BAC ENG, 2009, SCRIS, L3-4 h, V-5, 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 - Intensiv 3-4 ore

Varianta 5

SUBIECTUL I ( 30 de puncte)

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.

Solution
My answer:

● 1 – B;
● 2 – D;
● 3 – A;
● 4 – C;


2. Explain the underlined words.
6 points

Solution
My answer

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


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

Solution
My answer:

● Plastic cards are a very convenient way to pay for goods and services. That is why they are now very popular. New “smart card technology” competes with plastic card technology. Yet the plastic cards continue to be highly regarded in spite of disadvantages, such as increase in personal debts and credit card fraud. ( 53 words )


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

1. What do Englishmen usually use to pay goods with?

A. cash
B. American dollars
C. credit cards
D. false money

2. What is one of the negative aspects of using plastic money?

A. accumulating debts
B. losing track of time
C. visiting too many shops
D. carrying too much plastic in your wallet

3. What else did conmen use besides stolen credit cards in order to steal money?

A. information about their holders.
B. iron bars
C. police files
D. pictures of the holders.

Solution
My answer:

● 1 – C;
● 2 – A;
● 3 – A;


5. Comment on the following statement: (100 words)

Consumers enjoy the ease and convenience plastic cards bring.

4 points

Solution
My answer:

● 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. They 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 advantages highly counterbalance the disadvantages. That is why plastic cards - another step to a cashless society - tend to become so popular nowadays. ( 104 words )