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TEST of LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

Listening Comprehension 20’ 20 points
1. Listen to the controversial Linguistics expert Professor McKenzie talking about the future
of the English language. 10 p.
Decide whether these statements are TRUE or FALSE according to Professor McKenzie.

1. If you do not know English you can be at a disadvantage.

2. English will soon be spoken by everybody in the World.
3. By 2010 half the World’s population will speak English.
4. Competitors at the Eurovision Song Contest will never be unanimous in choosing to sing in
English.
5. Native English and Majority English will become the two predominant types of English.

2. Listen again and comment on the first statement using information from the audio (no
more than 50 words).

Reading Comprehension 50’ 15 points

I. Text A. Read the following text and then decide whether the statements below are true (T) or
false (F).
Poverty has many complex causes, including low wages, a lack of jobs, racism, sexism, and
other forces beyond individual control. For the past 30 years, the fight against poverty and injustice
has been an uphill battle. Indeed, major economic dislocations and victim-blaming public policies
have affected the capacity of the three traditional sources of income - marriage, markets, and the
state - to protect people from poverty even when they work hard and play by the rules. The results
include mounting rates of poverty, hardship, and social problems - all of which fall into social
work's domain.
Mounting Poverty In 2005, 12.6% of the population was poor, up from its all-time low of
11.3% in 2000. Even the higher African American (24.9%) and Latino (21.8%) rates and the lower
Caucasian (8.3%) rates rose above their all-time 2000 lows. Meanwhile, the American Dream, the
promise that work pays, faded for the working and middle class. In 2004, 7.8 million people aged
16 or older spent at least 27 weeks either working or looking for a job but earned below poverty-
level wages in companies that provided few basic benefits such as healthcare or parental leave.
Thanks to tax cuts and corporate welfare, inequality also reached new highs.

January 2010
 1. According to the text, struggling against poverty has been increasingly difficult in T F
the past three decades.

2. The three customary resources of people’s revenues are no longer capable to protect T F
them from poverty.

3. Social work deals mostly with hardship and social problems. T F

4. In 2005, more people were richer than in 2000. T F

5. Almost 8 million people aged older than 16 were not paid enough to be above T F
poverty level.

I. Text B. After reading the text, deal with the tasks below.
Mounting Hardship
Poverty, in turn, takes its toll on people's lives. In 2004, 40% of poor and 14% of non-poor families
faced food, health, or housing insecurity, considerably more families of colour than Caucasian
families. The situation has worsened over time. From 1987 to 2005, the number of people lacking
food security rose from 31 to 35 million; those without health insurance soared from 31 to 46.5
million while the number of household paying more that 30% of their income for rent jumped from
31% (1978) to 49% (2005). These losses were further compounded by a lack of social investment in
low-income communities exposing people to: crumbling neighbourhood infrastructures (e.g.,
abandoned housing, poor schools, lack of services, unemployment); interpersonal violence (e.g.,
battering, rape, child abuse); and community violence (e.g., gang fights, drive-by shootings,
surveillance, police brutality, sexism, and racism).
1. Circle the correct version:
The focus of the paragraph is on
a. mounting hardship. b. people lacking food security.
c. lack of investment in poor communities.

2. Circle the correct version.

The best context-based explanation for the word ‘crumbling’ is
a. collapsing. b. falling into decay. c. crushing.
3. Summarise the main idea of the paragraph. Use the following key words: poverty,
insecurity, deteriorate, social.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Find words in the paragraph that are synonyms to the following: home, indemnity, grew,
poor, aggression. [household, insurance, rose, low-income, violence]

5. Circle the correct version.

“soared ” means:
a. glided b. rose sharply c. diverted

2
I.C. Complete the sentences below with your own word or phrase. Write them down at the
end of the exercise.
Mounting Social Problems
Social workers know firsthand that 1. (…) confronted with chronic deprivation and/or harsh living
conditions often feel unsafe, insecure, and powerless. We also 2. (…) that people cope with the
desperate condition by harming themselves (e.g., self-medication, dropping out of 3. (…), unsafe
sex, ineffective parenting, inability to hold a job, lack of self-care, and suicide) and/or others (e.g.,
crime, assault, battering, rape, homicide). Social workers 4. (…) the know-how and the professional
obligation to help people undo negative coping and promote positive 5. (…), both self-advocacy
(e.g., seeking needed social, health, and financial assistance) and social advocacy (e.g., community
activism).

1._____; 2. _____; 3. _______; 4. ________; 5. ______ .

Use of English 15 points

II.A. Fill in the blanks with the number of the appropriate word or phrase from the list below:

1. politicises 2. than 3. economic 4. exist 5. far

6. social 7. to end 8 society 9. things 10. profession

Given […] work's location between the client and […], we can either leave solving poverty to the
economists or join the fight for […] justice. Some fear that making individual and social change a
fundamental part of our work […] a previously objective and apolitical […]. Yet, it is […] better to
address these issues explicitly […] to pretend they do not […]. In the words of Martin Luther King,
Jr., "Our lives begin […] the day we become silent about […] that matter."

II.B. Choose the right word or phrase to complete the sentences below:
1. Mencap has recently organised a fund-raising campaign […] to reduce the effects of chronic
deprivation on young children.

a. in order b. so that c. not

2. […] tax cuts and corporate welfare, inequality reached new highs.
a. Because b. Owing to c. So that

3. Recent surveys have confirmed that, beyond the positive economic aspects for households, widespread
engagement of Romanians in labour migration […] several negative consequences, particularly on the lives
of affected families.

3
 a. has had b. had c. used to have

4. Perhaps […] problematic issue is the temporary abandonment of minors by their labour migrant
parents.

a. the least b. the most c. a most

5 The lack of direct parental supervision has led to a rise in social problems among children and
adolescents, and the authorities […] child protection have been forced to formulate policies to monitor the
situation.

a. having control b. responsible c. in charge of

Writing 25’ 25 points

III. Write an essay of no more than 250 words on ONE of the following topics. Use the space
below.
1. Domestic violence is about power and control. Do you agree?
2. Comment on the following: “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make
you a fortune. “
3. Comment on the following: “Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be
understood without understanding both.” (C. Wright Mills)