LYCEE MUNICIPAL TANDA ANNEE SCOLAIRE : 2012-2013BP 80 TANDA PROF : Mr KOFFI Yao JulesTEL: 35 91 85 60/61 NIVEAU: Tle A DUREE: 3 heures

COMMON ENGLISH TEST

Read this text and do all the activities that follow on your answer sheet.PART ONE: READING (40%)

A DEMOGRAPHIC TIMEBOMBThe first population count after independence was based on French administration figures, and on December 31, 1962, the government fixed the population of Central African Republic at 1,279,642 persons. (It should be noted that only a small proportion of either deaths or births are registered and birth certificates are usually given out for a fee.) The 1962 census represented a gain of about 200,000 over the 1952 tally published by the French. In 1965, Dacko called for a more exhaustive census that produced a total population of 2,088,000—almost exactly 1 million more than in 1952. On the whole, these numbers were not considered valid by most informed observers.

In 1979 the government accepted the results of the 1975 sample census that estimated a total population of 2,057,000. This estimate was more accurate than a previous figure of over 3 million that the Bokassa government had promulgated, and it corresponded more closely to the mid-1982 estimates of two million suggested by informed experts.

It is estimated that the annual rate of population increase is about 2.3 percent. Until very recently a high death rate, especially for children, compensated for the extraordinarily high birth rate (5 percent). Deaths for children under one year of age currently reach 190 per 1000. Obviously, if better prenatal and postnatal care and better health practices in general were to lower this figure, a veritable population bomb would be set to explode in the Central African Republic. Young people under fifteen constitute at least 40 percent of the population while people over sixty are scarcely more than 6.5 percent of the population.

The explosive demand for relevant social services, food, clothing, education, housing, health services, and job opportunities that this youthful population represents cannot be met by the present growth potential of the economy. Runaway urbanization and the current rates of unemployment already threaten the social and political stability of the country. Clearly some radical policy changes are called for if the population of Central African Republic is to avoid a population crisis.

At present the population of the Republic is overwhelmingly rural. Less than 30 percent of the population lives in the capital, Bangui, and the small towns that have grown around former colonial administrative posts.(…) In 1934 the population of Bangui was only about 19,000, but by 1966 the city had grown to 152,000, and in 1985 there were more than 350,000 people living in this capital city.

(…) Like most other African cities, after World War II Bangui experienced accelerated growth that became even more rapid after independence. The reasons for this rapid growth are hardly unique to Bangui. People flocked to the city looking for better life. They came for better health care and schools and to find salaried employment, not necessarily because they wanted to escape rural life.

Adapted from THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC by Thomas O’Toole, PP 82-84, 1986.

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COMPREHENSION CHECK

A-The words in the left column are from the text. Find the synonym of each of them in the right column. Write your answers like this: 8-i

1- figures (L1)2- registered (L3)3- accurate (L9)4- increase (L12)5- under (L14)6- lower (L15)7- explode (L16)8- constitute (L17)9- current (L21)10- called for (23)11- escape (L32)

a- belowb- correctc- fleed- reducee- numbersf- growthg- recordedh- requiredi- make upj- burstk- present

B- Basing on the text, answer these questions briefly. 1- Complete this table with figures from the text. Write your answers like this: a= about 19,000

Years

The size of the population of The Central African Republic

The size of the population of Bangui

1934 (a) about ………………1952 (b) about ………………..1962 (c) …………………………...1966 (d) ………………………..1975 (e) ……………………………

2-Are all the figures about the population size correct? Justify your answer.3- Write the number “1,279,642” in words.4- What’s the death rate for children aged below one?5- If the death rate for children decreased, what would be the consequence?6- Is the Central African Republic heading towards a population crisis? Justify your answer.7- Give one cause of rural exodus mentioned in the text.

PART TWO: WRITING (40%)TASK: Write an essay on the topic below (25 to 30 lines). The best essay will be read at an English Club meeting.

Topic: Is it necessary to control population growth?

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PART THREE: LANGUAGE IN USE (20%)

A- Complete each gap with the suitable word from the box. Write your answers like this: 11-j a-of; b-largest; c-later; d-were; e-by; f-forest; g-grown; h-inhabitants; i-population; j-original; k-estimates

Towns and cities have (…1…) rapidly in recent years. (…2…) 1948, 7 per cent of the population lived in centers of 2,000 or more (…3…). In 1955 there were 10 towns of 10,000 or more located throughout the country; at this time nearly half (…4…) the 12 per cent who were urbanized lived in Abidjan and in Bouaké, the second largest city, located at the meeting point of the (…5…) and the savanna. The (…6…) city is Abidjan , which grew from a small Ebrié fishing village, with a (…7…) of 720 in 1910, to a town of 5,371 in 1921. In 1945 it had become a city of 46,000, and ten years (…8…) its population was 127,585. Recent (…9…) are as high as 200,000. In 1935 the Ebrié (…10…) relocated on the nearby island of Petit Bassam to make room for Frenchmen on the plateau, as the (…11…) location of Abidjan has come to be called.

B- Choose the most suitable word from the options labelled A to D to fill in each gap. Example: 11-B=at

The most dramatic rate of increase occurred during the (..1..). Between 1948 (..2..) 1957, the proportion of children of school age attending school (..3..) from about 5 per cent (..4..) nearly 20 per cent, bypassing all other French West African territories except Dahomey. As the number (..5..) children with an elementary school education increased, secondary schools were created (..6..) well. Scholarships were (..7..) granted to enable students to obtain a secondary education (..8..) France or to attend French universities. The economic boom also enabled some families to send students (..9..) school abroad at their own expense. By 1959, it was estimated that about 1,000 Ivory Coast students were in France; (..10..) addition, there were about 200 (..11..) the University of Dakar.

1) A-1950 ; B-1950s ; C-50th ; D-50 7) A-as ; B-too ; C-also ; D-such2) A-in ; B-after ; C-on ; D-and 8) A-at ; B-on ; C-by ; D-in3) A-rose ; B-decrease ; C-stayed ; D-fell 9) A-to ; B-at ; C-in ; D-under4) A-in ; B-at ; C-between ; D-to 10) A-in ; B-by ; C-at ; D-on5) A-to ; B-in ; C-for ; D-of 11) A-around ; B-at ; C-over ; D-below6) A-too ; B-as ; C-such ; D-so

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