THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM

THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM

Awatif Morsy will never forget the day she heard that a new school was to open in her village. “Someone came to the house asking for the names of the children who weren’t attending class,’ she recall. “My mother gave them my name. I was so excited. “Like most eight year-olds in the village of Beni shara’an, Awarif’s life until that important day was divided between back-breaking work in the nearby fields or at home. To girls like her, the new school –a single classroom on the ground floor of a converted house – was a dream come true.

Not everyone in the village was so enthusiastic, at least initially. Some farmers complained that the school would deprive them of the cheap labour the children provided. Even Awatif’s own step-father, Abdelwadoud, was unconvinced. “What does a need to study for? He would ask. Happily, that wasn’t the view of Farouk Abdel Naim, the elderly merchant who was persuaded to donate the premises for the school use. ‘I’ve come to believe that a girl’s education is more important even than a boy’s,’ Mr Abdel Naim says. “A man can always make something out his circumstances, but a girl can’t. She needs to be educated in order to get on in life.”

Ten years on, it’s hard to find anyone in Beni Shara’an who doesn’t share that opinion. The school –which has now expanded into three classes - is today seen as a wise investment fro which the community is getting tangible rewards. Take the example of the shopkeeper Ahmed Abdel Jaber, himself illiterate. “Until Rawia went to school, my store accounts were in a complete mess”, he recalls. “But before long, she was taking care of all the books for me, as well as helping her elder sister to read and write.” Rawia is disabled, but her father says she’s the most capable of his four daughters." I can say that to me, Rawia is not longer just a girl; she’s more precious than ten sons.”

While the drive to get more Egyptian girls into school is bringing benefits in places like Beni Shara’an, the impact has been felt nationally. From 227 community schools set by UNICEF and its partners since 1990 has emerged a campaign setting girls’ education as one of Egypt’s top development priorities.


I- COMPREHENSION

BASE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT

A- CHOOSE THE RIGHT ANSWER FROM THE LIST GIVEN:

1- This text is probably taken from:

a- an interview

b- a play

c-a newspaper article

2- This text is about:

a- The Egyptian project for building schools in Beni Shara’an

b- The importance of the education of girls in Beni Shara’an

c- Daily life of girls in Beni Shara’an

B- ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY

1-Awatif was eight years old when the new school opened.

……………………………………………………………………………

2-All the people in Beni Shara’an were happy about the school at first.

……………………………………………………………………………

3- The Egyptian government built the new school in Beni Shara’an

……………………………………………………………………………

4- The shopkeeper didn’t hesitate to send his daughter to school.

…………………………………………………………………………

C- ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

1- How did Awatif spend her days before the school opened?

…………………………………………………………………………

2- What was Abdelwadoud’s reaction to sending girls to school?

…………………………………………………………………………

3- Why does Rawia’s father consider her more precious than 10 sons?

………………………………………………………………………

4- What was the effect of schools like Beni Shara’an’s on girl’s education in Egypt?

………………………………………………………………………

D- Find in the text words or expressions which mean almost the same as:

1- Convinced (paragraph 2): …………..…………………

2- Real (paragraph 3): ……………………………………

3- Advantages and profits (paragraph 4) : ……………………

E- WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS REFER TO IN THE TEXT? ( WORDS IN BOLD TYPE AND ITALICS )

1- Them: (paragraph 2): ……………………………

2- His : (paragraph 3): ……………………………

II- LANGUAGE

A-GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS BETWEEN BRACKETS:

1- Foreign investments are a key factor in economic (grow) ………………

2- We need some (finance)……………………… support to set up our business.

3- The business has been very (produce)…………………………. since 2004. Now it is very successful.

B- PUT THE VERBS BETWEEN BRACKETS IN THE CORRECT TENSE:

Tom : Hi Jamal. Any news about Ibrahim? I ( not/see) ……………………… him for weeks.

Jamal: Oh yes, he finally (get)……………………. his visa and (buy) ……………………… a plane ticket to Montreal last week. I think, by the end of this month, he (start) ……………………. his new course in business management.

C- REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH THE WORDS GIVEN:

1- “I am looking for ways to advertise new products”, the manager said.

The manager said……………………………………………………………………………

2- My neighbourhood is very noisy.

I wish …………………………………………………………………………

3- I didn’t phone you because it was late.

If………………………………………………………………………………

3- Students must learn their irregular verbs by heart.

Irregular verbs………………………………………………………………

III- WRITING

Your English teachers are organising a writing competition on how improve your school life.

Write an essay suggesting ways to make your school a better place for learning.