BAC ENG, 2009, SCRIS, Blngv, V-1, Sb-1 [ sub + rezolv ]

[musa paradisiaca]

Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării
Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar

Examenul de bacalaureat 2009
Proba E/F
Proba scrisă la Limba engleză
L1 – Bilingv

Toate subiectele sunt obligatorii. Se acordă 10 puncte din oficiu.
Timpul efectiv de lucru este de 3 ore.

Varianta 1

SUBIECTUL I (30 de puncte)
Varianta 001
Read the text below and complete the following tasks.

Few great architects have been so adamant in their belief in the integration of architecture and design as Charles Rennie Mackintosh. (1) … Now, 63 years after he died, Mackintosh has found the perfect patron, in the form of a 56-year-old structural engineer and fellow Glaswegian named Graham Roxburgh.

The story begins with a competition launched in December 1900 by Zeitschrift Für Innendekoration, an innovative design magazine published in the German city of Darmstadt. European architects were invited to design an Art Lover's House. (2) … But he was disqualified for failing to include the required number of drawings of the interior. He hastily completed the portfolio, which he then resubmitted. Delighted with the designs, the judges awarded Mackintosh a special prize (there was no outright winner).

Publication of these drawings did much to establish Mackintosh's reputation abroad as an original and distinctive architect, particularly in Austria and Germany. (3) … At first glance it could be an illustration from the thirties. Artists of the avant-garde Vienna Secession described Mackintosh as “our leader who showed us the way” – an acclaim that he was never able to gain at home. (4) ... But today Glaswegians hail Mackintosh as their local genius. Three years ago, the enterprising Mr Roxburgh, who has already rescued Craigie Hall, a mansion on the outskirts of Glasgow that Mackintosh helped design, hatched a plan to build the Art Lover's House – now close to completion on a site in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park. Strathclyde Council, the Scottish Development Agency and the Scottish Tourist Board have picked up a third of the hefty £3 million bill. Roxburgh has raised the rest through sponsorship and private loans.


1. Four sentences have been removed from the text. Select the appropriate sentence for each gap in the text. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
4 points

A. The Art Lover's House is an important twentieth-century building because it anticipates the abstract forms of Modernism.

B. The Art Lover's House is thus a mixture between modernism and tradition.

C. Clients who tried to modify his grip on every detail of the structure, interior decoration or furniture often ended up with the architect losing his temper – and his commission.

D. Rich Glasgow businessmen never quite took him seriously.

E. Mackintosh sent in his entry in March 1901, his one chance to design a house unfettered by financial constraints or a conservative client.

My word explanation:

● adamant = determined, resolute, firm;
● Glaswegian = n., inhabitant of Glasgow; adj. of Glasgow, pertaining to Glasgow;
● unfettered = free from restraints;
● portfolio = briefcase, folder;
● to resubmit = to present again, to offer again;
● outright = absolute, perfect;
● commission = task, duty;
● grip = perception, understanding, hold;
● to hail = to honour, to salute;
● outskirts = periphery, suburbs;
● to hatch = to create, to devise, to make up;
● completion = accomplishment, finishing;
● hefty = big, bulky;

Solution
My answer:

● ( 1 ) – D;
● ( 2 ) – E;
● ( 3 ) – A;
● ( 4 ) – C;

2. Give the synonyms of the following words. 6 points

( 1 ) innovative
( 2 ) hastily
( 3 ) to gain

Solution
My answer:

● ( 1 ) innovative = creative, ingenious, inventive;
● ( 2 ) hastily = hurriedly, promptly, quickly, rapidly;
● ( 3 ) to gain = to acquire, to win, to achieve;

3. Sum up the text in about 50 words.
10 points

Solution
My answer:


● Charles Rennie Mackintosh strongly believed in the integration of architecture and design. A competition organized by a German magazine, asking the participants to design an Art Lover’s House – so to integrate architecture and design – offered Mackintosh the chance to become famous first abroad, then in his own country, as an original and distinctive architect. ( 54 words )



4. For the following questions, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits according to the text.
6 points

( 1 ) Why were there sometimes problems between Mackintosh and his clients?

A. Mackintosh resented interference from his clients.
B. Clients refused to pay him in full for his work.
C. Mackintosh did not pay enough attention to detail.
D. Clients did not like the changes Mackintosh made.

( 2 ) According to the writer, Mackintosh decided to enter the competition because ...

A. not many drawings had to be submitted.
B. no designs were required for furniture.
C. there was no need to worry about cost.
D. he had designed similar buildings before.

( 3 ) What was significant about Mackintosh's entry for the competition?

A. It was considered to be ahead of its time.
B. It was based on architecture from Austria and Germany.
C. It changed the opinion of him in his own country.
D. It was the most attractive building he had designed.

Solution
My answer:

● ( 1 ) – A;
● ( 2 ) – C;
● ( 3 ) – C;


5. Comment on the following in about 100 words:

Few great architects have been as adamant in their belief in the integration of architecture and design as Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

4 points

Solution
My answer:

● The quote given for commentary contains some very important key-words : * “adamant”, which means “determined; * “belief”, which means “personal conviction, credo”; * “integration”, which means combining things into an integral whole”. These key-words put together in such a small context suggest that if you have very strong convictions in some particular field of activity, then this is for sure the luckiest way of your life in attaining the tasks of your activity in the most innovative way possible, thus, through your originality, bringing your own domain of activity to higher peaks of progress ( in Mackintosh’s case the acclaimed integration of architecture and design ). ( 101 words )