4 preparation for Bac exam

PART ONE: READING AND INTERPRETING: (15pts)
Read the text carefully then do the activities :
Killer Oil
The story is one of tragedy and fraud. It started in May 1981, when travelling salesmen in Northern and Central Spain started selling cheap olive oil. They guaranteed that it was pure, and had sold vast quantities around Madrid, Valladolid and Leon, before anyone realized that anything was wrong.
Like most Mediterranean countries, Spain uses olive oil in its *****ng: and when people started falling ill in May, nobody suspected that that it was the *****ng oil which was the cause of the illness. It was a medical mystery: doctors and scientists were completely baffled by the spread of the strange disease.
There were several theories about what was happening. At first, it was thought that bad fish had caused the food poisoning, and later, that it was rotten fruit. It wasn’t until June that a children’s doctor in Madrid made the connection between the sickness and the oil. Immediately the government started issuing public warnings, and offered to take any suspect oil, giving pure oil in exchange. This stopped the spread of the poison. But it was too late for the thousands of people who had already eaten the contaminated substance. People who had been affected could not eat or sleep, had pains all over their body, suffered headaches and fevers, and difficulty in breathing. Some of them even died.
Doctors and scientists were not sure what the poison was. The most popular theory was that a Spanish company imported some industrial oil from France, and tried to remove the impurities by boiling it at 200°C. They mixed it to a small amount of olive oil to give it a taste, and then sent it to the salesmen to sell as pure olive oil. When they boiled the oil however, they created a new substance, which was poisonous and unknown to the medical authorities. At on time, twenty thousand people in Spain were analyzing the oil, trying to find a cure for the poison. By March 1982, they had still not found a way of curing the illness caused by the oil. The Spanish Health Ministry admitted that all antidotes so far tried, had been unsuccessful. While the medical authorities were carrying out the various analyses, the police arrested fourteen people suspected of being responsible for oil poisoning.
(Adapted from Modern English International, Number 5, May 1982)
1- Are the following statements “true” or “false”?
a- Like Spain, Algeria uses olive oil in its *****ng.
b- Bad fish had caused the food poisoning.
c- The authorities took measures to stop the spread of the poison.
d- All antidotes so far tried had been inefficient.
2-Read the text again and answer the following questions:
a- Why did many people buy that oil?
b- What words or phrases suggest that the oil poisoning was a strange disease?
c- What measures did the authorities take to prevent the disease from developing?
d- What makes this story one of tragedy and fraud?
3-In which paragraph is it mentioned that the authorities took measures to prevent the sickness from developing?

4- The text is: a- descriptive. b- narrative.
5- The text is: a- a letter b- an article c- a poem.
6- a-Find in the text words which mean : corruption(§1) - huge(§1) - toxic(§4)
b-Find in the text words whose definitions follow:
1)-a very sad event or situation, especially one that involves death.(§1)
2)-a substance that causes death or harm if it is swallowed or absorbed into the body.(§4)
c-Find in the text the opposite of: buy(§4).
7- Combine the following pairs of sentences using the words between brackets. Make any necessary changes:
a- The rules in modern economy are clear. Businessmen and firms can not misunderstand them. (so……that)
b- He is a famous person. He attracts a large buying public. (such……that)
c-We fight fraud and corruption. We act now. (as long as)
d-He was involved in the car crash yesterday. He had to be taken to hospital. (consequently)
8- Rewrite sentence “b” so that it means the same as “a”:
1) a- The authorities are taking measures to stop the spread of the disease.
b- Measures………………………………………………………………..
2) a- The causes of the disease are known.
b- They…………………………………………………………………….
3) a- You think that the public authorities should make anti-corruption laws more stringent.
b- It’s(high/ about) time……………………………………………………………………
9- Underline the stressed syllable in each word:
a- economics - b- mathematics - c- ethics - d-physics.
10- Fill in the gaps with the following words so that the text makes sense:
disease- contaminated- causes- experts.
It has been three years since Spaniards in poor districts of Madrid and in villages of Castille and Leon, began falling ill from………………….oil. Or did they? An unpublished report from the national panel charged of investigating the case, says that the oil probably was not the cause of the……………..Most………….. think that the report is wrong. But the………….of the illness remain a mystery.
PART TWO: WRITTEN EXPRES​SION(05pts)
Choose one of the following topics:
Topic01: Use the following notes to write a composition on the following topic.
People say “Honesty is the best policy”. Contrary to fact in our society/ Few people care for moral values/ Most think only about profit and material wealth/ ……Patriotism. A sense of responsibility. Work, etc.

Topic 02: Ethical standards are an important dimension in business. Write an article that reports unethical behaviour in this profession and how the law deals with it.



GOOD LUCK

Keys

PART ONE:Reading and Interpreting (15pts)
1)
a- T
b- F
c- T
d- T


0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
2) a- Many people bought that oil because it was cheap.
b- A medical mystery. / Doctors and scientists were baffled by the spread of the strange disease.
c- The authorities started issuing public warning and offered to take any suspect oil, giving pure oil in exchange.
d- It is a tragedy because many people died/ It is a fraud because buying poisonous oil is an unethical practice/ (It is an illegal practice).
01
01

01

01

03)In the third paragraph.
01
04) answer “b”
0.5
05)answer “b”
0.5
06)a) fraud vast poisonous
b) 1) tragedy 2) poison.
c) sell
0.75
0.5
0.25
07) a- The rules in modern economy are so clear that businessmen and firms cannot misunderstand them.
b- He is such a famous person that he attracts a large buying public.
c- He was involved in the car crash yesterday consequently he had to be taken to hospital.
d- We will fight fraud and corruption as long as we act now.
0.5

0.5
0.5

0.5
08) a- Measures are being taken to stop the spread of the disease.
b- They know the causes of the disease.
c-It’s (high/ about time) the public authorities made anti-corruption laws more stringent.
0.5
0.5
0.5
09)a- economics b- mathematics c- ethics d-physics
01
10) 1- contaminated 2- disease 3- experts 4- causes
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.25
PART TWO:Writing (05pts)
Topic01: Form: 03
*******:02
Topic02: Form: 02
*******: 03

05