THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM

THE MOROCCAN BACCALAUREATE ENGLISH EXAM

Dropping out of school is a serious problem in Morocco. Each year, nearly 200,000 children leave school before completing their primary education. A new government initiative in morocco offers some measures to reduce the number of students who withdraw from school. This initiative is part of an awareness campaign targeting parents.

Researchers and government officials largely attribute the phenomenon to the ignorance of poor parents who do not realise the importance of education. Some parents, for example, withdraw their children from school due to the competing demands for household income which often push children to work. Drop-out rates are higher among children of illiterate parents. These rates can be reduced if we sensitise parents about the importance of sending their children to school. In 2006, Morocco launched a number of awareness campaigns to address this growing problem. These campaigns aim at introducing a national programme which encourages school children to make a list of non-registered children and children who have dropped out. More than 14,000 teachers and headmasters will also be responsible for implementing this plan.

The initiative is considered a logical one because it will get children who have dropped out back into the school system, and it will act as a preventive measure because it raises students’ awareness to the negative consequences of dropping out. The initiative was tested last year in a few regions. Fatima Lharti, a twelve-year-old schoolgirl from Tangiers, says she managed to stop approximately one dozen children from dropping out and persuaded a number of others who had already dropped out to come back to school. "The most difficult part of the work is convincing parents." However, "when they hear children – the same age as their own – talking about the consequences of taking their children out of school, most of them come around within a few minutes," Fatima proudly told Magharebia website reporter.

Samir El Garoumi missed a year of school to work for his family. He is now back in school and has struck a healthy balance between work and studies. In the morning, he goes to school and in the evening, he helps his father in his workshop. This year, he is taking part in the initiative to make a list of children who are not in school. He also advises parents in his family circle to allow their children to finish their education.

(Adapted from : www.magharevia.com)

I- COMPREHENSION

BASE YOUR ANSWERS ON THE TEXT

A/ CHOOSE THE RICHT ANSWER FROM THE LIST GIVEN

TICK (√) THE RIGHT ANSWER

The text is taken from:

A magazine.

The Internet.

A newspaper.

B/ ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. How many students drop out of primary school in Morocco every year?

……………………………………………………………………………..

2. Why do poor parents withdraw their children from school?

………………………………………………………………………………

3. How can drop-out rates be reduced?

…………………………………………………………………………………

C/ ARE THESE SENTENCE TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY:

1. The programme encourages parents to make lists of children who have dropped out of school.

………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Fatima Lharti convinced nearly one dozen children to stay at school.

………………………………………………………………………………….

3. Samir studies and helps his father as well …………………………………..

D/ COMOLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:

1. As a preventive measure, the initiative aims at ……………………………………...

2. Fatima Lharti found it difficult to …………………………………………..

E/ FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS THAT MEAN ALMOST THE SAME AS:

1. Minimize (paragraph1): ………………………………………………………………

2. Money we get from work or investment (paragraph 2): …………………………………

3. Participating (paragraph 4): …………………………………………………………….

F/ WHAT DO THE UBDERLINED WORDS OR EXPRESSIONS IN THE TEXT REFER TO? ( WORDS IN BOLD TYPE AND ITALICS )

1. The phenomenon : (paragraph 2): …………………………………….

2. They: (paragraph 3): …………………………………………………

3. He: (paragraph 4): ……………………………………………….

II- LANGUAGE

A/ PUT THE VERBS BERWEEN BRACKETS IN THE CORRECT TENSE:

Najib Sidqi (get)………………………….his degree in marketing before he started work at the bank. In 2007, he (conduct) …………………….a piece of research on developing customer services. Now, he (be) ……………..the manager of a bank agency.

B/ REWRITE YJE FOLLOWING SENTENCES AS SUGGESTED:

1. The government launched an educational programme in 2006.

An educational programme …………………………………..

2. "The film has attracted a lot of viewers," the film director said.

The film director said that …………………………………..

2. Saida left school at an early age.

The teacher wishes …………………………………………..

C/ GIVE THE CORRECT FORM OF THE WORDS BETWEEN BRACKETS:

1. Reducing the rates of drop-outs in Morocco will be an important (achieve) _________________

2. Fatima will be (promotion) __________________ for her hard work.

3. Many NGOs contribute to the (develop) ______________ of citizenship values.

D/ FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE RIGHT PHRASAL VERBS FROM THE LIST:

Stand for / fill in / bring about / look up / get off / apply for.

1. The father encouraged his son to ………………………another job.

2. The letters VIP ………………….Very Important Person.

3. The new initiative tries to …………………………change in education.

E/ JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING THE WORDS GIVEN:

1. Hamid did a great job. He was not offered a better position. (though)

…………………………………………………………………………….

2. Souad did not come to the show. She was sick. (because of)

……………………………………………………………………………..

3. We were unable to get financial support. We had to abandon the project. (therefore)

……………………………………………………………………………..

F/ MATCH THE WORDS THAT GO TOGETHER TO MAKE APPROPRIATE

COLLOCATIONS.


COLUMN A

1. Natural

2. Formal

3. Brain

COLUMN B

a. priority

b. disaster

c. gain

d. education

e. opportunity

1: ………………………………. 2 : ……………………….. 3: …………………….

III- WRITING

A lot of people in developing countries suffer from illiteracy. Write a short essay about the causes and consequences of this phenomenon and suggest some solutions (Approximately 250)

Here are some suggestions to help you :

§ Poverty/parents’ ignorance,

§ Lack of awareness to the importance of education.

§ Remote schools in rural areas,

§ Remote schools in rural areas,

§ Role of youth organisations, NGOs government, etc