FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DES ECOLES EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF SCHOOLS EUROPISCHER SCHULVERBAND FEDERAZIONE EUROPEA DELLE SCUOLE FEDERACION EUROPEA

DE CENTROS DOCENTES
Organisation Non Gouvernementale dote du statut participatif auprs du Conseil de lEurope NGO enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe

LANGUE VIVANTE EUROPEENNE

ANGLAIS ECRIT

NIVEAU MASTER

Les rponses doivent tre reportes sur la fiche optique

Aucun dictionnaire nest autoris

Type dpreuve : QCM et rdaction Dure : 1 heure 45 Session : Octobre 2009

Fdration Europenne Des Ecoles European Federation of Schools Octobre 2009 UCB4 ANG Ecrit Niveau MASTER Sujet

WRITTEN COMPREHENSION N1 Pressure mounting to curb Detroit Council's $6.2M budget Detroit --City Council spending has jumped 12 percent since 2005 to $6.2 million this year, while Detroit's deficit has soared to $300 million and soon may necessitate job cuts. Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. wants to rein in spending. While mayor, he proposed a budget that would require council members to give up at least one union staffer and slash their overall office budgets 27 percent to a level not seen since at least 1997 []. The council budget for Detroit is costlier than many cities, such as San Diego, where each council person has a budget of $385,672, or in Pittsburgh, where the entire budget for the nine-person council is $1.3 million, or in Denver, where the annual cost this year for the 13-member council is $4.5 million. Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel agreed that cuts will be needed -- even to the council's budget -- in the wake of Detroit's dire financial state but sees the current council budget as appropriate. "I wish we had money to hire more good, quality people," said Sheila Cockrel, who last year hired an additional six employees, including some part-timers. "I do watch my budget very closely." On Tuesday, the council is scheduled to vote on its version of the budget, which will restore some of the cuts Cockrel proposed as mayor but will still reduce salaries 10 percent.[] Council members have discretion in how they spend their money, and hundreds of pages of contracts, checks and invoices obtained under the Freedom of Information Act illustrate how they managed their offices from May 2008 to December. Council members have a specific account for their office, which can be used to pay personnel costs, including benefits, and their own salaries. They also can tap that account for expenses related to public office. Those cover everything else, such as personal service contracts to hire additional employees, cell phone bills and mobile Internet access, computer equipment, travel expenses, office equipment, such as toner cartridges and paper for printers, tuition reimbursement for staffers, stationery and picture frames. From The Detroit News, May 22, 2009 1. a) b) c) d) 2. a) b) c) d) 3. a) b) c) d) 4. a) b) c) d) Soared means: Skyrocketed Declined Assured Expended Rein in means: Encourage Cut back Rule Give up in the wake of Detroit's dire financial state means: When Detroit wakes up from its financial state Sheila Cockrel wants to awake Detroits financial state Following Detroits difficult financial state Following Detroits stable financial state do watch means: really pay attention make watch contemplate make work

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5.

Why do jobs have to be reduced in Detroit? a) Because the industry of the city is in a bad shape b) Because Detroits City Council has frozen its recruitment policy c) Because Detroits City Council is facing financial loss Kenneth Cockrel Jr. a) Was the Council President b) Is the Mayor c) Was the Mayor The Council Budget for Detroit is: a) On a par with other cities b) More excessive than in any other cities c) Highly priced compared to San Diego, Pittsburgh or Denver What is Sheila Cockrel aiming at? a) Curtailing the overall budget b) Investigating expenses c) Firing employees According to Sheila Cockrel, the budget is? a) Misused b) Tailor-made c) Currently being revised Tap means: To open To wiretap To use To spend

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10. a) b) c) d)

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WRITTEN COMPREHENSION N2

Police stop and search innocent people to balance race figures, terror watchdog says Members of the public are being stopped and searched under controversial anti-terror laws to racially balance the overall official figures, the Government's watchdog over the issue said today. Lord Carlile of Berriew, QC, also said people are being stopped by police when there is not the slightest possibility of the individual being a terrorist. He warned of the poor and unnecessary use of special powers which give police the ability to stop anyone in a designated area without them having reasonable suspicion. Lord Carlile said there was little or no evidence that blanket use of searches under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 had the potential to prevent a terror attack. [] In his annual report on the operation of the anti terror laws, Lord Carlile said: I repeat my mantra that terrorism related powers should be used only for terrorism related purposes; otherwise their credibility is severely damaged. The damage to community relations if they are used incorrectly can be considerable. He said there was evidence that people are being stopped by police to produce a racial balance for the official statistics. [] He said he understood why the police are anxious to ensure they should be free from allegations of prejudice but it was not a good use of resources to waste them on self evidently unmerited searches. It is also an invasion of the civil liberties of the person who has been stopped, simply to balance the statistics, the report said. Lord Carlile said: The criteria for section 44 stops should be objectively based, irrespective of racial considerations: if an objective basis happens to produce an ethnic imbalance, that may have to be regarded as a proportional consequence of operational policing. He said that examples of the poor use of Section 44 abound. I have evidence of cases where the person stopped is so obviously far from any known terrorist profile that, realistically, there is not the slightest possibility of him or her being a terrorist and no other feature to justify the stop. From Times Online, June 17, 2009

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Terror watchdog means: a) A dog trained to fight terror on the street b) A group that acts as a guard against illegality To racially balance: a) It seems the police are only stopping ethnic minorities b) It looks as if they are only searching people from the white community c) The police are purposely stopping and searching anyone disregarding their origin Why are people being stopped by the police? a) Because Lord Carlile decided to b) Because of anti-terror laws c) Because the police have some quotas to respect

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14.

blanket use means: a) The police are using blankets to catch people b) A weapon in the fight against terrorism, that is to say a preventive method c) The police want to cover themselves when stopping and searching The Terrorism Act 2000 : a) Was issued after the 9/11 attack in New York b) Has been in force across London since the 7/7 bombings Replace mantra with the proper equivalent paying attention to the context: Slogan Incantation Political campaign Opinion

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16. a) b) c) d) 17.

They should be free from allegations of prejudice a) The police are being accused of stopping only a certain category of people b) The police are being prejudiced by members of the public? c) The police are experiencing prejudice Why do they have to balance statistics? a) Because the Terrorism Act 2000 indicates so b) Because the government is afraid of being criticized c) Because the police are unfair towards the white community The criteria for section 44 stops should be objectively based means: a) Section 44 indicates to stop and search people who are supposed to be terrorists b) Section 44 provides that the police should stop and search people from any community c) Section 44 states that if the police believe someone is a suspected terrorist, they should search him or her whether that person belongs to an ethnic minority or not abound means: a) To exist in large numbers b) To set limits c) To happen very often

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CLOZE TEXT For each blank choose one of the four alternatives listed on page 7

Democrats Scramble to Cut Costs From Health Plan From, the New York Times, June 19, 2009 WASHINGTON The high cost of (21)_______________health insurance for all Americans, the top (22) _____________priority of President Obama, has Congressional Democrats scrambling to scale back their proposals or find ways (23)___________tens of billions of dollars a year from existing health programs. According to slides presented at a (24)_____________meeting this week, members of the Senate Finance Committee are (25)_____________several new ideas, including an automatic mechanism to reduce the growth of Medicare (26)_____________an expedited procedure like the one used to close military bases. The documents (27) ______________in the slides show that the committee is also (28)_______________a proposal that would (29) _____________some employers to contribute to the cost of Medicaid or private health insurance for low-wage workers. One purpose is to discourage employers from foisting the cost of employee health benefits (30) ___________the federal government, a maneuver that would push up the cost of revamping the health system.[] The Finance Committee has (31) ____________all week with the three biggest issues in the health care legislation: how to pay for (32)______________of the uninsured, whether to create a new public insurance plan and whether to impose new obligations on employers. But it is the cost of the legislation that seems to bedevil (33) ________________the most. A budget office estimate of $1.6 trillion as the cost of an earlier Finance Committee (34)______________sent members hunting for ways to pare the expense.[] Indeed, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said they were evidence of a vibrant (35)____________process. [] Three House committees have been working (36)_____________months to develop a single big proposal of their own and expect to unveil it on Friday. Under new (37)_______________ideas being considered by the Senate Finance Committee, there would be a goal for Medicare spending that ensures continued sustainability and bends the Medicare cost curve. [] An existing federal (38)_______________, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, would make (39) ________________to Congress on how to achieve the savings, and Congress would (40)______________an up-ordown vote on the recommendations, which could cut payments to hospitals, managed care plans and other health care providers. The White House has said Mr. Obama is (41) ____________to the idea of (42) ____________more power to the Medicare commission. To help pay for health care legislation, he has proposed more than $600 billion of Medicare and Medicaid savings, about a third of it from hospitals, (43) ____________the next 10 years.[] Democrats are also considering changes in a proposal that would require (44) _____________to provide health benefits for their workers or contribute to the cost of such coverage. Under the new option, employers would not have to provide coverage, but (45)___________have to pay 50 percent of the national average Medicaid costs for workers (46) ____________in Medicaid, the program for low-income people. Democrats plan to offer federal (47)_____________or (48)_______________incomes buy insurance on their own. [] tax credits to help people with low or

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said these proposals were misguided because they would create a (49) _________________for employers to hire low-income people. This means that small-business people wont (50) _______________anybody whos on Medicaid, Mr. Hatch said. They wont hire any low-income workers. They get penalized for doing it.[]

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21. (a) securing (b) finding (c) cutting (d) proposing 22. (a) international (b) internal (c) domestic (d) homely 23. (a) to invest (b) to offer (c) to make (d) to trim 24. (a) closed-door (b) open-door (c) public (d) international 25. (a) handling (b) finalizing (c) debating (d) signing 26. (a) in an attempt to (b) under (c) along with (d) because of 27. (a) displayed (b) indicated (c) showed (d) set 28. (a) envisioning (b) considering (c) realizing (d) enumerating 29. (a) stipulate (b) require (c) demand (d) put 30. (a) onto (b) into (c) towards (d) from

31. (a) rested (b) wrestled (c) stopped (d) argued 32. (a) covering (b) coverage (c) cover (d) covered 33. (a) moviemaker (b) government (c) lawmakers (d) office members 34. (a) bill (b) draft (c) drafting (d) commission 35. (a) democratic (b) democracy (c) demagogy (d) demographic 36. (a) during (b) since (c) over (d) for 37. (a) cost-saving (b) cost-efficient (c) cost-related (d) cost-building 38. (a) office (b) panel (c) members (d) affiliate 39. (a) falsifications (b) recommendations (c) suspicions (d) offerings 40. (a) make (b) vote (c) take (d) count

41. (a) new (b) familiar (c) open (d) happy 42. (a) letting (b) giving (c) organizing (d) leaving 43. (a) after (b) covering (c) as soon as (d) over 44. (a) employees (b) employers (c) colleagues (d) employment 45. (a) will (b) wont (c) would (d) want 46. (a) dependent (b) insured (c) enrolled (d) registration 47. (a) subsistence (b) subsidies (c) support (d) sustainability 48. (a) moderation (b) bad (c) moderate (d) weekly 49. (a) disincentive (b) incentive (c) objective (d) prejudice 50. (a) fire (b) dismiss (c) hire (d) pay

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ESSAY WRITING (/70 points)

What do you think of : Members of the public being stopped and searched under anti-terror laws?

Please answer the question in approximately 400 words, paying particular attention to spelling and grammar. You can use some ideas developed in the second text but you should not copy and paste what you read.

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