BAC ENG 2008, SCRIS, 3-4 H, SB 1, VAR 5, SUB SI REZOLV

[musa paradisiaca]

Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Tineretului
Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar
Examenul de bacalaureat 2008
Proba E/F
Proba scrisă la Limba Engleză
L1 - Intensiv 3-4 ore

SUBIECTUL I ( 30 puncte) Varianta 005

Read the text below and complete the following tasks.

Plastic cards are the UK’s favourite way to pay for goods and services, according to a new report by APACS, the body that monitors payments in Britain. (1) … British consumers’ love of plastic means that spending on credit and debit cards have trebled over the past decade. A little under a third of total consumer spending is now charged to cards. Plastic transactions increased to a record $600bn last year. APACS director of communications Sandra Quinn said: "The last 10 years have seen a rapid rise in the popularity of plastic, with debit cards showing particularly strong growth." She added: " (2) … "

Last year saw new “smart card” technology introduced into the world of card payments. However, these technological advances have not stopped an increasing reliance on plastic, which is responsible for the rising mountains of debt British people now have. In the first three months of this year almost 17,000 people were declared bankrupt – a 10 percent rise on the previous year. (3) … In 2006, conmen stole almost a billion dollars using stolen cards and personal information. Soon, people will be carrying a single card in their wallet which will combine debit and credit cards and other financial transactions. (4) …

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. There is also a parallel, worrying trend regarding the opportunities plastic creates for fraud.

B. Consumers enjoy the ease and convenience plastic cards bring, and today most retailers and supermarkets take plastic, as do an increasing number of professional service providers.

C. This is another step toward a cashless society, but one that might increase personal debt and credit card fraud.

D. Spending on plastic cards overtook cash in 2004 and has continued growing ever since.

E. People love spending money.



2. Explain the underlined words.
6 points


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

4. Read the article again and decide whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
6 points

A. Plastic transactions increase personal debt.

B. Nowadays, an increasing number of professional service providers take plastic.

C. Plastic transactions are another step toward a cashless society.

5. Comment on the following statement:

Consumers enjoy the ease and convenience plastic cards bring.

(100 words)
4 points



PROPOSED SOLUTION

5. 1.

5. 1. 1 – B;
5. 1. 2 – D;
5. 1. 3 – C;
5. 1. 4 – A;

5. 2.

5. 2. 1 – rise = increase;
5. 2. 2 – reliance = dependence;
5. 2. 3 – bankrupt = ruined, impoverished;

5. 3.

Plastic cards are a very convenient way to pay for goods and services. That is why, plastic cards are now a very popular way to pay. Though new “smart card technology” competes with plastic card technology, the plastic cards continue to be highly regarded. However, plastic cards also have disadvantages. Some of these are : an increase in personal debts and credit card fraud. ( 63 words )



5. 4.

5. 4. A – T;
5. 4. B – T;
5. 4. C – T;

5. 5.

Plastic cards bring ease and convenience to consumers. These are probably the main reasons for which most people nowadays prefer them to cash. Credit cards are seen as offering people some good advantages over cash. People do not have to count their money any longer when paying. They avoid making serious mistakes which they did with counting cash. And they are happy to save their time, especially when the queues in supermarkets are very long. Plastic cards do have some disadvantages, but probably their more advantages highly counterbalance the disadvantages. That is why plastic cards - another step to a cashless society - tend to become so popular nowadays. ( 105words )