to follow. They generally refer tomorals, ethics, common sense and education. My opinion is thatthis is a vital factor for someone who wants to be successful in anyaspect of personal, social or professional life.

Starting from an early age up to the end of our lives, every one ofus dreams to become a famous person. It's true that there is a lot ofhard work, luck and many responsibilities involved, but still it'simpos~ible not to consider all the advantages that celebrity enjoys.

Just Imagine yourself in such a position ... everybody knows you,loves you and even worships you! You are in the eyes and heart ofthe media all the time, everybody is watching you, and even lookup to you. Think about all those fan clubs full of people dying toknow everything about you, eager to predict or comment on yourmoves. Every single statement you make is seen as a new law, anystyle you may adopt projects you in the filed of fashion settlers.Step by step, you have become a role model for them. Childrenwish to be like you when they grow up, teenagers tend to imitateyou and adults admire your attitude. Isn't that great?

Apart from that, you travel all over the world and you are able to. see even the remotest comers of this planet and people may have acontact with them through your eyes. I, for one, would be honouredto know this and accomplish the wishes of so many who cannototherwise make the dream come true. They would travel with methis way, through the cameras following me and have a glimpse ofthe beauty abroad. .

It is said that celebrities own a lot of money and enjoys luxury.And it is true. They are able to fulfil all their dreams and otherpeople's wishes, equally. Most of them are known to be charitablehelping the poor, the sick and the unfortunate. I think that this iswhat really makes you feel great and important... showing yourfeelings and compassion to those who really need it. Moreover,they will surely appreciate it a lot and turn you into a kind of hero ...

. their hero. And now, 'not only that you feel great by doing this, butpeople will love you even more. All this being said, I cannot stopthinking about all the advantages I have mentioned above anddreaming to be such a person, even for one day or, at least, half ofit!

Speak about the disadvantages of being a famous person.Give arguments and examples to sustain your opinion.

State your opinion about the benefits of doing sports.

Talking about sports is a common subject for everyone nowadays.It is like saying "Hello", "Good day" or "How are you?" Not everyonefeels the same about sports, but people always find something todiscuss about it, be it football, basketball, baseball, polo etc.

And when doing this, t\:!ere are different opinions: some say thatsports are healthy and bring people together, some others arguethat on the contrary, this is not true.

P~ople who say that sports bring us together refer to the possibilityto socialize. Every sport needs a team. And its members need tocooperate. This offers us the chance to work .together, get alon~ andplay side by side. In a way, this could be mterpreted as ~ bIggerfamily. All its members have a common goal and work for It. Thereare many hours of training and a lot of time spent together. As aresult, tight friendships can be created and they are likely to lastforever.

On the other hand, those who argue against this point of viewrefer to the spirit of competition, which is taken too far. For instance,there are the examples of various national and internationalcompetitions, when the competitors take it too personal. A: aconsequence, winning the cup becomes their final goal and nothmgelse matters. In this· way, the competition becomes forceful and allthe beauty of it is lost.

My opinion is that sport brings out the best in us. It is about thatspirit of working together that helps us succeed. Moreover,doctors, too, recommend exercise sports, to improve the bodycondition, to lose weight, to entertain etc.

In conclusion, I think sport is the best recipe for a healthy bodyand a healthy mind.

When it comes to speaking about famous persons, i.e. celebrities,everybody wishes, more or less secretly, to really become one. AndI say that because most of us only see the advantages of beingfamous: money, luxury, travels, fan clubs, the possibility to make allthe dreams come true etc. How many of us have really given athought to the drawbacks of being famous? What is the price paidby celebrities? And, more, important, is it really worth it?

First of all, celebrities are may not have a personal life, as ordinarypeople do, they are not allowed to go out with their lovers, to take theirkids to the park, to shop or go to movie, Paparazzi are everywhere,watching every step they take, rephrasing everything they say,turning simple events into flashing news and their lives upside down.Once you have become a star, your privacy is something betweenyou and the rest of the world! I'm sure that sometimes, this comesas a real burden.

As a consequence to this, celebrities are not allowed to have baddays, or feel down. Everybody else is, but role models have to be asort of super-men or super-women, always smiling, looking young,and ,being happy. You must agree that this is something reallydifficurt'to cope with.

Because of that, many celebrities become depressed and do notknow how to handle the tremendous pressure they are permanentlyexposed to. Therefore, they appeal to therapists and spend a lot ofboth their money and valuable time trying all sorts of remediesmeant to ease their burdens, pains and anxieties. Nevertheless,everyone agrees that the therapy they really need is their ownprivacy, which they cannot have.

But pressure and stress also appear as a result of hard continuouswork and efforts are being made from their part to always maintainthemselves at those high standards people impose on them. Again,this is not easy al all.

All this being taken into consideration, how many of us do nowseriously consider undertaking this hard task of becoming a celebrity?

in the eyes and hearts of all the family members. It's impossible notto love them, play with them and take care of them. In this way,they have become to be seen and treated as true members of thefamily.

My family owns a pet, too. We have a little black dog calledMemo. I know this name may sound strangely to you. We call him"Memo", because this comes from ·'memory". He is the one whoreminds us we need to smile, and everything he does is to accomplishthis task.

Sometimes it is difficult, because we are tired, exhausted, angry,or nervous. But, no matter our states of mind, Memo is there withhis merry barking, waving his tail, playing all sorts of tricks meantto make us feel excellent.

Because of his presence in the house, the whole atmosphere ismore relaxed, and our house is filled with merry laughter all thetime.

It is generally said that people who own a pet tend to have moreopen personalities, children raised in the presence of a pet beginspeaking and expressing their feelings more rapidly. Apart fromthat, later on, they seem to develop tight friendships and are able tosocialize easier.

This is a general idea sustained by many psychologists nowadays.Moreover, according to this theory, pets can cure children fromsome illnesses. Dolphins are the best example. Everybody knows,or at least, has heard of the benefits the presence of dolphins canbring to small children. They seem to communicate well with them,they laugh together, and they sometimes swim and play together. Inthis way, they are taught not to be afraid of large amounts of water,forget about their fears and disabilities, improving their conditionin this way.

Another good thing pets can do is to fill up the loneliness sensedby certain people. I've seen elderly people proudly walking theirdogs in the park.

All this being said, no matter what reason brings a pet into afamily, I can say that this is a real joy.

What is your opinion about the statement: One has moreopportunities for self-development abroad?

When speaking of opportunities and where to find them, it'simpossible not to hear different opinions. On the one hand, thereare those who say that one can find more opportunities here, in"Romania, and on the other hand, there are those who do not agreewith this point of view.

In Romania, more and more people are convinced that there arebetter opportunities for them abroad and act accordingly. They findwork in other countries and, in time, most of them end up livingthere and even moving their entire families up there. They feel theirwork is more appreciated and their life-styles improve significantly.

I, for one, do not feel this way. The way I see it, good opportunitiesand chances to make a nice career can also be found in Romania.And you do not need to stay away for such a long time and missyour family and friends. They are always there for you, to supportand comfort you when you need them, and are also there to behappy for you when you succeed.

I think that one can find recognition and appreciation in thiscountry, too. There are good jobs waiting for the right people andthere is also the possibility to advance and have a nice career.

In my opinion, this is also possible here, in Romania. If you aregood in what you do and you wish to make a good career, you mayearn the money you wish. In this way, you may feel accomplishedfrom this point of view, and do not need to look for betteropportunities abroad.

We need good specialists in every field. If you want to find work,I am sure you will find exactly what you are looking for and youwill" be satisfied with that.

More and more families now own a pet. Be it a parrot, a dog, acat, or another more exotic animal, they surely have a special place

187III

In conclusion, I still consider that advertisements are created onlyto offer information and let people know about various new productswhich appear on the market.State your opmlOn about advertising: information or

manipulation?

The society we live in right now is unthinkable withoutadvertisement. Everywhere you look there are advertising bannershung on huge walls, stickers displayed on the means of publictransportation, thousands of commercials on TV, or on the radio etc.It's impossible to watch a movie, or a show without being interruptedseveral times by them, which is really annoying

But what is there behind these advertisements? Some may thinkthat there is information, that in this way we can be up-to-dateto the new products on the market and definitely, this is a goodthing.

On the other hand, some others consider that advertising is, infact, meant to manipulate, to induce some hidden ideas to the humansubconscious. From this point of view, they analyze advertisementsminutely and try to find the actual ideas behind apparently innocentwords and beautiful images.

Personally, I do not tend to be that intricate about this subject.When referring to this subject, I ten.d to look at the surface andunderstand the words literally. I do not look for hidden meanings,or subtle ideas meant to invade our subconscious.

I just want to know what is new in the world of some productsand which of them can be used in various situations. For instance,I once needed to remove some stubborn spots, and all the detergentsI had used before c;lidnot work. Watching a commercial on TV, Iheard about a new "wonder product". I used it and it worked.

In this case, the information I got turned to be very useful. Andthis is how I take all the advertisements: purely informational andfunctional.,From my point of view, they are there to promote newproducts on the market and inform people about their appearance,features and capacities.

Unfortunately, advertisements only emphasize and/or raise thegood aspects of such products, while their limitations or negativeaspects tend to be hidden or not mentioned at all. In this way,people may be misled and disappointed by their efficiency.

Do you think a disability of some kind makes a person moredetermined to succeed?

There are two types of disabilities: mental and physical. Accordingto the type of the disability we are speaking about, we can try tofind an answer.

Personally, I have never met anyone with any kind of disabilityup to now, but I think that people with mental disabilities are unlikelyto know exactly what is happening around them.

On the other hand, people with physical disabilities have moredesire to be accepted and integrate in the society. That is why I willdirect my discourse only towards such persons. It is generallyknown that they often feel rejected by the society, because they donot look or act 'normally'. As a consequence, they become introvertand find it hard to communicate.

Having a physical disability means that someone cannot use apart or parts of their body, and that is why other senses they haveare increased. For example, wheeled-chaired people cannot usetheir feet, but they use their hands extensively. Blind people cannotuse their eyes to see, but they hear extremely well.

As I said before, these people wish to be accepted by the societyand treated as normal persons. This may be a possible explanationfor their fight to accomplish this. I heard about such cases of peoplewith disabilities who have worked for it, and have succeeded to doso.

For example, I can quote the handball championships for thewheeled-chaired persons, where they can prove their strengtb ofcharacter and their determination. Another good example from mypoint of view is the presence of blind people among us. They try towalk and act like us, managing by their own. And such examplescan go on like this hours on end.

I do think that these persons are definitely more motivated tosucceed. And they do this out of their need to integrate in thesociety of 'normal' people. They feel the need to be accepted andtreated like any other member of the community. I cannot saywhether they are more determined than the rest of us to make it, butI surely admire them for their strong will. .

It is true that, when being your own boss, you can happen to getat the office later, but this may mean to work at late hours. This isexhausting, and an important disadvantage is Jhe lack of time.Being permanently on the rush, friends and family are sacrified forthe sake of career and business. You may earn more money, but youmay ala lose beloved persons.

State your opmlOn about the following statement: Wherethere is a will there is a way.

Being your own boss supposes having your own business, andthis may bring you both advantages and disadvantages.

On the one hand, it is such a nice feeling to know that you are themost important person in that company, that many things depend onyou and on your decisions. These can make you feel important andpowerful and in this way change your way of thinking and acting.You can have a nice big office, the way you have always dreamt itto be.

There is nobody else you have to report to all the time andnobody can fire you.

And again you can afford to make your own working scheduleand if it happens for you to get late to the office, there is noproblem. You will not scold yourself.

On the other hand, there is a big responsibility and stress to havea leading position and knowing that everything depends on you.Your decisions may turn to be the best or the worst for everybodyin the company. You have to work extensively, maybe more thananyone else and prove to be a capable person to keep good relationswith your partners, close contracts and try to make the best choices.

This may sometimes mean travelling a lot, talking on the phone,driving a lot and, more importantly, work with money. It's importantto take the best decisions so that the dealings you close should besuccessful and your employees get their salaries on time. In thiscase, you can truly feel a good manager, able to lead and develop acompany. The employees see you as a reliable person and you canbe congratulated.

But, at time you may not take the best decisions, and everybodysuffers because of that, including you.

This is an intlt'!'esting saying. I think the general idea is that whensomeone is determined to do something, he/she always finds asolution to his/her problems, no matter how difficult and impossiblethey may seem.

In this light, I can give the example of my best friend, who had acar accident last year. Doctors told her that it was extremelydifficult for her to walk again, but she desperately wished to be ableto drive her car and run in the fields again. So, she worked hard dayand night together with her trainers and doctors and slowly, herrecovery was evident. Slowly, but surely, her steps became firmerand firmer, and, in the end, she was able to walk again. Of course,she needed a lot of time and strong will until she succeeded, but thisdemonstrated her courage and -determination to do that.

Now, she is my best example as far as determination is concerned.She demonstrated that when you really want something, you willsurely find a way to accomplish that.

When discussing this aspect in school, I heard a beautifulmetaphor reflecting it. My teacher told us that when you wish forsomething, you may not know the entire way from the beginning,but you know where you have to get, and this is very important. Itis like driving a car late at night. You know the destination, but youdo not know the.entire road from the beginning. Your lights are on,and the more you drive, the clearer you see the road, until you reachthe final destination.

I don't know if I have the same strength of character anddetermination to accomplish my goals as my friend, but I will

definitely try to do so, especially when my best friend is there 0remind it to me all the time. Simply her existence is enough for menot to forget it. tr:a~el for. so many reasons: for business reasons, for pleasure, to

VISit certam places etc. Secondly, there are many means of transportto ?elp us cover long distances: planes, boats, yachts, personal cars,trams etc. .

Now we can visit even the remotest places of the world we cancome in touc.h with new peoples, new cultures, new ways ~f livingand new habIts. From my point of view, this can help us enrich ourknowledge and our possibility to socialize. Thus, the whole worlddoes not seem so unknown any more, and these places do not lookso impossible to get to any longer.

Travelling brings the possibility to open up; it otTers the key toothers ways of thinking and coping with life. In most cases, it alsobring~ new friends (the people you travel with, or some oth~ youmeet m the places you visit). Apart from that, when getting back,y~u always have the possibility to share the experience with yourfriends, speak about the habits you got from your travels showsouvenirs etc.' ,

All this together can be seen as benefits to our own developmentas human beings, maybe a solution to our miscommunication.

Having a career is a crucial aspect of our lives. From earlychildhood to adolescence, everybody and everything is meant toprepare you for a future career: parents, family, teachers, friends,acquaintances etc.

The little child always plays with his/her mates various gamestrying to perform careers: thus, they play doctors, lawyers, sellers etc.They are meant to introduce them to the needs of the society andthe responsibilities of their selected field of activity. Let's not forgetthe eternal question posed to us when infants, "What do you wishto become when you grow up"? I think this is the first step ofmaking the child aware of the future responsibilities he/she musttake in society.

Later on, schools use numerous programs and projects meant tohelp students decide and choose their future careers. I can say thateveryone of us has to have a career chosen according to one'sabilities, skills and preferences.

A fulfilled career brings self-esteem, respect, admiration andsuccess. In a way, this also means power, the power to decide overyour own life, your own future. I think it is the greatest gift one canhave for himself. We all need it and it is very easy to get it: theanswer is seriousness and study.

Do you agree with the theories that state that more peoplesufTerfrom obe~ity, nowadays?

There are more and more people that sutTer from obesity in theworld.

Chronologically, the first cause seems to have been the industrialrevolution that in its turn triggerd economic growth anddevelopement of urban areas. Living in an urban area differs inn:any ways. from living in the countryside. One of the majordifferences IS to be found in the way people feed themselves. Inurban areas fast foods have become more and more popularesp~c.ially among children and teenagers, and are preferred to thetradItIOnal and more rural home cooked meal. This has alsohappened in Mexico where 20 years ago there were almost noobese people. But the situation has changed dramatically in the pastfew years and now more than 45% of adolescents are overweight.

Nowayadays, people travel a lot and they travel everywhere. It iseasier, especially because we have so many possibilities to do it.First of all, the desire to travel has increased a lot, lately. People

We all are what we eat, and that isn't because people notice theactual food we are eating, but because this can be seen in thechange of our figure, the colour of our skin, our weight, our health.Even though eating at a fast food might look easier or moreinteresting it affects us, and it is the reason why we should turnback to basics, to what people in rural areas used to eat, becausethat food (the food we nowadays call "organic food") is feeding usproperly and is offering the health we need so much.

Secondly, obesity became a disease that somehow we are causingto ourselves, by eating junk food in exces, sometimes oblivious ofthe problem we are going to deal with in the future. The good newsis that governments have woken up and are banning the unhealthyproducts that cause so much harm.

In my opinion music is definitely a part of us and recommends usas social beings, but nothing should influence us so much in life.We have to make the difference between what is right and what iswrong, between what is good and what isn't good for us, we haveto shape our own personalities by other means, too: reading goodbooks, watching theatrical performances attending social meetingsa.s.o.

What are, in your opinion, the particular qualities that help ateenager be admired in high-school?

The high school years coincide with the tremendous physical andsocial changes of adolescence. Both body and mind change,inducing powerful feelings of self-consciousness and self-awareness.It is.a period in life when we are certain of everything and we doubtabout everything. It is a time of anxiety, when it is better to havefriends than be alone. That is why different groups, with fewexceptions, attract adolescents.

If you are an athlete or you have a macho attitude, you will feelat home being one of the jocks. A liking for rock music will probablymake you one of the metal-heads. A passive attitude, coupled withnot caring for much in life makes you an emo. There are manytypes of sub-cultures that you can adhere to while in high school.What they have in common is their own behaviour, their ownspeech patterns, their own tastes in clothes and music. Being "in"or "out" can be both a cause and a cure for teenage insecurities.

The particular qualities that help teenagers be admired in highschool are different, depending on the point of view. Teachersadmire a student who works hard, is intelligent, asks questions,wants to learn and to know and gets involved in all kinds ofactivities. Students nowadays seem to admire quite the opposite,.plus breaking the rules, being as disrespectful as possible, doingexactly the other way around than what you are asked to, not doingyour homework, smoking, for that is what they consider being"cool" means. And if you are cool you've got everyone in yourback pocket, in the palm of your hand, you are the Alpha male/girl...

Today's teenagers spend more time listening to music orwatching TV than socializing. Music is part and parcel of theteenagers' personalities. It's shaping their language, behaviour theway they dress, defining them as part of a special clique, creatingthe environment for their gatherings and probably one of the mostimportant things is that they have models in the image of thesingers who become their idols.

At the same time, there is some sort of segregation betweenteenagers according to the type of music they listen to and thisleads to strong language at times.

Music does not only express feelings and personalities but it's away of shutting off the world around you. Teens generally haveproblems with parents, and listening to music, using an IPod is aneasy way out from a parent's iritating chatter.

Even though TV plays an important role in influencing teenagers'views, music has a greater influence upon adolescents. That is ifthey listen to music that sends a positive feeling they become happyor if they listen to music that has lyrics referring to suicide or deaththis can lead to acts of violence.

the. n:vo, They actually tend to consider watching a film much better -as It ISentertaining and vivid-than reading a book - which is felt asboring.

Therefore, in the light of these arguments, and being a lazyadolescent myself, I definitely agree with the above statement.

State your opinion about the following statement: It's muchbetter to watch the film than rather read the book.

I think that everybody agrees on how important it is to take upreading. This not only helps you spend your time in a pleasant way,but it also helps you enlarge your knowledge and, why not, buildyour own personality, It is true that books offer a wide view on theinnermost human feelings and on the difference between right andwrong, beautiful and ugly, real and false, kindness and meannessetc. Sometimes, one can really find himself in the characters of abook, or in the situations present there.

However, television plays an iinportant role when it comes totransferring a book into action. As a matter of fact, video-books,because this is what we are talking about, tend to be preferred bythe majority of us.

Why? First of all, because of our lack of time. Reading a bookmay take us several days, or even several weeks; while watching afilm only takes two or three hours!

Secondly, films help you actually "see" the book from a differentperspective. When reading, you can only imagine sceneries, characters,actions etc., but television introduces you to those ~ceneries andactions. It shows them to you, helps you become a part of them andtherefore, live them. Everything is right there, under your eyes andsometimes you get so much caught by the action, that you evenhave the impression that it happens to you. Characters have become

,your friends, or, on the contrary, your enemies, their feelings havebecome your feelings, you can really touch them and feel them, notonly imagine them, as you would have done when reading thebook.. Apart from that, films have the possibility to combine pictureswith movements and sound, which gives a tri-dimensional view.That is why people are more likely to enjoy and remember thewhole action. Besides, more emotions seem to be involved thisway.

Another important aspect which is worth being taken intoconsideration is the way how teenagers react when choosing between

Argue in fav~ur of the importance Qf school in educating theyoung generatIOn.

Edu.cation is 'one of the essential pieces of any society. And whenspeakmg about the system of education, one primarily classifies itunder t~e general term of "sch?ols'·, No matter if we are talkingabout kmder gardens, gyms, hIgh-schools, universities, students,teachers etc, they all refer to the same system of education wecannot jive without.

Starting from an early age up to adolescence sometimes evenmaturity, people get to school to get proper ed~cation. And thisdoes not only refer to acquiring large bulks of information invari?us subjects, Education is something much more than that.

It IS true that teachers and students alike are mainly there to studyto~ether, to gather kn?wledge, to form their ways of thinking, butlet s not forget the SOCIalaspect of education. By simply being theretogether,. ~hese people learn how to react, inter-relate, shape theirpersonalItIes and, what is more important, they learn how tomanage things in the future.

Apart from that, schools are the ones to settle the models andspecific of eve~y country. This is due to the way in which they traceand fol~ow theIr own system of education. People are trained withina cert~m pattern and after they leave the system, they will actaccordmg to ~hat.they ~ave learnt in schools. Later on, they are ableto take good Jobs, regIster work performance form families etc.and in this way, t~ey become relia,ble member~ of the community,Reg~:ded from thIS aspect, educatIOn gets to be synonymous withtradItIon. .

It is com.monly said that an educated person can be easily tracedand appreCIated, because he follows the norms of education acquired

in school. As contrasted to such a person, the uneducated does nbtknow these rules and consequently, will not follow them. The resultis disastrous: he will not be regarded favourably by the society andwill therefore become an outcast.

To conclude with, if one is to look for the key to education, theyare sure to find it in school, because this is the institution whereeverything starts and where all ultimately ends.

I myself wouldn't that far as to agree with a total prohibition of~obile phones in schools, but I agree that, at least, they can be keptIn a safe place and turned off, or on the silent mode when in class.This will show respect, obedience, safety and a good education.And I'm sure that, in this way, nobody will ever feel offended ordisturbed by them.

Comment on the following statement: Cars should be bannedfrom the city centre.

Should mobile phones be allowed in schools? Give argumentsand examples to support your opinion.

The city centre is supposed to be the most beautiful place in theentire city. It represents the essence f the town, with the mostbeautiful and imposing buildings, the most important shops, a largepark etc.

That is why many people consider it should also represent a placeof relaxation, where everybody can feel at ease and walk peacefullyamongst friendly pigeons and running children. And this is theirmain argument when sustaining the idea that cars should be bannedfrom ~he city centre, not to disturb the peace and tranquility and,most Important, not to keep polluting the air.

Maybe that is why authorities tend to respect internationalecological days when, once in awhile, cars are really forbidden inthe city centre and people are supposed top walk and feel the pulseof the city. These are some days meant to slow people down and letthem see the beauty of the city, hear the roaring of the street, noticethe people walking on it and value the small things which can makeus happy. If you want, this can also mean a little intent to go back

Jo nature, simplicity and a possibility to socialize.On the other hand, drivers have their own point, arguing that

nowadays, we live in such a hurry that one needs to drive a lot andcars represent a way to get in different places in a shorter time.Therefore, they can solve more problems at once. And this meansthey have no time to waste by walking. They are too occupied andin a continuous rush, so that they definitely to do everything fasterand faster. After all, we are living in the age of speed, aren't we?

I can say that mobile phones are a piece of technology one cannotlive without; everyone owns a .mobile phone which helps stay intouch with the rest of the world anytime anywhere. And to behonest, I got so much used to it that I can't conceive life without it.It's impossible not to have forgotten your mobile home at home andleft to work or to school without it. And we must admit how badand how useless we have surely felt by not having it! One mighteven call it a kind of dependency, a phone-addiction.

However, there are some situations and places where we cannotuse them all the time, such as in a meeting, a church, classes etc.Over-using them in such cases may turn into a real nuisance andshows a lack of respect from our part.

Some argue that in schools, children do not really need to use amobile phone extensively, as they do not have so many urgentproblems to solve: they are not that busy as adults are, and have nobusiness to run or errands to make.

Besides, using mobile phones during classes disturbs both studentsand teachers, or there may even appear cases when mobiles phoneshave been lost during school time. Situations like that cause rumors,

_ tears and hard moments.That is why school regulations forbid taking mobile phones or

any other modern technology device to classes: to avoid disturbanceor stealing. Students must be aware of the risk they are exposed ifthey fetch their mobile phones to school and take a good care ofthem, especially that there are some very expensive models amongstthem.

I can say that our authorities seem to have given a serious thoughtto both parties and tried to solve the problem nicely for them. So,we now have an important street in the medieval centre of the townwhere cars are banned, but this does not mean the entire city centre.There are some other streets where cars are allowed. In this way,everybody is happy, I guess. People in a rush have the possibility topass through the city centre by cars, and the ones wishing for peaceand serenity have an entire street available. Isn't this the bestsolution?

30 de subiecte de tip I A. Reading ComprehensionI. I moved from Korea to the USA 72. My special next-door neighbour 8}:Remembrance day in UK 104. Witness statement 115. The aeroplane 136. Ecological accident at sea 147. A Diary : 168. Life in a small village 179. Special homes ..: 19J O. Animation creator 20II. Childhood stories 2212. Dinner parties 2313. The world of butterflies : 2514. Holiday destinations 2615. Eating in Britain 2816. Sports violence 2917. Conflict management 3218. Being famous : 3519. I have a dream : 3820. Environmental problems 4121. You're fat? It's not you, it's the genes 4322. The open window 4623. Travelling by plane 4924. Exams and the young generation 5225. Women and marriage 5526. A missing person 5827. Friendships are hard : 6128. The prodigal son 6429. Natasha 6730. The value of arts 69

30 de subiecte de tip I B. WritingI. Write an e-mail to your English speaking friend explainingthat you would like to apply to do a course at oneof the colleges in the city he lives 952. An informal letter inviting a friend to a party 953. A formal letter requiring information 964. A description of a place you visited 965. A story about a frightful and interesting experience 976. A formal e-mail inviting to dinner 977. An informal e-mail about a new product. 988. A letter offering a position, following an interview 999. Is the time for beginning a child's education important? 9910. What movies do you prefer? 10011. One thing you will do to improve your community 10012. "Parents are the best teachers." Comment. 10113. It is known that nowadays people live longer lives 10114. A letter answering an offer to live in another city 10215. Would you work for someone else,or would you rather own a business? 10216. Describe you best experience as a student. 10317. Do you think advertising encourages usto buy things we really do not need? 10418. If you could make a gift to a child, what gift would yougive him to be sure that this is about to help him? 10519. What subject would you like to studyif this opportunity were given to you? 10620. Compare the knowledge gained from experiencewith the knowledge gained from books 10721. Should businesses do everythingto keep afloat and be profitable? 10722. Who brings more to society, artists or scientists? 10823. Some important characteristics of a co-worker 10924. Write a letter in which you praise a restaurant. 11025. Write a letter of request asking for informationabout facilities offered for a party 11126. Do you prefer to work for a big or for a small company? .. I 1227. Choose one natural resource that is disappearingand explain why it needs to be saved 11328. Which are the changes the latest years have broughtin our lives as far as eating is concerned? 114

29. Write a cover letter applying for a teaching job I J 530. Write a letter of complaint to a virtual bookshop 116

30 de subiecte de tip II a - univers personalI. What kind of work would you like to do in the future? 1192. Speak about the importance of friendship in your life 1203. What is your favourite means of transport? 1214. What does Christmas mean to you? 1225. What do you do to have a healthy life? 1226. How does fashion influence your personality? 1237. What do you think about hobbies? 1248. What is your favourite season? : 1259. What is your favourite sport? 12610. What do you think about having a pet? 12611. Do you believe in eating habits? 12712. What is your favourite free-time activity? 12813. What do you like about your home-town? 12914. What is the present you would like for your birthday? 12915. What are your feelings about turning 18? 13016. What do you like to do over the weekends? 13117. What do you think about the way in whichyour parents have brought you up? 13218. How do you think smoking may affect you? 13319. What do you think about school uniformsbeing compulsory? 13420. What is your opinion about mobile phonesbeing used freely in schools? : 13521. What do you hate most in life? 13622. Do you think a relative may be considered best friend? 13623. What do you think about travelling by plane? 13724. What did you like about the school you attended? 13825. What person/personality do you admire? 13926. What is your opinion about the wayin which television influences your life? 14027. What would you change about your hometown? 14028. What was the life experience that has taughtyou a positive lesson? 141

29. What are your goals for the future? 14230. Speak about what makes us live longer. 143

30 de subiecte de tip II b - relatare/descriere1. Describe you favourite film 1442. Relate an adventure you were involved in 1453. Describe the house you live in 1464. Speak about a day that has changed your life : 1465. Describe your pet. 1476. Speak about your best friend : 1487. Speak about the last time you went to a disco 1498. Speak about the happiest day in your life 1509. Choose a building you like and decribe it. 15110. Speak about your favourite actor/actress 152II. Describe an object in your house which represents you 15312. The way in which you celebrate your birthday 15413. Describe your room 15514. Describe a habitual Saturday afternoon of yours 15615. Talk about a funny neighbour that you have 15716. The most interesting, funny and useful internet sites 15817. Talk about the ideal Romania 159

-18. Talk about one of your favourite shows on TV. 15919. A foreign country you would like to live in 16020. Talk about your highschool experience 16121. Talk about something interesting you saw in the street. 16222. Speak about the holiday you will always remember 16223. What is your favourite computer game? 16324. What do you think about YouTube?Do you have a favourite video that you watch? 16425. What teacher did you like best? 16526. Speak about your family 16527. Have you got a hobby? Is having a hobby useful? 16628. Speak about a colleague of yours that is very funny 16729. Describe your best friend's family 16730. Speak about your favourite advertisement/so 168

30 de subiecte de tip II c - parere argumentata1. Does modern technology make life more convenient...? .... 1692. We tend to become addicted to computers.Is this addiction a good thing ? 170

3. Do you agree that children should be raised by grandparents? 1714. Damage of the environment is a consequence of worldwideimprovements in the standard of living. Discuss 1725. Which place would you prefer to live in:a small town or a big city? 1736. What is your opinion about the way in whichmovies and television influence people's behaviour? 1757. What is better: t6 enjoy your money when you earn itor to save it for some time in the future? 1768. Grades encourage students to learn. Do you agree? 1779. ]f you could go back to some time and place in the past,when and where would you go? 17810. Which country would you like to visit? 179II. Negative aspects of using the Internet. 18012. The importance of being well-mannered 18113. What are the advantages of being a famous person? 18314. The disadvantages of being a famous person : 18415. State your opinion about the benefits of doing sports 18516. What is your opinion about the statement:One has more opportunities for self-development abroad? 18617. State your opinion about the benefits of keeping pets 18618. Advertising: infonnation or manipulation? 18819. Does a disability make a person more detennined to succeed? 18920. State your opinion about being your own boss 19021. 'Where there is a wiWthere is a way.' Comment ~.. 19]22. The importance of having a career 19223. State your opinion about the advantages of travelling 19224. Do you agree that more people sufferfrom obesity, nowadays? 19325. Does music influence teenagers? 19426. The qualities that help a teenager be admired in high-school. 19527. Is it better to watch the film rather than read the book? 19628. Argue in favour of the importance of school education 19729. Should mobile phones be allowed in schools? 19830. Comment on the statement:Cars should be banned from the city centre 199

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