Universitatea din București

FLLS – Limbi moderne aplicate

Examen de licență – iunie 2018

LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p): Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator on Brexit, has
warned that Theresa May’s backstop solution to avoid a border on the island of Ireland raises “more questions
than answers” as he ruled out the whole of the UK staying in the customs union and key parts of the single
market after Brexit. The EU’s chief negotiator told a press conference in Brussels, as he insisted the UK needed
to be pragmatic and accept that Northern Ireland would have to be treated differently to the rest of the country,
with checks taking place on goods travelling across the Irish Sea. The backstop plan is set to snap into effect
should a free trade deal or technological solution not be in place by the end of the transition period to prevent
the need for a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. The EU has suggested that Northern
Ireland effectively stay in the customs union and adhere to large parts of the single market rules in such a
scenario, a proposal flatly rejected by Downing Street as it would create a border within the UK. Barnier said
the EU was willing to consider the prime minister’s suggestion – made in a document published on 7 June –
that the UK stay in the customs union after the transition period to avoid some checks, although he said it could
not be a “time limited” arrangement. But he would not countenance the UK staying in parts of the single
market, as that would be cherry-picking access. The UK has yet to say what it would do with regard to
avoiding the border checks necessary on goods travelling in and out of the single market. Barnier said, however,
that there could be no suggestion of the UK as a whole taking advantage of the offer made for Northern Ireland
to stay in regulatory alignment and therefore avoid the need for checks on goods travelling to and from the EU.
He detected, he said, a sense of nostalgia among some British negotiators for the privileges of EU membership,
but the bloc had been clear that it was not willing to grant “à la carte” single market access.“ Sometimes I sense
in those proposals some sort of nostalgia at the moment of leaving the European Union, since you want to stay
everywhere without ever again respecting the regulatory framework,” Barnier said, saying UK ministers
including Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, had put forward “all sorts of proposals that surprise us, that
appear paradoxical. We respect Britain’s red lines. I’d wish the British would respect their own red lines too.”
He added: “Let me be clear: our backstop cannot be extended to the UK. Why? Because it has been designed for
the specific situation of Northern Ireland ... Let’s go back to pragmatism.” No 10 immediately hit back at
Barnier’s rejection of a UK-wide backstop, saying May “has been clear that we will never accept a customs
border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom”. Downing Street suggested Barnier’s
comments were still up for debate. “All parties must recall their commitment in the joint report to protect the
Belfast agreement in all its parts. Michel Barnier has confirmed today that discussions will now continue on our
proposal,” the spokesman said.

(https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jun/08/michel-barnier-rejects-may-uk-wide-brexit-backstop-plan, 8 June 2018)

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (has warned; should not be in place; would
not countenance; had been clear; sense; will never accept) (6x 0.4= 2.40p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: border; single market;
checks; goods; to snap into effect; to consider; arrangement; cherry-picking; to avoid; alignment;
membership; foreign secretary; red lines; parties; joint report (15 x 0.20= 3 points)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: Brexit; customs union; free
trade; European Union; regulatory framework (5 x 0.4 = 2 points)
4. In each of the sentences below there is a mistake. Identify it, explain why it is a mistake and give the
correct form: 1. This policeman is so criminal! Just look at him! 2. He is an awake person. 3. He sent Japan the
goods. 4. On the table walks a cat. (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)
Universitatea din București
FLLS – Limbi moderne aplicate
Examen de licență – iunie 2018

BAREM
LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

Punctajul acordat pentru lucrarea scrisa la engleza A/B este urmatorul:

1. 9 + 1 punct din oficiu = 10

2. 9 + 1 punct din oficiu=10 (2.1 = 2,4 puncte (6x 0.4= 2.40p); 2.2 = 3 puncte (0,2 x 15); 2.3 = 2 puncte
(5 x 0.4 = 2 points); 2.4 = 1,6 puncte (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)

Nota finala este media aritmetica a notelor obtinute la fiecare dintre cele doua exercitii.

Exercitiul al doilea (Language in use)

2.1. cele 2,4 puncte se acorda pentru identificarea corecta a timpurilor si a valorilor contextuale
2.2. cele trei puncte se acorda pentru indicarea corecta a sinonimelor contextuale
2.3. cele doua puncte se acorda pentru definirea corecta a termenilor si utilizarea lor in propozitii corect
construite in limba engleza
2.4. cele 1,6 puncte se acorda pentru identificarea greselii, explicatia adecvata si indicarea formei corecte

Traducerea din engleza in romana:

Se noteaza corectitudinea si acuratetea exprimarii in limba romana, redarea adecvata a sensului textului in limba
engleza. Se depuncteaza cu doua puncte abaterile grave de la sensul textului, distorsionarea totala a intelesului
ca si exprimarea confuza in limba romana. Se apreciaza eleganta exprimarii in limba romana, gasirea de solutii
cit mai aproape de sensul textului englezesc. Se depuncteaza greselile de ortografie in limba romana – cinci
greseli = 1 punct. Se pot puncta cu un bonus de un punct pana la doua puncte solutiile ingenioase de traducere.
Universitatea din Bucureşti
Facultatea de Limbi și Literaturi Străine
Limbi Moderne Aplicate

Examen de licenţă: engleză – septembrie 2017

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p):

Joseph Muscat, Maltese PM, who has been on the inside track of the Brexit talks in recent months
while Malta held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, has spoken of his
growing belief that the UK will remain an EU member. “The will of the people can have disastrous
consequences, history teaches us” Muscat said. “I could name some examples, but they are so horrendous
they’d raise the wrath of my British friends. For the first time, I’m starting to believe that Brexit will not
happen. I am seeing hopeful signs that indicate things will change. I see encouraging signs that the tide is
turning. I’m not saying the Brits have made a mistake, but the mood is changing.” Muscat, who is leader of
the Maltese Labour party, added: “People see that their fundamentally valid vote has been given an answer that
does not offer a solution. “The referendum was democratic, but has resulted in a situation in which everyone
loses. Doubt is creeping in. It would be good if a political leader in the UK stands up and is courageous
enough to address this new situation. Someone who says: let’s put the Brexit end-deal to a popular vote.” As it
stands, the final deal negotiated with the EU will be put to a vote in parliament. Theresa May has suggested
that holding a referendum on a withdrawal agreement would only encourage Brussels to present punitive
terms in the hope of keeping the UK inside the bloc. Muscat, however, also dismissed suggestions that
Britain was not well-prepared for the negotiations with the EU. In recent days, the EU’s chief negotiator,
Michel Barnier, has complained about a lack of position papers from Downing Street on key issues, including
the so-called divorce bill. Barnier told EU ambassadors on Wednesday that hopes of widening talks to take in
a future trade deal were likely to be dashed unless the British changed their ways. The Maltese Prime
Minister, a former MEP who studied for a doctorate in the UK, said he did not believe London had stinted on
its preparations. “People who say the Brits don’t know what they are doing are wrong,” he said. “I have lived in
Britain, I know the British mentality. A non-prepared British government official simply doesn’t exist.” The
problem isn’t that London is prepared badly, but that the EU is prepared extremely well. That much became
clear when Michel Barnier asked me, ‘Do you know how many cats and dogs travel from Dover to Calais every
year? Do you know what’s to be done with the animal passport?’ Such detail! That’s when I knew: the EU is
excellently prepared.”

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (has been; will remain; am seeing;
loses; would be good; had stinted) (6x 0.4= 2.40p)

2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: talks; belief;
consequence: wrath; sign; the tide is turning; leader; to creep; to address; punitive; bloc; to
dismiss; to widen; to dash; mentality (15 x 0.20= 3 points)

3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: rotating presidency of the
Council of the European Union, Brexit; referendum; withdrawal agreement; Downing Street (5
x 0.4 = 2 points)

4. Apply Dative Movement in the sentences below; if it is not possible explain why.
1. They brought some flowers to Mary. / They brought some flowers to the table. 2. The sun baked these cookies
for John. / Grandmother baked these cookies for John. 3. They donated the books to Tom. 4. She made a new
dress for her daughter. (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA IUNIE 2017

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p): It’s a strange day when German business leaders -
hardly known for their Bolshevism - are tentatively raising their glasses to toast a favourable election result
for a left-wing, pro-borrowing, high-spending candidate. And yet that is what many boardrooms from
Berlin to Baden Wurttemberg will be doing this morning, however discreetly, after Jeremy Corbyn
outperformed expectations and ate into the Conservative Party’s majority. The reason for this embrace, simply,
is the single market. Initially, there had been little-to-no interest in the UK election in German business
circles. Most, like the polls, assumed a comprehensive win for Theresa May, and the size of her majority was
seen as being of negligible consequence to the direction of Brexit negotiations. As one chief executive of a
German-based multinational put it: “A weak or strong UK government still really has no negotiation power in
the Brexit. The EU will still set the agenda and terms.” Indeed, many firms, especially Germany’s small and
medium-sized businesses that often have close links to the UK - had been working on the assumption of a
so-called “hard Brexit” for months. Quite a few mentioned that they were courting other growing EU
export markets - Poland, for example. But as the polls began to narrow, there was a last minute rush to
understand what a Jeremy Corbyn-led approach to Brexit would be - with some privately concluding that the
chances of keeping Britain in the single market might be higher under Mr. Corbyn, even as they disagreed with
many parts of his economic platform. What seemed like a last minute effort by the head of the German
Employers Association, to find a solution that would enable the UK government to negotiate some form of
single market access after Brexit, suddenly didn’t seem as far-fetched. This morning, Ingo Kramer, the
president of this Association, wasted no time in declaring that the UK election results showed “nationalism and
anti-EU rhetoric” and could not lead to majorities, before adding, somewhat triumphantly: “We can only hope
that more realism and pragmatism will now be injected into the Brexit negotiations.” Jorg Kramer,
Commerzbank’s chief economist, reacted with similar cheer, saying Thursday’s result was a “vote against a
hard Brexit”. The Dax share index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose by almost 1%. Yet the reaction has
not been unanimously favourable. Some, including the influential representatives of the German engineering
firms, said they feared a hung parliament or minority government would derail negotiations for months, or
kick them into the long grass, leading to far greater uncertainty. They said that the result was “bad news” for
German mechanical engineering firms, who export 7.3bn Euros worth to the UK every year, and that there
was now an increased risk of no agreement being reached by the 2019 deadline. The lack of a clear majority had
led to an increase of uncertainty in the German economy, and the road map for Brexit negotiations is now
obsolete. A handful of small business owners, whose trade links with the UK are less vital, suggested a swift
and smooth Brexit resolution remained paramount, as the act itself had long been priced in, whether hard or
soft. But regardless of the reaction, one thing seems certain. German interest in the intricacies of the UK
parliamentary system has never been this high.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (are raising; had been working; were
courting; would be; has not been; export) (6x 0.4= 2.40p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: leader; to toast; left-
wing; to set the agenda; growing; platform; far-fetched; to inject; Stock Exchange; to derail;
worth; obsolete; intricacies; trade (15 x 0.20= 3 points)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: boardroom; single
market; employer; hung parliament; road map (5 x 0.4 = 2 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below. If it is not possible explain why:
1. I don’t really know whether the authorities are looking into your statement. 2. Some of us do not accept when
others oblige us to do what we don’t want to. 3. Mary hates it when people stare at her and she does mind if
they make fun of her. 4. John’s sister will be throwing a party tonight. Knowing her, it does not seem very
appealing, anyway. (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
DEPARTAMENUL DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA FEBRUARIE 2017

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p): Lord King, the former governor of the Bank of
England, has said that the UK should be “self-confident” about leaving the European Union. He said there
were “real opportunities” for economic reform and new trade deals which meant Brexit could be a success.
He highlighted agricultural reform and a developing relationship with the Republic of Ireland as areas where
the UK could be positive. After Brexit, the Irish border will be the only EU-UK land border. “I think the
challenges we face mean it’s not a bed of roses, no one should pretend that, but equally it is not the end of
the world and there are some real opportunities that arise from the fact of Brexit we might take,” he said in an
interview with Radio 4’s Today programme. “There are many opportunities and I think we should look at it
in a much more self-confident way than either side is approaching it at present. “Being out of what is a
pretty unsuccessful European Union - particularly in the economic sense - gives us opportunities as well as
obviously great political difficulties.” Lord King suggested that Britain would be better off economically
completely out of the EU single market and that there were “question marks” about staying in the customs
union as that may constrain the government’s ability to sign trade deals with countries outside the Union. “I
think it’s more difficult to take advantage of those opportunities,” Lord King said when asked about staying
inside the customs union after leaving the EU - a position, for example, adopted by Turkey.” I don’t think it
makes sense for us to pretend we should remain in the single market and I think there are real question
marks about whether it makes sense to remain in the customs union. “Clearly if we do that we cannot make our
own trade deals with other countries.” The government has made it clear it wants to control immigration
laws and be outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, two positions which appear to be
incompatible with membership of the single market. Lord King said the government should outline its
policies on immigration “sooner rather than later” and that it would be a mistake to put the issue into the
“basket” to be negotiated once Article 50 is triggered next year and the formal process of leaving the EU
begins. Lord King defended his successor, Mark Carney, who has faced criticism for being too “political” in
warning about the possible economic consequences of leaving the EU. The former governor said Mr. Carney
had been put in an “almost impossible position” because of the polarised nature of the debate and had
remained well within the Bank of England’s remit to outline the possible path of economic growth in the short
term should Britain vote to leave the EU. Lord King said it was too early to tell what the overall effect on the
economy would be, despite data since the referendum result being more positive than many economists
predicted.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (has said; will be; is approaching;
appear; would be; is triggered) (6x 0.4= 2.40p)

2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: governor; reform; to
highlight; border; challenge; a bed of roses; opportunity; ability; to makes sense; trade;
jurisdiction; membership; successor; to warn; remit (15 x 0.10 = 1.5 points)

3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: Brexit, European Union;
EU single market; customs union; immigration (5 x 0.7 = 3.5 points)

4. Passivize the sentences below. If it is not possible explain why:

1. He is tired of other people sponging on him. 2. They swamped the ordinary voters with information about the
candidates. 3. They expect the Congress will appoint him leader of the party. 4. Mary is admiring herself in the
mirror. She looks good. (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA SEPTEMBRIE 2016

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p): MOST economists were against the idea of Britain leaving the
European Union. But perhaps few felt so strongly about it as the economics lecturer at Cambridge University who,
following the referendum on June 23 rd, turned up to a faculty meeting unclothed with “Brexit leaves Britain naked”
daubed across her torso. Although the form of protest was unusual, the feeling it expressed was not: in a poll conducted
prior to the vote, nine in ten university staff said they would vote to Remain. At University College London (UCL), where
one in ten students comes from the EU, the mood after the result was one of “deep shock, grief and then concern,” says
Michael Arthur, the university’s president. British universities are home to students from all corners: Europeans make
up 6% of the total; another 14% come from the rest of the world. As a result of EU rules, the former are treated like home
students, meaning that in England their fees are capped at £9,000 ($11,900) a year and they have access to state-
provided loans. By contrast, there are no limits on fees for students from the rest of the world. A geography degree at
Oxford, as taken by Theresa May, the current British PM, costs non-EU students £22,430 a year. Jo Johnson, the
universities minister, has confirmed that students from the EU starting their courses in September will continue to
have access to government loans and capped fees. But life will soon get trickier for universities. The big issue is whether
EU students will continue to have access to loans. It may be politically difficult to justify offering them such support. It is
an expensive policy: it is estimated that nearly three-quarters of students will never repay their loans in full, since
outstanding debt is forgotten after 30 years. Withdrawing the loans from EU students, however, would risk a big drop
in their number. Mr. Arthur worries that it could cause a 50-75% fall in the number of EU students at UCL. Others point
out that under such a scenario universities probably would be free to charge higher fees to EU students, as they currently
do for non-Europeans. That may help, but it seems unlikely that any increase in fees would be sufficient to make up for
the fall in student numbers. Those numbers could drop further if foreign students are put off by the referendum result,
which some have interpreted as a sign of hostility towards migrants in general. Brexit comes at an awkward time for
universities. Many have borrowed money to fund expansion, following the government’s decision in 2013 to lift the cap
on the number of students that English universities were able to accept. Some might now find their new lecture halls less
full than they had hoped. Raising funds will get harder, too: on June 29th Moody’s, a ratings agency, lowered the outlook
of six of the seven universities it monitors; post-Brexit the EU’s European Investment Bank may also stop dealing with
British institutions. Support for academic research is another area of concern. EU funding follows research quality,
meaning that Britain receives a hefty share of the kitty (63% more than it contributed, in 2007-13). It may be that Britain
is able to negotiate continued access to European funding, perhaps in return for offering financial support to European
students, speculates Mr Arthur. But there are already reports that British academics have been asked to take their names
off applications for funding, owing to uncertainty over whether they will remain eligible, and that some foreign
academics are reluctant to take jobs in Britain. Most countries do all they can to lure students from around the world,
including seeking to attract the best lecturers. That is sensible: some students stick around, boosting the economy;
others return home with fond memories of the country where they spent their early adulthood. All of them pay for the
privilege. Immigration restrictions on non-EU students have already done considerable harm to higher education. It is
likely that British universities will suffer once again.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (would vote; make up; has confirmed; will
continue; comes; had hoped) (6x 0.4= 2.40p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: lecturer; faculty; poll; to be
home to; capped; loans; degree; outstanding debt; to make up for; expansion; to lift; kitty;
applications; to lure; to boost.
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: Brexit; PM; fees; academics;
eligible (5 x 0.4 = 2 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below. If it is not possible explain why:
1. I can tell you that the police are looking into your complaint. 2. Some people do not like if others oblige them to work
hard. 3. I dislike it when people laugh at me, and I do mind it if they tease me. 4. My brother-in-law is baking a cake
tonight. It does not smell great anyway. (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA IUNIE 2016

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p): David Cameron has been trying to change the
rules of the UK’s EU membership in an attempt to block Brexit. This was the big news back in
January and February as David Cameron sought an agreement with other European Union leaders
to change the terms of Britain’s membership. He says the deal, which will take effect immediately if
the UK votes to remain in the EU, gives Britain “special” status within the 28 nation club, and will
help sort out some of the things British people say they don’t like about the EU, such as high levels of
immigration and giving up the ability to run our own affairs. Critics say his deal will make little
difference and falls well short of what he had promised when he announced his plan for a
referendum. Here are the main points of the deal:
 Child benefit - Migrant workers will still be able to send child benefit payments back to their
home country - Mr. Cameron had wanted to end this practice - but the payments will be set at a
level reflecting the cost of living in their home country rather than the full UK rate.
 Migrant welfare payments - Mr. Cameron says cutting the amount of benefits low paid
workers from other EU nations can claim when they take a job in the UK will remove one of the
reasons people come to Britain in such large numbers (critics say it will make little difference). He
did not get the blanket ban he wanted. New arrivals will not be able to claim various types of
welfare payments straight away - but will gradually gain the right to more benefits the longer they
stay, at a rate yet to be decided.
 Keeping the pound - Mr. Cameron has said Britain will never join the euro. He secured
assurances that the eurozone countries will not discriminate against Britain for having a
different currency. Any British money spent on bailing out eurozone nations that get into
trouble will also be reimbursed.
 Protection for the City of London - Safeguards for Britain’s large financial services industry
to prevent eurozone regulations being imposed on it.
 Running its own affairs - For the first time, there will be a clear commitment that Britain is
not part of a move towards “ever closer union” with other EU member states - one of the core
principles of the EU. This will be incorporated in an EU treaty change. Mr. Cameron also secured a
“red card” system for national parliaments making it easier for governments to band together to
block unwanted legislation. If 55% of national EU parliaments object to a piece of EU legislation
it will be rethought. Critics say it is not clear if this would ever be used in practice.
David Cameron’s position is backed by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances ( has been trying; votes; had
promised; did not get; will also be reimbursed; would ever be used) (6x 0.4= 2.40p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: to block;
agreement; terms; to take effect; to fall well short of; home country; to remove;
blanket ban; join the euro; to discriminate; safeguard; commitment; core; legislation;
Chancellor of the Exchequer; ( 0.20 x 15 = 3 p)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: EU membership;
child benefit; welfare payments; currency; bailing out (5 x 0.4 = 2 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below. If it is not possible explain why:
1. He availed himself of the opportunity. 2. The secret police kept close tabs on the members of that
terrorist organisation. 3. The town was dancing with light and shadow. 4. He is tired of other people
sponging him on. (4 x 0.4= 1.6 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
DEPARTAMENTUL DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ – SESIUNEA FEBRUARIE 2016

I.TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

On August 31st 2013 Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission took the metro to the
European Union: a stop on Sofia’s new metro line, which he had come to inaugurate with Boiko Borisov,
the Bulgarian prime minister. As EU funds had paid for half the cost of the line this was a
“perfect demonstration” of how Europe was helping the country he said. With €1.5 billion of EU money still
unallocated, Bulgarians can certainly look forward to more such infrastructure projects. Few lament
joining the EU in 2007. Hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians now live and work in EU countries and despite
the recession, they send increasing amounts of money home. Like seven other members, Bulgaria is
committed by treaty to joining the euro. Exemplary public finances mean it meets all the euro zone's entry
criteria. But nobody expects the common currency soon: indeed when Simeon Djankov, the finance
minister, said in April that now was not the time to join, it barely rippled in the news. (The European Central
Bank takes a similar view.) But when he and Mr Borisov said the same thing to the Wall Street Journal on
September 4th it became big news. Mr Djankov believes one reason is that it coincided with similar
announcements from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. Croatia will join the EU next year and Vesna Pusic, its
foreign minister, told a conference in Bled in Slovenia on September 3rd that, likewise, the euro issue was
simply not on the agenda for the foreseeable future. Until the future of the euro is clear, Mr Djankov says the
risks of joining are much higher than the perceived benefits. “So why join?” Marin Lessenski, an analyst, says
that Bulgarians are happy with the status quo and a majority are now against euro membership. The leva has
been pegged to the euro since the beginning (and before that to the Deutschmark, since 1997) in a currency-
board arrangement. So Bulgaria enjoys many of the benefits of the single currency already. But Dimitar Bechev,
an analyst with the European Council on Foreign Relations think-tank in Sofia believes that something else
lies behind the furore. He thinks it marks the “starting gun” for next year's general election campaign. Mr
Borisov is a physically and personally formidable (some say intimidating) figure: a former bodyguard and
mayor of Sofia who has long been dogged by allegations of links to organised crime, which he strenuously
denies. No governing party has won a second term in modern Bulgarian history. But infighting has
weakened the main opposition Socialists, so Mr Borisov's minority centre-right coalition may stand a chance of
a historic win. Mr Djankov is under pressure from hard pressed public servants and pensioners for more
cash. With an election in view maybe fiscal discipline will be breached now, but Mr Djankov takes a hard line:
“No, absolutely not."

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (had come; had come; live; will join;
has been pegged) (5x 0.4 = 2p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: EU funds;
unallocated; to lament; recession; to be committed; to join; entry criteria; to take a similar
view; agenda; benefit; status quo; furore; allegations; term; public servants (0,20 x 15 = 3 p)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: European Union,
infrastructure projects, common currency, think-tank, governing party (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why:
1. The castle stands on top of the hill. 2. Auntie Mary knitted a pullover for Jane. 3. They sent for
the doctor.4. They have made an example out of his behavior. 5. The President offered a nice
present to his wife. (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
DEPARTAMENTUL DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA SEPTEMBRIE 2015

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

The French Ministry of Ecology states that 7.1m tonnes of food get wasted in France each year, 67% of which
is wasted by consumers themselves, and another 15% by restaurants, while shops and
distributors waste 11% of the total. Consequently, France plans to introduce a law that bans
supermarkets from destroying unsold food and obliges them to give it to charity, thus irritating retailers who
say they already make a big effort to fight waste. Under the law, stores of more than 400 sq m would have
until July 2016 to sign contracts with charities or food banks, and to start giving them unsold produce. The
laws follows a media campaign run by a young centre-right politician, a local councillor in the Paris suburb of
Courbevoie, who says he was outraged by the sight of homeless people last winter scrambling in supermarket
bins. He began his campaign by collecting the unsold food and handing it out to the needy. He then
launched an online petition, which helped create momentum for the new law. While broadly welcoming the
idea, charities are also wary about ending up with more food than they can handle. Various representatives of
major charities have stated that their organizations cannot be made to accept donations they do not need, as
they cannot become rubbish dumps. At the same time the president of the French Federation of Food Banks
also says there is a risk charities will not be able to cope. He has also declared that the French food banks are
going to need more staff, more lorries, more refrigerated rooms, and obviously to get all that, they will need
money, which has become a scarce commodity these days. Moreover, the Federation already collects 35%
of its donations from supermarkets, and its president praises retailers for their co-operation.On the other hand,
the supermarkets themselves feel aggrieved at being portrayed as food wasters. Jacques Creyssel, speaking
on behalf of the Federation for Commerce and Retail says it is wrong to point the finger at the big
supermarkets when they represent just 5% of food waste in France. In fact, in his opinion supermarkets are
exemplary, as 4,500 stores have already signed contracts with associations. For instance, the manager of a
hypermarket near Lille says that for every seven customers who come through the shop, he already gives one
meal to charity, and the store creates 250 tonnes of food waste every year, and has contracts with local
charities. He says that making supermarkets donate will create all sorts of problems, because first of all there
will be a lot of produce which is not consumable, therefore it cannot be donated, and, secondly, smaller
supermarkets do not have the backroom staff to handle the paperwork, so they will be confronted with a
major problem.The new French law has been created following the public petition already mentioned, so,
following the success of the French petition, a new online petition is now circulating throughout the European
Union. The hope is to get one million signatures from at least seven countries, which would be sufficient to
launch what is known as a European Citizens' Initiative - an official appeal to the European Commission
to start legislation across the EU to ban supermarket waste. At present the petition has just over 630,000
supporters. If it reaches the million mark, the Commission must consider the initiative - though it can decide
to take no action.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (plans; would have; began; has
become; gives) (5x 0.4 = 2p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: to ban; outraged; the
needy; momentum; wary; rubbish dump; to cope; commodity; aggrieved; to point the finger
at; customer; produce; backroom staff; appeal; mark ( 0,20 x 15 = 3 p)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: retailer, charities,
donation, paperwork, European Commission (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why:
1. Romania lies in Europe. 2. Grandma made a skirt for Helen. 3. John shaves himself every
day.4. The police has been keeping close tabs on them for a while. 5. You can always rely on
him. (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ – SESIUNEA IUNIE 2015

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

Greece cannot make a repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due in June as it does not have
the money, the interior minister says. "The four instalments for the IMF in June are €1.6bn, this money will
not be given and is not there to be given," Nikos Voutsis, the interior minister, told Greek TV. Greece has
to come to a deal with the IMF and EU to secure the final tranche of its bailout from the institutions. The
finance minister meanwhile told the BBC that progress was being made. Yanis Varoufakis said Greece had
worked hard to meet its end of the deal with its lenders, and that now it was up to the international
institutions to reciprocate. "Greece has made enormous strides at reaching a deal," he told the Andrew
Marr Show. "It is now up to institutions to do their bit. We have met them three-quarters of the way, they
need to meet us one-quarter of the way." The Greek interior minister Nikos Voutsis is "of the far left" in a hard
left-wing Syriza party but should not be disregarded as on the fringe, or irrelevant, within the government. He
is one of a number of different voices around the cabinet table with varying degrees of influence. So his
comments that Greece cannot and will not pay the IMF €1.6bn in June should not be fully discounted. There is
a theory that the Prime minister Alexis Tsipras allows his ministers to let off steam in interviews in order to
give him leverage when negotiating with creditors in Brussels or Berlin. It is also true that the Greek Finance
Minister Varoufakis has been sidelined by Athens. All areas of discussion with the troika (EC, ECB and IMF),
must be agreed by Mr Tsipras personally. The Greek government, EU and IMF have been locked in
negotiations for four months over economic reforms the IMF and EU say must be implemented before more
money is made available. Greece's last cash injection from its international creditors was in August and the
final €7.2bn instalment from its two €240bn EU-IMF bailouts is now seen as vital. But first it has to meet the
June repayment deadline. If it fails to come to a deal with its partners, there is a fear it could default on its
loans. That could push the Greek government towards leaving the single currency, otherwise known as
Grexit. "It would be a disaster for everyone involved," said Mr Varoufakis. It would be a disaster primarily for
the Greek social economy, but it would also be the beginning of the end of the common currency project in
Europe. Once you infuse into people's minds, into investors' minds, the idea that the euro is not indivisible, it
will be only a matter of time before the whole thing begins to unravel. Greece has been shut out of bond
markets, and with the current deadlock Athens has been struggling to meet debt obligations and to pay public
sector wages and pensions.

II. LANGUAGE IN USE (9p +1 =10p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (will not be given; was being made; had
worked; have met; have been locked; fails ) (6p x 0.4= 2.40p)

2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: repayment;
instalment; interior minister; to come to a deal; to secure; bailout; lender; to reciprocate;
hard; stride; cabinet; to let off steam; leverage; injection; deadline; (0,20p x 15 = 3p)

3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: EU; default; single
currency; investor; bond markets (5p x 0.4 = 2p)

4. Apply Dative Movement to the sentences below. If it is not possible, explain why: 1. Tom
offered the bunch of flowers to his girl friend. 2. The earthquake brought disaster to Japan. 3. John donated the
money to his sister. 4. Mother made a cake for her children. (4p x 0.4= 1.6p)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ – SESIUNEA IANUARIE 2015

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

Thailand's economy shrank in the first quarter of the year as the political struggle affected
businesses at home and deterred foreign investors. The Gross Domestic Product contracted
by 2.1% in the three months to March compared with the previous quarter. On an annual basis, the
Thai economy shrank by 0.6%. A combination of falling investment, lower exports and a drop in
household consumption affected the economy. The data came less than two weeks after Thailand's
constitutional court removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office, along with nine
Cabinet ministers, following a military coup in May. At the same time there is a risk that the growth
outlook for 2015 will be downgraded due to the ongoing political crisis. Thailand has been the
scene of violent protest for quite a long while and political struggles in Thailand are taking a toll on
its economy. Most of the protests took place in the streets of the city's capital Bangkok, crippling
businesses in the area. Tourism accounts for about 10% of Thailand's GDP and visitor arrivals have
fallen steadily since the start of the year. The president of the Thai Hotels Association said earlier
this year that occupancy rates at hotels which are part of the association had dropped to as low as
45% from the usual average of 90%.The state planning agency - the National Economic and Social
Development Board - has revised the country's growth figures in the final quarter of last year down
to 0.1% from 0.6%. It left the year-on-year growth rate for the final quarter of last year unchanged at
0.6%.The agency has also cut its growth outlook for 2014, forecasting an expansion between 1.5%
to 2.5%. That is lower from a previous estimate of 3-4%. Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia Pacific
at consultancy firm IHS, estimated that "the Thai economy will grow at just 1.9% in 2014, far below its
potential growth rate of 4% to 5%". Among the major economies in Southeast Asia, Thailand
appears to be the only one that is contracting. Malaysia has reported an annual growth of 6.1% in the
first quarter. Meanwhile Indonesia saw an expansion of 5.2% year-on-year in the first quarter.
Economists are not confident the Thai economy will be able to stage a turnaround in the next few
months. "Chances are we are going to see another technical recession in the economy, given that the
second-quarter GDP number is likely to be poor as well," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist with DBS
Bank in Singapore. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia Pacific added: "The protracted political turmoil and deep
political divisions in Thailand are resulting in deteriorating investor confidence in the Thai economy,
and there is little reason for optimism that the political situation will stabilise anytime soon. The
growth outlook for 2015 is also at risk of being downgraded due to the ongoing political crisis."

II. LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (shrank; will be downgraded;
are taking; have fallen; had dropped) (5x 0.4 = 2p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: quarter;
businesses; deterred; contracted; household; removed; Cabinet; ongoing; crippling;
growth; outlook; are taking a toll; stage a turnaround; forecasting; protracted ( 0,20
x 15 = 3 p)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: Gross Domestic
Product, investment, growth rate, to be downgraded, recession (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why:
1. The house stands on the hill. 2. Mother made a cake for Mary. 3. John washes himself
every day. 4. Shakespeare wrote the most magnificent plays in the world. 5. They sent
for the doctor when Bill fell ill. (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ – SESIUNEA SEPTEMBRIE 2014

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

Thailand's economy shrank in the first quarter of the year as the political struggle affected
businesses at home and deterred foreign investors. The Gross Domestic Product contracted
by 2.1% in the three months to March compared with the previous quarter. On an annual basis, the
Thai economy shrank by 0.6%. A combination of falling investment, lower exports and a drop in
household consumption affected the economy. The data came less than two weeks after Thailand's
constitutional court removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office, along with nine
Cabinet ministers, following a military coup in May. At the same time there is a risk that the growth
outlook for 2015 will be downgraded due to the ongoing political crisis. Thailand has been the
scene of violent protest for quite a long while and political struggles in Thailand are taking a toll on
its economy. Most of the protests took place in the streets of the city's capital Bangkok, crippling
businesses in the area. Tourism accounts for about 10% of Thailand's GDP and visitor arrivals have
fallen steadily since the start of the year. The president of the Thai Hotels Association said earlier
this year that occupancy rates at hotels which are part of the association had dropped to as low as
45% from the usual average of 90%.The state planning agency - the National Economic and Social
Development Board - has revised the country's growth figures in the final quarter of last year down
to 0.1% from 0.6%. It left the year-on-year growth rate for the final quarter of last year unchanged at
0.6%.The agency has also cut its growth outlook for 2014, forecasting an expansion between 1.5%
to 2.5%. That is lower from a previous estimate of 3-4%. Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia Pacific
at consultancy firm IHS, estimated that "the Thai economy will grow at just 1.9% in 2014, far below its
potential growth rate of 4% to 5%". Among the major economies in Southeast Asia, Thailand
appears to be the only one that is contracting. Malaysia has reported an annual growth of 6.1% in the
first quarter. Meanwhile Indonesia saw an expansion of 5.2% year-on-year in the first quarter.
Economists are not confident the Thai economy will be able to stage a turnaround in the next few
months. "Chances are we are going to see another technical recession in the economy, given that the
second-quarter GDP number is likely to be poor as well," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist with DBS
Bank in Singapore. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia Pacific added: "The protracted political turmoil and deep
political divisions in Thailand are resulting in deteriorating investor confidence in the Thai economy,
and there is little reason for optimism that the political situation will stabilise anytime soon. The
growth outlook for 2015 is also at risk of being downgraded due to the ongoing political crisis."

II. LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (shrank; will be downgraded;
are taking; have fallen; had dropped) (5x 0.4 = 2p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: quarter;
businesses; deterred; contracted; household; removed; Cabinet; ongoing; crippling;
growth; outlook; are taking a toll; stage a turnaround; forecasting; protracted ( 0,20
x 15 = 3 p)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: Gross Domestic
Product, investment, growth rate, to be downgraded, recession (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why:
1. The house stands on the hill. 2. Mother made a cake for Mary. 3. John washes himself
every day. 4. Shakespeare wrote the most magnificent plays in the world. 5. They sent
for the doctor when Bill fell ill. (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ
EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE
PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA IUNIE 2014
I.TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)THE joke recounted by the boss of a large Italian bank is
an old one, but it captures the moment. Two hikers are picnicking when a bear appears. When one laces up his
boots to run, his friend scoffs that he can't outrun a bear. The shod hiker retorts that it is not the bear he needs to
outrun, merely his fellow hiker. “We're sitting at the picnic with our boots still on,” says the bank boss. As
policymakers try to work out the effects of a Greek exit from the Euro zone, banks and investors have already
been taking precautions. One course of action has been to pull money out of more fragile markets. Never mind
the weakest economies like Greece, Ireland and Portugal; Spain and Italy have also lost foreign bank deposits of
about €45 billion ($56 billion) and €100 billion respectively from their peaks. Add in things like sales of
government bonds by foreigners and capital flight is probably equal to about 10% of GDP in those countries,
say Citigroup analysts. Such outflows are hard to stop. The European Central Bank (ECB) has filled this
funding gap by providing liquidity to the banks. But that has in turn reinforced the second precautionary tactic:
matching assets and liabilities within countries as much as possible. It is a common refrain from bankers that
the euro area no longer functions as a single financial market, although that has the paradoxical advantage of
making a break-up less destructive. Banks have used ECB loans to borrow from the national central banks of
the countries in which they have assets; that should mean that both sides of the balance-sheet would get
redenominated in the event of a euro exit. Much of that ECB liquidity is meant to find its way into the real
economy, of course. But the third precautionary technique, for both lenders and borrowers, is to hang fire while
uncertainty is so high. The Economist has compiled a credit-crunch index, comprising a number of measures on
everything from bank lending to the cost of buying insurance against default for banks, firms and sovereigns in
the euro zone. A single index disguises big differences between weaker and stronger states, but it shows that
credit is crunchier now than it was at the height of the banking crisis in 2008. Much economic activity is being
strangled as a result. In Spain firms have put bond issues and asset sales on hold. Volatility makes it almost
impossible to value an asset, bankers say. The number of Spanish companies filing for bankruptcy climbed by
21.5% in the first quarter. Nearly a third of these were in the property or construction industries, but the rot is
spreading. Alestis, an aeronautical supplier to aircraft manufacturers, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month
after failing to reach an agreement with banks to refinance its debts. The sound of credit crunching can also be
heard next door in Portugal, where loans to non-financial companies fell by 5% in the first quarter compared
with the same period last year, and credit to households by 3.6%. One of the conditions of the country's bail-
out programme is that banks should reduce their total loans to 120% of assets. The quickest way to do that is to
avoid making loans. Those loans that are extended carry hefty interest rates, in part because higher sovereign-
borrowing costs have a knock-on effect on banks' funding costs. Differences in sovereign rates can be self-
reinforcing, especially when German firms across the border are rivals. “A marginal northern Italian company
competing against an equal company in Bavaria will go bust,” says the boss of one bank. “Then the cost of risk
goes up and has to be shared by all the other small companies.”

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (are picnicking; laces up; have been taking;
would get redenominated; will go bust) (5x 0.4 = 2p)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: policymaker; Euro zone;
peaks; government bonds; liquidity; redenominated; lenders; borrowers; sovereigns; strangled; put
something on hold; rot; file for; households; bail-out programme. ( 0,20 x 15 = 3 p)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: assets, liabilities, default,
bankruptcy, supplier; interest rates (6 x 0.5 = 3 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why:
1. Tom wrote the letter for Mary.2. Jane divorced Peter. 3. My brother looked at himself in the mirror.4. The
master of the estate donated his fortune to charity. 5. They lost sight of the ship. (5 x 0.4 = 2 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA FEBRUARIE 2014

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

Calls for European Central Bank action to help protect the eurozone’s fragile recovery have grown after the release of
inflation and jobless data. Official figures showed that eurozone inflation fell to 0.7% in January, down from 0.8% in
December and further below the ECB’s 2% target. It has fuelled worries about whether the euro bloc could suffer
deflation, potentially de-railing economic growth. Separate data showed the unemployment rate in December was
unchanged at 12%.The European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, said that although there was a 1.7% rise in the cost
of food, alcohol and tobacco in January, energy costs fell 1.2%. Many economists had forecast the eurozone’s inflation
rate would rise slightly in January. The rate last touched 0.7% in October, which was the lowest reading for the 18-nation
eurozone in almost four years. The big challenge is exactly what to do. With the store cupboard of conventional measures
largely bare, any policy action is likely to be unprecedented. Concerns about possible deflation - where the price of goods
and assets are locked in long-term decline, hitting corporate profits, wage growth, and tempting consumers to delay
purchases in the hope of further falls - have grown in recent months. At the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Christine
Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, said that despite signs of recovery across the world, the eurozone
inflation, at 0.8%, remained “way below” the 2% target set by the European Central Bank and that the risks to the bloc’s
fragile economic recovery should not be ignored. The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that deflation
remains a real risk to economic recovery in the eurozone, Christine Lagarde said that potential risks must not be ignored.
She was speaking on the final day of the World Economic Forum, in Davos. Deflation can hinder growth, as prices and
the value assets continue to fall. Ms. Lagarde told a Davos debate on the global economic outlook, that - despite signs of
recovery everywhere, there were “old risks” and “new risks”. Old risks included any failure to continue banking reforms
and re-balance economies, she said. New risks were, how emerging economies responded to the winding down of
economic stimulus measures in the US, and the problems facing economies whose inflation rate remained stubbornly
below target. Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, has said that although inflation was “subdued, and expected to remain
subdued” for about two years, he was confident that it would return to target. But he added that the ECB was ready to act
if necessary. Meanwhile, separate figures from Eurostat on Friday showed there were about 19.1 million jobless in the
eurozone in December, down 129,000 from November 2013, but up 130,000 from December 2012 when the debt crisis
was at its peak. Eurostat also said the unemployment rate for November had been revised down from 12.1% to 12%.
Deflation, if it’s persistent, can be a very nasty problem. Consumers have an incentive to delay buying things that might
cheaper in the future. It can also aggravate debt problems. Company revenues may fall, personal incomes can drop in cash
terms, but debts do not. You still have to make the same payments. And the eurozone has plenty of debt problems,
scattered through the private sector and of course among financially stressed governments. Falling prices can hit the
income they get from tax revenues. There has been some progress in getting to grips with government borrowing needs,
so a prolonged period of deflation would be a very unwelcome setback. In fact many of those struggling finance ministers
would probably secretly welcome a period of above-target inflation to make the debts a little more manageable. That’s not
on the near horizon. Instead the European Central Bank is coming under pressure to do something dramatic to ward off
falling prices. “The job crisis is far from over and efforts must continue at EU level and in member states to fight this
scourge and ensure an inclusive and sustainable recovery,” said EU employment commissioner Laszlo Andor.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9p +1 =10 points)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (have grown; would rise; was speaking; would
welcome; is coming) (5 x 0.4 = 2 points)
2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: recovery; jobless; rise; reading;
bare; purchases; target; hinder; winding down; stimulus; at its peak; income; getting to grips; setback; to ward off
(0.20 x 15 = 3 points)
3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: inflation, euro bloc, unemployment
rate, assets, emerging economies (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
4. Passivize the sentences below if possible. If there is no passive counterpart explain why:
1. The newcomer solved the puzzle. 2. Music resembles poetry. 3. Mary admired herself in the mirror. 4. He gave
the flowers to Mary. 5. They did away with that law. (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)
UNIVERSITATEA BUCUREŞTI
FACULTATEA DE LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
CATEDRA DE ENGLEZĂ

EXAMEN DE LICENŢĂ LA LIMBI MODERNE APLICATE

PROBA DE LIMBA ENGLEZĂ - SESIUNEA IUNIE 2013

I. TRANSLATE INTO ROMANIAN (9p +1=10p)

China’s relations with America have deteriorated in recent years, raising the spectre of conflict in East
Asia. Buoyed up by its own economic success and Western stagnation, China has been asserting its
claims in the region more aggressively, sending the neighbours scuttling back to the American security
umbrella. Barack Obama’s response has been a “pivot” towards Asia. In the absence of trust, both sides will
build up their military strength and responsible defensive behaviour could spiral into conflict. The world has
changed enormously in four decades, and China even more. Buzzing with online feedback and dedicated to
consumerism, some parts of China are now beginning to resemble America. Mao’s personal tyranny has
yielded to a more collective leadership by the Politburo, but the system is struggling to contain a 21st-
century society. Mr. Xi, whose father was a comrade-in-arms of Mao, enjoys more personal authority than his
dull predecessor, Hu Jintao. In office for less than a year, he has quickly consolidated his power. He has
launched a crackdown on corruption and offici al extravagance. He talks of more economic reform. In
some ways China’s new assertiveness makes co-operation harder. Mr. Xi’s sabre-rattling reflects a much
deeper rise in nationalist sentiment in Chinese society. Many Americans fear that China’s displacement of
America as the world’s largest economy will swiftly be followed by its rise to the status of military superpower.
Yet for both leaders, there is more to be gained from co-operation than conflict. And Mr. Xi knows that if
America feels easier about China’s intentions, it is likely to give him more latitude in his region. Messrs.
Obama and Xi need to start by confronting the immediate causes of tension in Sino-American relations.
Chinese hackers have stolen intellectual property on a breathtaking scale, while American Sino-phobes
have exploited curbs on exports to China, imposed after the 1989 slaughter in Tiananmen Square, to ban the
export of goods with the most distant of military associations, such as SIM cards. Mr. Xi needs to send a signal
that cyber-theft will not be tolerated. Mr. Obama needs to push to lift some restrictions. There are plenty of
good reasons for America to be nervous about the rise of a new economic giant and to be angry about cyber-
attacks, obstructionism over Syria or the regime’s brutality towards its own citizens. There are also plenty of
reasons for China to be annoyed with America: Americans have been too willing to demonise successful
Chinese companies such as Huawei or CNOOC. But the lesson of history is that everybody loses if the world
allows legitimate worries to get out of hand. More than 2,000 years ago Greece was torn apart by Sparta’s
failure to manage the rise of Athens. A hundred years ago Europe was torn apart by its failure to manage the
rise of Germany. If the 21st century is to be more peaceful than the 20th, America and China must learn to co-
operate better.

II.LANGUAGE IN USE (9 p +1 =10 p)

1. Identify the tenses and their values in the underlined instances (have deteriorated, has been asserting,
will build up, is struggling, talks (5x 0.4 = 2p)

2. Provide contextual synonyms for the following words underlined in the text above: spectre, buoyed up,
spiral, consumerism, to contain, in office, crackdown, assertiveness, sabre-rattling, rise,
displacement, latitude, confronting, curbs, obstructionism, to demonise ( 0,20 x 15 = 3 p)

3. Define the following terms in English and use them in sentences of your own: stagnation, intellectual
property, exports, goods, company (5 x 0.5 = 2.5 points)

4. Identify the error(s) in the sentences below and correct it (them): 1. There melted the ice in the yard. 2. He
laughed sick. 3. He donated Tom the money. 4. The house was owned by Mary. 5 Officials bribe obviously. (5 x
0.5 = 2.5 points)