Baccalaureate National Exam 2010 June Humanities

Baccalaureate National Exam 2010 June Humanities

I was walking around on a Saturday afternoon. It was cold and it was starting to rain. I was looking for a restaurant or a café where I could sit and have something to drink. When I saw one, I crossed the street and I was there. I sat at a round table and asked for a cup of coffee. While I was waiting for my order, I realized that there were other people in the place, but I sensed loneliness. I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls. That was because their souls didn’t belong to them; instead, they belonged to the Internet.

I stood up and walked between the tables. When I came to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man sitting in front of it. “I’m Steve”, he finally answered after I had asked him a couple of times what his name was. “I can’t talk with you. I’m busy,” he said. I thought he was working, and I apologized. He didn’t say anything. Before going back to my seat, I wanted to see what he was doing. I stood behind him. He was not working. He was chatting online with somebody – probably someone he didn’t know–and, at the same time, he was playing a computer game – a war game. I was astonished.

Why didn’t Steve want to talk to me? I tried again to communicate with that computer geek, but not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but there was no reaction. I was getting upset. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started shouting, “leave me alone!” I took a few steps back. I was ashamed. I wanted to look and see if all those people in the café were looking at me, so I raised my head, but there was nobody interested in what was happening. I walked back to my table, and I noticed everybody was using a computer.

At that moment, I realized that the people in that place were having a cup of coffee and a nice conversation with their machines, not with people. All of them were more interested in having a relationship with the computer, particularly Steve. I wouldn’t want to imagine the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines instead of people. I was worried and I sank into my thoughts. I didn’t even realize that the coffee was bad, just as Steve didn’t even realize that there was a person next to him.

I. COMPREHENSION (15 POINTS) BASE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT

A.CHOOSE THE BEST TITLE FOR THE PASSAGE. TICK THE APPROPRIATE BOX (2 pts )

 Computer games

Computer programming

Computer addiction

B.ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY. ( 3 pts )

1. The writer went to a café on a sunny day. 

2. Steve answered the writer’s question immediately. 

3. The people in the café didn’t care about what was going on between Steve and the writer. 

C. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. (3 pts)

1. Why did the writer apologize? 

2. What was Steve busy doing? 

3. Why did Steve start shouting? 

D. COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES (3 pts)

1. The writer felt lonely in the café although………………

2. When the writer saw that Steve was too busy, he wanted to …………

3. The writer can’t imagine a future where people ………

E.WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS IN THE TEXT REFER TO? (2 pts)

1. they: ………

2. machines: ……

F. FIND WORDS IN THE TEXT THAT MEAN THE SAME AS: (2 pts )

1. surprised (paragraph 2): ………

2. computer screen (paragraph 3): ……

II. LANGUAGE (15 POINTS)

A. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE CORRECT PHRASAL VERBS. (2 pts)

set up – come back – calm down – look up – fill in – apply for

I need to .…. this application form. I want to .……. a visa to Canada. I’m going to study management there and hope to ……… .a new business when I ………… to Morocco.

B. PUT THE VERBS IN BRACKETS IN THE CORRECT TENSE OR FORM. (3 pts)

Bob and David enjoy (watch) ………… science fiction films. Yesterday,

they (go) ……… to the cinema, but when they arrived, they found that the film

(already/start) …………. So, they decided to have a walk along the coast.

C. JOIN THE PAIRS OF SENTENCES WITH THE WORDS BETWEEN BRACKETS. (2 pts)

1. Jamal spent all afternoon chatting. He didn’t have time to do his homework. (because)

2. My friends decided to go on an excursion to the Atlas Mountains. They might face difficulties. (despite)

D. REWRITE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH THE WORDS GIVEN. (4pts)

1. What a pity! I didn’t send them the message on time.

If only……

2. “Why don’t you eat more vegetables and fruit?” the doctor said.

The doctor advised the patient…………

3. You must send your application before the end of March.

Your application …………

4. I don’t have a modem, so I can’t have access to the Internet.

If ……………… 

E. GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS BETWEEN BRACKETS. (2 pts; 0.5 pt each)

Active (citizen) …………… can be defined as the (involve) …………. of citizens in

public life through their (participate) ………………. in the communities’ projects that

can (contribution) ……….. to the improvement of people’s living conditions.

F. MATCH THE EXPRESSIONS WITH THEIR APPROPRIATE FUNCTIONS. (2 pts)

1. “You’d better do some exercises in the workbook.”

2. “Could you close the window, please?”

a. requesting

b. apologizing

c. suggesting

1 → …………… 2 → ………………..

III. WRITING (10 POINTS)

Write an email to your friend describing the best place you have ever visited.

(Approximately 250 words)

Here are some cues to help you:

– Name of the place (city, village, countryside, forest, beach, ….. )

– Time of the visit (weekend, Sunday, holidays, summer, …)

– Characteristics (attractive, nice, interesting, modern, traditional, …. )

– Your feelings (happy, satisfied, unforgettable, memorable, …. )

Baccalaureate National Exam 2010 June Humanities