Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării

Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar

Examenul de bacalaureat 2009

Proba E/F
Proba scrisă la Limba Engleză
L1 - Intensiv 3-4 ore

SUBIECTUL I ( 30 de puncte) Varianta 008

Read the text below and complete the following tasks.

Apple’s music download service iTunes will soon meet its toughest rival yet. Amazon, the
world’s biggest book store, has released details of its long-awaited music download service,
“Amazon MP3”. (1) … Apple has been the unbeatable leader in digital music sales ever since it
started iTunes. In spite of other companies entering the market over the past five years, Apple still
dominates with over 70 per cent of all digital music sales. The new threat from Amazon comes in
the form of considerably cheaper downloads – 89 cents, compared with $1.29 from the Apple Store.
(2) … This means music lovers will be able to play their downloads on any mp3 player.
Amazon MP3 will boast a catalogue of over two million songs. It has joined forces with
20,000 major and independent record labels, including biggies Universal and EMI, to provide
consumers with a considerable choice of music from over 180,000 artists. Furthermore, Amazon
will not have to overcome the hurdle that prevents other online music stores from gaining a
foothold in the market - getting people to register credit card details. (3) … They'll soon be able to
buy music downloads alongside their books and DVDs. Amazon.com’s vice president for digital
music said in a press statement: "(4) … and using their input to refine the service." Time will tell
whether it will eat into Apple’s sales.

1. Four sentences have been removed from the text. Select the appropriate sentence for
each gap in the text. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. 4 points

A. We look forward to receiving feedback from our customers.

B. Amazon’s downloads will also be free of copy protection technology.
C. Amazon will definitely take a big bite into Apple’s profits.
D. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide already have Amazon accounts.
E. Analysts say this is the first real challenge to Apple's dominance.

2. Match the words/phrases in bold with their meaning. 6 points

to improve, to team up, barrier.

3. Sum up the text in about 50 words. 10 points

4. For the following questions, choose the answer (A, B, C, D) which fits according to the
text. 6 points

1. How much of total digital sales does Apple sales represent?

A. Less than a half.
B. More than a half.
C. More than 90 percent.
D. Less than a quarter.

2. What is one of the major advantages of buying music from the Amazon?
A. they have a better quality of sound
B. they are in English
C. they feature classical composers
D. they are cheaper
 Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării
Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar
3. What is it that Amazon sells the most?
A. books and DVDs
B. clothing and jewellery
C. watches and leatherwear
D. belts and purses

5. Comment on the following statement: People will soon be able to buy music downloads
alongside their books and DVDs. (100 words) 4 points