GRADUATION EXAM IN ENGLISH English IIIA June session (2008) I.

. Translate into English: (9+1 points) Brbatul rspunde c pe vremuri a predat si el fizica n liceu. tie mai mult fizic dect are nevoie un profesor de liceu i asta l chinuie. E capabil s-i pun ntrebri mari, dar nu s le dea i rspunsuri. Dup ce va iei din nchisoare, va preda fizica. Desigur, dac va mai avea nevoie, dac va mai fi aceeai fizic pe care a nvat-o el. Cunoate o coleg, o fat sensibil i care se pare c-l iubete. Ar fi urmat s se cstoreasc. Are o anume simpatie pentru colega lui, apreciaz faptul c e sensibil i generoas pn la uitare de sine, ns, dei apreciaz sensibilitatea i altruismul feminin, nu aceasta e marea lui dragoste. N-ar fi drept s spun ce prere are el despre dragoste i despre felul de a fi al femeilor ntruct experiena lui n materie e modest. Nu sunt chestiuni de care s te ruinezi, dar nici s le spui primului om cu care stai de vorb. II. Translate into Romanian: (9+1 points) The whole episode was clearly a great embarrassment to my father, and by the time of that conversation in Lord Darlingtons study, he had long since returned to busying himself as much as ever. The question of how one could broach the topic of reducing his responsibilities was not, then, an easy one. My difficulty was further compounded by the fact that for some years my father and I had tended to converse less and less. So much so that after his arrival at Darlington Hall, even the brief exchanges necessary to communicate information relating to work took place in an atmosphere of mutual embarrassment. In the end, I judged the best option to be to talk in the privacy of his room, thus giving him the opportunity to ponder his new situation in solitude once I took my leave. III. Grammar and exercises: (9+1 points) a) Provide synonyms for the underlined words in the text above. Use these synonyms in contexts of your own. (1, 5 points) b) Turn the following sentences from active to passive: (3 points) a. You shouldnt allow others to make fun of you. b. Who arrested Jim? c. The police have been looking for him for ages. c) Write out the sentences, using the most logical tense or form of the verbs in brackets: (3 points) a. I know I ought (write) to you before, but I (be) so busy recently that I not (have) time for (write) letters. I (telephone) you instead, but I (forget) your number. b. Before he (lie) down, he asked his children to forgive him for what he (do) to them. He (die) soon and they all (leave) alone, without anyone to care for them. d) Rewrite the following sentences into indirect speech: (1,5 points) a. So, tell me, what have you been doing lately? b. Oh, Im awfully sorry, but I just havent managed to solve this problem yet. c. You must never tell lies, my child. IV. Writing: Discuss the views on poetic language advanced by the speaker in the text below: (9+1 points)
N.B. Your essay should bear a title of your choice and abide by the stylistic and structural rules of an academic essay, i.e. should be written in a clear, objective and argumentative manner, and include clearly delimited parts: Introduction (argument in a nutshell, steps to be followed, key terms), Body (chain of argumentation, overt inter-paragraph transitions), Conclusion (results of argumentation). The essay should not exceed 1.5 pages.

He drew forth a phrase from his treasure and spoke it softly to himself: A day of dappled seaborne clouds. The phrase and the day and the scene harmonised in a chord. Words. Was it their colours? He allowed them to glow and fade, hue after hue: sunrise gold, the russet and green of apple orchards, azure of waves, the grey-fringed fleece of clouds. No, it was not their colours: it was the poise and balance of the period itself. Did he then love the rhythmic rise and fall of words better than their associations of legend and colour? Or was it that, being as weak of sight as he was shy of mind, he drew less pleasure from the reflection of the glowing sensible world through the prism of a language manycoloured and richly storied than from the contemplation of an inner world of individual emotions mirrored perfectly in a lucid supple periodic prose? (James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)