Evaluation on Reading Comprehension

Evaluation on Reading Comprehension

by Elena Centiu

​Examenul de bacalaureat naţional 2022

Proba C de evaluare a competenţelor lingvistice într-o limbă de circulaţie internaţională studiată pe parcursul învăţământului liceal Proba scrisă la Limba engleză

Toate filierele, profilurile şi specializările/ calificările

​ÎNŢELEGEREA TEXTULUI CITIT

SUBIECTUL I (40 de puncte)

Read the text below. Are the sentences 1-5 'Right' (A) or 'Wrong' (B)? If there is not enough information to answer 'Right' (A) or 'Wrong' (B), choose 'Doesn't say' (C). Mark A, B or C on your exam sheet.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married on May 19, 2018. The couple’s decision to get married on a Saturday went against tradition, as royal weddings usually take place on a weekday. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got married on a Friday and the Queen on a Thursday. The chosen date fell on the same day as the FA Cup final at Wembley, a match that Prince Harry's best man, the Duke of Cambridge, usually attends as president of the Football Association to present the trophy. The May date may also have been selected in order to give the Duchess of Cambridge time to recover after the birth of her third child, Prince Louis. The marriage of Prince Harry and Markle took place in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle at 12pm. They became the 16th royal couple to celebrate their marriage at Windsor Castle since 1863.​

​The Queen allowed the ceremony to be held there, and many aspects of the wedding, including the service, music, flowers, decorations and reception, were paid for by the royal family. One week before the ceremony, the Queen signed the Instrument of Consent - the official document giving her grandson permission to marry. After the couple were married, they travelled by carriage from St George's Chapel through Windsor town returning to Windsor Castle along the Long Walk. Alexi Lubomirski then took the official photographs at Windsor Castle. "They hope this short journey will provide an opportunity for more people to come together around Windsor and to enjoy the atmosphere of this special day," a statement from Kensington Palace said. "Following the service, there will be a reception at St George's Hall for the couple and the guests.

Later that evening, the Prince of Wales will give a private evening reception for the couple and their close friends and family." Sir Elton John performed at the lunchtime reception for the newlyweds, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry asked Sir Elton to perform at the reception which was hosted by Her Majesty The Queen.

​

(adapted from https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/royal-wedding-2018)​

Multiple Choice

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle married on May 19, 2018. The couple’s decision to get married on a Saturday went against tradition, as royal weddings usually take place on a weekday.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle didn’t get married on a traditional day for royal weddings.

• Right

• Wrong

• Doesn't say

Multiple Choice

The chosen date fell on the same day as the FA Cup final at Wembley, a match that Prince Harry's best man, the Duke of Cambridge, usually attends as president of the Football Association to present the trophy.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding took place after the FA Cup final at Wembley.

• Right

• Wrong

• Doesn't say

Multiple Choice

The marriage of Prince Harry and Markle took place in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle at 12pm. They became the 16th royal couple to celebrate their marriage at Windsor Castle since 1863.

It was the first time a wedding had taken place at Windsor Castle.

• Right

• Wrong

• Doesn't say

Multiple Choice

After the couple were married, they travelled by carriage from St George's Chapel through Windsor town returning to Windsor Castle along the Long Walk. Alexi Lubomirski then took the official photographs at Windsor Castle. "They hope this short journey will provide an opportunity for more people to come together around Windsor and to enjoy the atmosphere of this special day," a statement from Kensington Palace said. "Following the service, there will be a reception at St George's Hall for the couple and the guests. Later that evening, the Prince of Wales will give a private evening reception for the couple and their close friends and family

The newlyweds went on their honeymoon immediately after the wedding.

• Right

• Wrong

• Doesn't say

Multiple Choice

Sir Elton John performed at the lunchtime reception for the newlyweds, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry asked Sir Elton to perform at the reception which was hosted by Her Majesty The Queen.

Sir Elton John was asked by the Queen to sing at the wedding.

• Right

• Wrong

• Doesn't say

​SUBIECTUL al II-lea (60 de puncte)

Read the text below. For questions 1-10, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

​

What would happen if every person on Earth adopted a vegan diet – without milk, meat, honey, or any other animal-sourced food? It’s a (very) hypothetical question, but environmental writer Paul Allen argues that it's more relevant than ever. The idea of everyone adopting a vegan diet might sound extreme, but in the last decade, the number of people in the UK following a plant-based diet has risen 340%. There are now over 0.5 million British vegans – with around 20% of 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK following a vegetarian or vegan diet.

​

You can see this growing interest in veganism all around us. From the explosion of dairy-free milk alternatives on supermarket shelves and the growing number of celebrity advocates like Liam Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, to movies like “Cowspiracy” and Simon Amstell’s futuristic vegan comedy “Carnage”. What was recently a radical lifestyle choice is slowly moving into the mainstream.

For scientists, policymakers and economists, the idea of a vegan future is especially interesting – and one of the biggest reasons is the environment. Your fridge might seem an unlikely setting for the fight against global warming, but did you know that food is responsible for over one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions? What’s more, meat and dairy make up the vast majority of that carbon footprint​.

The UN says that farmed livestock accounts for 14.5% of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions (with cow burps a surprisingly big culprit). To put that into perspective, the BBC reported that this is roughly equivalent to the exhaust emissions of every car, train, ship and aircraft on the planet. If we all went vegan, the world’s food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050 according to a recent report on food and climate in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study’s authors from Oxford University put the economic value of these emissions savings at around £440 billion.

Being vegan doesn’t necessarily mean you’re eating healthily. You can chow down on junk food – and miss out on vital nutrients – whether you eat meat or not. For example, vegan diets are naturally low in calcium, vitamin D, iron, vitamin B12, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. If you are following a vegan diet it is important to include protein from foods such as nuts, seeds, beans and pulses. Of particular note are lentils, chickpeas, tofu and soya versions of milk and yogurt. Other good sources include cashew, pistachios, flaxseed, chia and pumpkin seeds, buckwheat and quinoa. At the same time, some vegan products contain a lot of coconut oil, for example, which is high in saturated fat. That said, it’s easy to get the right food balance as a vegan, but you need to be aware of what you’re eating – good advice for omnivores and herbivores alike.

We know that Western diets are linked to many health problems including heart disease, diabetes and obesity. In 2015, the World Health Organisation went so far as to categorise processed meat as “carcinogenic”, along with asbestos, alcohol and arsenic. With fewer cases of lower coronary heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, its researchers report that a global vegan diet would also result in 8.1 million fewer deaths per year worldwide. This would have projected cost savings of “$700–1,000 billion per year on healthcare, unpaid care and lost working days”. Would a vegan future make food poverty history? If it’s about freeing up space and resources for growing food, there’s some evidence to back that up. A meat-eater’s diet requires 17 times more land, 14 times more water and 10 times more energy than a vegetarian’s, according to research published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This is principally because we use a large proportion of the world’s land for growing crops to feed livestock, rather than humans.

This squeeze on resources is only set to intensify. In 50 years’ time, the UN predicts there will be 10.5 billion people on the planet (the current world population is around 7 billion). To feed us all, it says, we will need to grow food more sustainably. Dr Walt Willett, professor of medicine at Harvard University, says we could eliminate the worst cases of world hunger today with about 40 million tonnes of food – yet 760 million tonnes is fed to animals on farms every year. One of the counter-arguments against this vegan solution is that some grazing land simply isn’t suitable for growing crops. That’s certainly true, but there’s actually a bigger problem with eradicating world hunger. Right now, we already produce more than 1½ times the amount of food needed to feed everyone on the planet. It just doesn’t get to everyone in need. In other words, having enough to eat is as much about politics and big business as dietary choices.

It should also be remembered that we've been farming and eating livestock for around 10,000 years. Our diet isn’t just the food on our plate – it shapes everything from our jobs and trade to our religious and cultural identities. Today, the global meat and dairy industries provide work for millions of people in often very poor communities around the world.

​

​(adapted from https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide)

Multiple Choice

What would happen if every person on Earth adopted a vegan diet – without milk, meat, honey, or any other animal-sourced food? The environmental writer Paul Allen argues that it's more relevant than ever. [...] in the last decade, the number of people in the UK following a plant-based diet has risen 340%. There are now over 0.5 million British vegans – with around 20% of 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK following a vegetarian or vegan diet.

What is the writer’s purpose in the first paragraph?

• to prove that veganism is irrelevant nowadays

• to explain why people adopt a vegan diet

• to bring arguments in favour of adopting a vegan diet

• to show that the number of vegans has risen

Multiple Choice

You can see this growing interest in veganism all around us. From the explosion of dairy-free milk alternatives on supermarket shelves and the growing number of celebrity advocates like Liam Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, to movies like “Cowspiracy” and Simon Amstell’s futuristic vegan comedy “Carnage”. What was recently a radical lifestyle choice is slowly moving into the mainstream.

What did veganism use to be?

• a common lifestyle choice

• an extreme lifestyle choice

• a choice that only the healthiest people made

• a lifestyle supported by chemists

Multiple Choice

For scientists, policymakers and economists, the idea of a vegan future is especially interesting – and one of the biggest reasons is the environment. Your fridge might seem an unlikely setting for the fight against global warming, but did you know that food is responsible for over one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions? [...] farmed livestock accounts for 14.5% of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions. [...] this is roughly equivalent to the exhaust emissions of every car, train, ship and aircraft on the planet. If we all went vegan, the world’s food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050 according to a recent report on food and climate in the journal PNAS. The study’s authors from Oxford University put the economic value of these emissions savings at around £440 billion.

A vegan future would benefit the environment because

• it would mean fewer greenhouse emissions.

• there would be fewer vehicles transporting the animals.

• people would pay more attention to what they throw away.

• people would be more aware of the importance of recycling.

Multiple Choice

Being vegan doesn’t necessarily mean you’re eating healthily. You can chow down on junk food – and miss out on vital nutrients – whether you eat meat or not. For example, vegan diets are naturally low in calcium, vitamin D, iron, vitamin B12, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. If you are following a vegan diet it is important to include protein from foods such as nuts, seeds, beans and pulses. [...]. At the same time, some vegan products contain a lot of coconut oil, for example, which is high in saturated fat. That said, it’s easy to get the right food balance as a vegan, but you need to be aware of what you’re eating – good advice for omnivores and herbivores alike.

What does being vegan mean?

• eating healthy and nutritious meals

• paying attention to the food balance

• having to eat junk food at times

• casting aside prejudices about meat.

Multiple Choice

In 2015, the World Health Organisation went so far as to categorise processed meat as “carcinogenic”, along with asbestos, alcohol and arsenic. With fewer cases of lower coronary heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, its researchers report that a global vegan diet would also result in 8.1 million fewer deaths per year worldwide.

According to the researchers of the World Health Organisation, a global vegan diet would

• reduce the rate of mortality.

• have little effect on the money spent on healthcare.

• mean people would become more interested in healthy eating.

• have effect solely on the environment.

Multiple Choice

A meat-eater’s diet requires 17 times more land, 14 times more water and 10 times more energy than a vegetarian’s [...]. This is principally because we use a large proportion of the world’s land for growing crops to feed livestock, rather than humans. (Of the world’s approximately five billion hectares of agricultural land, 68% is used for livestock.)

What is much of the world’s land used for?

• growing livestock

• growing animal feed

• growing crops to feed humans

• growing trees

Multiple Choice

In 50 years’ time, the UN predicts there will be 10.5 billion people on the planet (the current world population is around 7 billion). To feed us all, we will need to grow food more sustainably. Dr Walt Willett [...] says we could eliminate the worst cases of world hunger today with about 40 million tonnes of food – yet 760 million tonnes is fed to animals on farms every year.

According to the UN, the rise of population will mean

• food being grown while maintaining the ecological balance.

• that food poverty will have to be eliminated.

• feeding less food to animals.

• that more and more land will be needed to feed all the people.

Multiple Choice

[...] but there’s actually a bigger problem with eradicating world hunger. Right now, we already produce more than 1½ times the amount of food needed to feed everyone on the planet. It just doesn’t get to everyone in need. In other words, having enough to eat is as much about politics and big business as dietary choices.

The most serious issue when it comes to eliminating world hunger is

• producing more food.

• creating more space to grow crops.

• breeding more livestock.

• getting the food where it is needed.

Multiple Choice

It should also be remembered that we've been farming and eating livestock for around 10,000 years. Our diet isn’t just the food on our plate – it shapes everything from our jobs and trade to our religious and cultural identities. Today, the global meat and dairy industries provide work for millions of people in often very poor communities around the world.

Our diet has effects on

• our health and spare time.

• various aspects of life.

• other people’s perception of us.

• our old age and our mentality.

Multiple Choice

What is the tone of the article?

• melancholic

• matter-of-fact

• gloomy

• hopeful