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FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DES ECOLES

EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF SCHOOLSOrganisation non gouvernementale dote du statut participatif auprs du Conseil de lEuropeNGO enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe

Fdration Europenne Des Ecoles - European Federation of Schools Janvier 2012UC B4 Anglais - Sujet

UE B - LANGUE VIVANTE

EUROPEENNE

UC B4 - Anglais Ecrit

Aucun dictionnaire autoris

Les rponses doivent tre reportes sur la fiche optique fournie

Type dpreuve : QCM et Essai

Dure : 1h45

Session : Janvier 2012

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Fdration Europenne Des Ecoles - European Federation of Schools Janvier 2012 2/10UC B4 Anglais - Sujet

UC B4 - ANGLAIS ECRIT

BAREME DE NOTATION

1/ Questionnaire Choix Multiples* 60 points

2/ Texte complter* 90 points

3/ Essai 70 points

Total 220 points

*DETAIL DU BAREME DE NOTATION DU QCM ET DU TEXTE A COMPLETER

Pour chacune des questions une seule rponse est possible.

Bonne rponse 3 points

Absence de rponse 0 point

Rponse errone -1 point

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1/ Questionnaire choix multiples

Texte de comprhension n1

PEN PUSHERS OUT

The Government vs. Civil Servants

Greece is being dragged kicking and screaming into confronting one of its biggest obstacles to reform analmost unsackable civil service. Civil servants working week has already been increased from 37.5 hours to40 hours, a way of reducing overtime payments. A unified salary scale is about to be introduced, smoothingout differences between ministries and slashing allowances. It was supposed to have been brought in 13months ago.

Under pressure from the European Union, the IMF and the Central European Bank, Greece has agreed toarrange mergers and closures of 150 state organisations and to transfer thousands of workers to a so-calledstrategic reserve. They will be put on 60% of their previous salary. Those who do not find another public-sector job within 12 months will be fired.

It is an embarrassing climb down for George Papandreou, the prime minister.He has tried to avoid dismissals of public-sector workers, who form a power base for his Panhellenic SocialistMovement. Worried party officials say the political cost of his decision will be high. The jobless rate hit arecord 16.6% in May.

But the government has run out of wiggle room. Without civil service cuts, the second bail-out, worth 109billion and agreed in July could fall apart. It already looks shaky.

Greece has agreed to cut 150,000 public-sector jobs by 2014. Mr Papandreou desperate to please creditorsnow is expected to oblige.

Taken from The Economist September 10th 2011

1. This article deals with:a. what Mr. Papandreous government must do to receive bail-out funds from European financial

institutionsb. how civil service jobs will no longer exist in Greece by 2014c. Mr. Papandreou stepping down from his dutiesd. the mergers and closures of the IMF and the Central European Bank

2. Unsackable means:a.

uncontrollableb. not able to be made redundant

c. packaged and deliveredd. powerless

3. A way of reducing overtime payments refers to:a. State workers who will have longer working weeksb. State workers will continue working very hardc. State workers will no longer be paid overtimed. State workers were never allowed to work extra hours in the past

4. Smoothing out differences means:a. concealingthe differencesb. pinpointing the differencesc. minimizing the variationsd. making the differences more unpleasant

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5. The IMF stands for:a. Internal Money Foundationb. International Monetary Fundc. International Management Fundd. International Money Foundation

6. Put on 60 % of their previous salary can be understood to mean:a. that civil service workers must pay back 60 % of their former salaryb. that 60 % of public sector salaries will be put on next years budgetc. that only 60 % of state workers will continue to receive pay checksd. that civil service workers will be given 40 % less of their previous salary

7. An embarrassing climb down for George Papandreou means:a. Mr. Papandreou will need to step down as prime ministerb. Mr. Papandreou will need to change his policy on civil service jobsc. Mr. Papandreous popularity in the polls will go downd. Mr. Papandreou will need to gather more votes for his next election bid

8. The leaders of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement think that:a. Mr Papandreou is spending too much money on political campaigningb. Mr. Papandreou should not have run for electionc. Mr. Papandreou is likely to lose votes in the next electionsd. the Panhellenic Socialist Movement doesnt intend to back Mr. Papandreou any longer

9. Shaky means:a. likely to failb. needlessc. steadyd. resolved

10.The sentence Mr. Papandreou desperate to please creditors now is expected to obligemeans that:

a. credit institutions are forcing Mr. Papandreou and his government to go bankruptb. Mr. Papandreou will eventually be forced to resign from his position as prime ministerc. credit is going to be allotted to pay for the political costs of the Panhellenic Socialist Movementd. Mr. Papandreou has to do whatever creditors ask in order to procure bail-out funds

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Texte de comprhension n2

TIME TO BRACE FOR THE NEXT 9/11The biggest threat to America isnt terrorism.

Its the wrath of Mother Nature.

Paul Stockton , the Pentagons point man for security in the homeland, plans for the kind of apocalypticevents that could forever change the lives of millions of Americans. Assistant Secretary of DefenseStockton, a lifelong academic who speaks passionate jargon, calls them complex catastrophes with cascadingeffects and, like Sept. 11, 2001, these new tragedies could have gut-wrenching social and politicalconsequences. Yet, the horrors hes preparing for are far bigger than 9/11: tens of thousands of people killed,the economy devastated, national security gravely compromised. And the terrorist who will be responsible forthese atrocities is Mother Nature. Stocktons yardstick for cataclysms is disasters even more severe thanHurricane Katrina.

Theyre coming. Of that, Stockton and other disaster-specialists have little doubt. Last month the East Coastsuffered the psychological shock of a relatively small earthquake and what turned out to be a pretty weakhurricane after some pretty strong hype. Apocalypse Not headlined the New York Post; New York Citydodged a bullet as mayor Michael Bloomberg put it. But, New Jersey, upstate New York, and several statesin New England didnt.

In Conneticut alone, a record 650,000 households lost power, many of them for several days. In Vermont,food had to be airlifted to towns cut off by flooding. All told, Hurricane Irene killed 43 people in the UnitedStates, and estimates of the damage range up to $20 billion.

Thats just a little taste of things to come. Whatever the cause greenhouse gases, natural warming, or

both-- rising temperatures and sea levels already are breeding bigger, more intense hurricanes and

moredangerous storm surges. Former vice-president Al Gore, the teller of inconvenient truths aboutclimatechange, says it is absolutely a national-security issue. We can expect continued increases in the

frequency and severity of extreme floods, droughts, wildfires, storms and other events, he says. We need tobegin the process now of preparing for the disasters that are to come.

Taken from Newsweek September 12, 2011

11.This article deals with:a. the reporting of hurricanes for the Eastern coast of the United Statesb. the last speech made by former vice-president Al Gore on national securityc. how the United States must start seriously gearing up for future climate change that could cause

havocd. the Homeland Security plan to keep temperatures down to avoid droughts

12.wrath of Mother Nature is a warning to:a. Americans about the risk of natural disastersb. the terrorists attacking the American soilc. the Homeland Security who sees no necessity to act on the causes of climate changed. the American Defense department about their failure to protect Americans from natural disasters

13.Mr Stocktons job is to:a. keep security in peoples homesb. assure that American lives are safe when a disaster hits theAmerican landc. point out interesting events to the Defense Department that could help change American lives for

the betterd. run the Pentagon

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14.Gut-wrenching can be interpreted to mean:a. agonisingb. twistedc. audaciousd. strained

15.What is Stocktons yardstick?a. the last attack by terrorists in the United States: 9/11.b. any kind of terrorism used against human lifec. a standard for comparing and measuring disastersd. a hurricane detection system

16.What turned out to be a pretty weak hurricane after some pretty strong hype showsthat the author believes:

a. the information given to the public about Hurricane Irenes eventual impact was not exaggeratedb. people were not informed early enoughc. no one tried to predict the eventual impactd. the warnings given to the public about the hurricane turned out to be over-exaggerated

17.In regards to the state of Connecticut:a. it was the only state that suffered damageb. its inhabitants had to deal with blackouts for several daysc. it consumed the most amount of electrical power of all the states on the Eastern seaboardd. 650,000 houses were destroyed by the loss of power

18.The author wants us to believe that:a. America doesnt really have to worry too much about climate changeb. Hurricanes only occur on the Eastern seaboardc. Hurricane Katrina and Irene are only the beginning of what will be even worse storms to comed. Climate change will only continue to occur for a short time

19.The word breeding means:a. hinderingb. blockingc. generatingd. tracking down

20.Former vice-president Al Gores opinion on climate change is:a. climate change requires urgent attention: American security is at riskb. he thinks that the scientists are trying to hide the truth about the causes of hurricanes and stormsc. he does not consider America to be at any riskd. he would like Americans to forget about national security issues

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2/ Texte complter

Its grim down South

Young Greeks, Italians and Spaniards respond ____21______different ways to their plight.

Although Spains ______22________-unemployment figures are the European Unions worst,those of Greece are not much better; along with Italy (which _____23______a little better on this particularmeasure) these Mediterranean economies share a savage distinction between older insiders with permanentemployment and generous benefits---a class which definitely includes the _____24______ politicians ---andyounger outsiders on short-term contracts with minimum ______25________.

In Italy, where the government ______26_______ the idea of making it easier for firms to hire youngerworkers by ______27______some labor rules, the countrys largest trade-union federation shows what Italianyoungsters are up______28_______: This would damage the rights of all workers in order to help theyoung, Vincenzo Scudiere of the CGOL told The Wall Street Journal. A notorious Greek law_____29______in 1992 forced new entrants to the workforce (and their employers) to pay higher payroll taxesthan those already employed. Savas Robolis, head of research at INE-GSEE, a union-____30_______ think-

tank, says that over two-thirds of Greek employees are 43 or older.

Yet, _____31______their similar predicaments, the youth of Southern Europe has responded to the crisis invery different ways. When _____32________of young Spaniards emerged in May, apparently out of nowhere,to turn Puerta Del Sol, a square in central Madrid, into a tent city, the tenor of their complaint was far fromrevolutionary. The ______33_______ young protesters, dubbed indignados, devoted _____34_______ totalking through and voting on every issue that occurred to them; alcohol was _______35______ upon.

Polls found that up to 80% of Spaniards had some sympathy with the peaceable young protestors, who havecalled without much controversy for a reform _____36_____Spains voting system to allow ____37_______parties to break the current duopoly, an end to political corruption, mercy for mortgage-defaulters and a bit ofa biffing for bankers.

While young Spaniards have been demonstrating young Italians have been______38______. For some timeItaly has been ______39_______more graduates than it imports. Italians of all ages feel a weary fatalism aftera decade of almost ____40______economic growth. Spaniards and Greeks by contrast, have been whiskedabruptly and painfully from boom to_______41_________.

Indeed, the Greek journey has been the most dramatic of_____42_____, and a tradition of sometimes violentprotest found ample opportunity for expression after May 2010, when the country accepted its firstinternational bail-out. _____43_____then, youth unemployment has risen____44____ over a third.And behind the sound and fury of Greeces protests there is a growing sense____45_____ young people thatthey can do ______46________to improve their prospects. Rather than ______47______the idealism of their

Spanish brethren, many are following the Italian example and seeking opportunities elsewhere. It wont below-skilled workers leaving, ____48_____in the 1960s says Mr. Robolis: it ____49____theeducated elite.The protesters accomplished nothing; they were just sent______50______ says a young woman standing infront of Greeces parliament handing out flyers advertising cash for gold; her job pays 4 Euros an hour, shesays; she was lucky to get it through a friend.

Abridged from The Economist September 10th

2011

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21.

a. inb. byc. tod. with

22.a. youthsb. youthsc. youthd. youngsters

23.

a. fareb. fairc. fairsd. fares

24.a. countriesb. countriesc. countryd. countries

25.

a. vowsb. restraintsc. entitlementsd. liabilities

26.

a. floatingb. is floatedc. has floatedd. float

27.

a. easingb. leasingc. annoyingd. comforting

28.

a. withb. againstc. insided. along

29.

a. pastb. has been passingc. passedd. passes

30.

a. baseb. basicc. basisd. based

31.a. despite ofb. inspitec. despited. in spite

32.

a. ten of thousandb. tens of thousandsc. ten of thousandsd. tens of thousand

33.a. earnestb. earnedc. earningd. earners

34.

a. their selvesb. themselvesc. themd. themself

35.

a. laughedb. calledc. lookedd. frowned

36.

a. withb. toc. atd. in

37.

a. fewerb. smallestc. littlestd. smaller

38.

a. immigratedb. immigratingc. migratedd. migrating

39.

a. exportingb. exportedc. to exportingd. being exported

40.a. noneb. of nonec. fewd. no

41.

a. businessb. bustc. bankruptd. bottleneck

42.a. everyb. eachc. noned. all

43.

a. Forb. Sincec. Everd. While

44.

a. inb. atc. byd. per

45.

a. amongb. betweenc. throughd. along-side

46.

a. a littleb. fewc. littled. a few

47.

a. shunb. rejectc. steerd. ape

48.

a. similarb. alikec. liked. whereas

49.a. wont beb. is beingc. will bed. is willing to be

50.

a. awayb. aheadc. besided. over

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Fdration Europenne Des Ecoles - European Federation of Schools Janvier 2012 10/10

3/ Essai

Explain what the term austerity means in regards to economics.

How do you think an austerity programmme can help a country to regain economic stability?

At the same time, how influential are the protest movements such as Les Indignanos in Spain

and Occupy Wall Street in America in todays economic crisis? Are their demands coherent

and legitimate to you? In your opinion are these protests the last sign of real democracy in

todays world or are they merely the usual expressions of youthful discontent?

Answer in English in 400 words (+ or - 10 %).

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