Baccalaureate National Exam 2015 June Arts

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Baccalaureate National Exam 2015 June Arts

(1) Hassan went to university in Mohammedia. After graduation, he began looking for a job. Like many other young Moroccans, he started work in a bilingual call center for a couple of reasons. “I want to practice my communication skills and also work in a prestigious call center,” he said. Hassan works for an airline company call center. His task at the center consists of receiving calls from passengers who are inquiring about tickets and flights.” My task is to receive all incoming calls and answer inquiries about flights from a computer system. I also make reservations and process clients’ payments,” he added.

(1) Apart from working for 45 hours per week, Hassan described the difficulties he encounters in his daily routine as follows: “As a beginner, the four-week training I had wasn’t enough to fully understand all the details of the job. The other problem, which many of us in the center suffer from, is the huge number of incoming calls that we have to process every day.” He added: “All the answers I give to clients are available on the computer system.” Furthermore, when asked if he considers his task to be repetitive, he answered with a big “YES.”

(3) Recently, IBM (an international computer company) launched a new computer program called “Watson Engagement Advisor”, which can be used in call centers. It can answer calls as it understands plain English and can be operated by a human agent. The program is designed to replace human agents in dealing with customers.

(4) When asked about the challenges of dealing with huge numbers of incoming calls, Hassan said: “You try to be as friendly as possible, keeping a positive tone, but sometimes you feel annoyed, bored and you can easily get angry.” Such qualities are of human nature; however, Watson Engagement Advisor would keep calm all the time and answer all questions easily.

(5) But when asked if he is for or against the idea of introducing Watson in Moroccan call centers, Hassan was very hesitant: “I’m against this idea. I think it will cost a lot of money. There are some clients who make the reservation online through the website; still, they call to make sure that it’s been done. Moroccans do not trust technology yet; they still need to hear the human voice.” Watson wouldn’t need any health insurance nor ask for days off. It can work day and night without complaining or fighting over the phone with clients. Watson threatens Hassan and other young agents’ source of living. It’s true that with the increasing advances in science and technology, machines are making their way to replace humans.

I. COMPREHENSION (15 POINTS)

BASE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT.

A. ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY. (3 pts)

1. Hassan joined the call center while he was studying at university.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Hassan thinks he was well trained for his job at the center.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. Some clients call the center to check their reservations.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. (3 pts)

1. Why did Hassan join a call centre?
   . . . . . . . . . .
2. What do call centres use “Watson Engagement Advisor” for?
   . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. How is “Watson Engagement Advisor” different from a human employee?
   . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C. COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES WITH INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT. (3 pts)

1. Hassan gets answers for his clients from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. According to Hassan, you can get angry in a call centre when . . . . . . . . . . .
3. If machines and programs like Watson are introduced, Hassan and other agents. . . . . . . . . .

D. FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS THAT MEAN THE SAME AS (3 pts)

1. questions (paragraph 1) : . . . . . . . .
2. clients (paragraph 3) : . . . . . . . . . .
3. very big (paragraph 4) : . . . . . . . . .

E. WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS IN THE TEXT REFER TO? (3 pts)

1. he (paragraph 2) : . . . . . . .
2. It (paragraph 3) : . . . . . . . . . .
3. this idea (paragraph 5) : . . . . . . .

II. LANGUAGE (15 POINTS)

A. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH APPROPRIATE WORDS FROM THE LISTS. (2 pts)

1. Mahjoub’s mother is looking forward to. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . her grandchildren in Spain.
   visit – visiting – visited
2. The teacher talked to the student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . phone rang in class.
   who – whose – whom

B. GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS IN BRACKETS. (2 pts)

1. Doing some (volunteer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . work for your community is an act of good (citizen) . . . . . . . . . .
2. The headmaster says that students should (application) . . . . . . . . . . . . . for scholarships before May 15th.
3. Many NGOs are teaching (illiteracy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . women to read and write.

C. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH APPROPRIATE WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS FROM THE LISTS. (2 pts)

1. Amine was afraid of being punished; so he . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a story to justify his absence.
   took up – gave up – made up
2. We’ve worked hard today. Let’s go out and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fun.
   lose – take – have

D. PUT THE VERBS IN BRACKETS IN THE RIGHT TENSE. (2 pts)

1. Tom’s uncle (work) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in Marseille for several years before he moved to Paris last year.
2. My parents (retire) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by the end of 2018

E. REWRITE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH THE WORDS GIVEN. (3 pts)

1. Heavy rain has destroyed many roads in the south of Morocco.
   Many roads . . . . . . . . .
2. “Will you drive the kids to school?” Mr Lynch asked.
   Mr Lynch asked his wife . . . . . . . . .
3. Leila didn’t get a front seat at the theatre because she didn’t buy a ticket early.
   If . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F. MATCH EACH EXPRESSION WITH ITS APPROPRIATE FUNCTION. (2 pts)

1 . . . . 2. . . . . 3. . . . . 4. . . .

G. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING EXCHANGE APPROPRIATELY. (2 pts)

Paul needs some money from his friend James to buy a camera.
Paul: (makes a request) . . . . . .
James: (responds) . . . . . . . . . . .

III. WRITING (10 POINTS)

DO TASK 1 AND TASK 2

TASK 1: (4 pts)

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH.
I use my mobile phone to do different things. For example, I . . . . . . . . . … .
. . . .. . .. .I also, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In addition, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . Finally, . . . . . . . . .

TASK 2: (6 pts)
Many Moroccan girls leave school at an early age. Write a paragraph about the causes which push these girls to leave school early. (from 50 to 100 words)

Key Answers to Baccalaureate National Exam 2015 June Arts