Baccalaureate National Exam 2021 June Services – Commerce
[1] Amazon.com is one of the biggest success stories of the internet. It was started by Jeff Bezos. an American entrepreneur and e-commerce pioneer. He is also the founder of a company that aims to make space travel affordable for ordinary people.
[2] Jeff Bezos was born in 1961 in New Mexico. His father, Ted Jorgenson, acted in fairs and circuses while Jeff was still a baby. Jeff’s mother, Jacklyn Bezos, was still in her teens when she married Ted, and their marriage lasted for little more than one year only. Jeff Bezos attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston. He used to spend summers doing farm work in his grandfather’s ranch.
[3] After some time, Jeff’s family moved to Florida. He was then transferred to Miami Palmetto Senior High School, where he excelled at his studies and realized his passion for computers. He was even invited to participate in the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida and won the Silver Knight Award in 1982.
[4] Bezos planned to study physics at Princeton University, but he soon decided to return to his love of computers. After graduating, Bezos went to Wall Street in New York where computer science was increasingly in demand. He worked in several firms there. He then became vice president of a company that specialized in the application of computer sciences to the stock market.
[5] In 1994, Bezos moved to Seattle to invest in the internet market. He made the decision by drawing up a list of possible products that he could sell with the help of the internet, including software, CDs, and hardware. In the end, he decided on an online bookstore. Books were the choice because of the wide range of titles in existence. Another advantage of an internet store was that he did not have to pay taxes for the products he sold via the internet.
[6] Bezos decided that Seattle would be a perfect place for his new business at the time because of the remarkable pool of hi-tech talent. He managed to secure $1 million from his friends and family, enough to set up his business in the garage of his Seattle home. At first, it was called “Cadabra”. He later changed its name several times. Eventually, he decided on Amazon after looking through the words that start with A in the dictionary. Bezos liked the connection between one of the planet’s longest rivers and the largest bookstore.
I- COMPREHENSION (15 points) N.B. Base all your answers on the text
A. ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY. (3 pts)
1. Jeff’s father was a businessman. ……………………………………………………….
2. Jeff was a very good student in Palmetto Senior High School …………………..
3. Jeft started Amazon in his grandfather’s house. …………………..
B. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS. (3 pts)
1. How did Jeff spend summers when he was in Houston? ………………………………………………….
2. How did he get the money to start his own business? ………………………………………………….
3. Why did Jeff choose Amazon as a name for his company?
………………………………………………….
C. COMPLETE THE SENTENCES WITH INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT: (3 pts)
1. Besides Amazon, Jeff founded ……………………………..
2. As there was a wide range of book titles available, Jeff …………………..
3. Selling products through the internet was beneficial for Jeff because ………………….
D. PICK OUT FROM THE TEXT SENTENCES OR PHRASES WHICH SHOW THAT: (2 pts)
1. Jeff’s parents’ marriage was not successful. (paragraph 2) ………….
2. Seattle was famous for technology experts. (paragraph 6) …………
II- LANGUAGE (15 points)
A. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE RIGHT WORDS FROM THE LISTS. (3 pts)
1. People ……………………… feelings are ignored often became unhappy and depressed.
whom – who – whose
2. Tom likes playing video games ……………………… his sister prefers watching cartoons.
whereas – moreover – although
3. The businessman from England spoke so fast that ……………………… understand him.
shouldn’t – mustn’t – couldn’t
B. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE RIGHT WORDS FROM THE LIST. (2 pts)
values – formal – educational – technologies – renewable
1. Investing in ……………………………….. energies is a priority for the government.
2. Carla went to India to learn about the cultural ……………………………….. of the local communities
C.GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS IN BRACKETS. (2 pts)
1. A lot of cultural and (commerce) ……….. events were canceled because of the pandemic.
2. The audience was impressed by the excellent (perform) ……….. of the young actor.
D. PUT THE VERBS IN BRACKETS IN THE CORRECT TENSE. (2 pts)
TikTok (become) ……………………………….. one of the most widely used video-sharing platforms for the last two years. Its users (reach) ………………………………………….. 1 billion by the end of 2022.
E. REWRITE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH THE WORDS GIVEN. (2 pts)
1. Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989.
The World Wide Web …………………………………
2. “I made all the necessary arrangements for the visit,” the guide said.
The guide told the group that he ……………..
F. MATCH EACH STATEMENT TO ITS APPROPRIATE FUNCTION: (2 pts)
Expressions
- “Could you explain this exercise to me, please?”
- “Why don’t you open a new account in another bank?”
- “For me, Ali Express is the most popular e-commerce site.”
- “I think you’re right. We need to hold a meeting soon.”
Functions
- a. making a suggestion
- b. asking for permission
- c. expressing agreement
- d. expressing opinion
- e. making a request
G.COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING EXCHANGE. (2 pts)
You: (Complain about the quality of the pair of jeans you bought) ………………………
Shop assistant: (Apologizes and promises to change them) …………….
III- WRITING (10 points) DO TASKS 1 AND 2
TASK 1: (4 pts) Complete the following paragraph:
The family living next to us are really nice. They have many good qualities. First, ………………..
TASK 2: (6 pts) Write a reply to the following email:
When I’m not at school, I do a lot of things… What about you? What do you do when you are not at school?
Hi Erics,
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………….
Erics
