22 June 2009 Write your name here: ____________________________________________
Write the answer which best completes each sentence in the little box.
A. given B. done C. held D. promoted
2. The Treaty of Lisbon …………….. on December 17, 2007 but has not come into force, yet.
A. was signed B. signed C. has been signed D. will be signed
3. Pakistan appears to be .................... war with the Taliban inside their own country.
A. in B. at C. to D. on
4. George W. Bush .................... the President of the United States from 2001 to 2009.
A. has been B. was C. was being D. will be
5. More than three quarters of the MEPs were elected …………. Sunday 7 June; the other quarter were elected in the three preceding days.
A. in B. at C. to D. on
6. I think that, ........................... all the difficulties and the harder times that every continent in the world is facing, we should be confident about our future.
A. despite B. though C. in spite D. nevertheless
7. So ..................., Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic have not ratified the Lisbon Treaty, yet.
A. now B. until C. yet D. far
8. It was agreed that the Spanish government would foot ............... for translation services for Spaniards who prefer to use Catalan, Galician and Basque.
A. the fee B. the check C. the payment D. the bill
9. I look forward ..................... with you in the next hundred days, in the hundred days after that, all of the hundreds of days to follow.
A. to work B. to working C. working D. work
10. There is ……........… any difference between the failed European Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty.
A. hard B. like C. likely D. hardly
11. Thank you all for ……………….. me the opportunity to come and hear what's on your minds.
A. to give B. give C. gave D. giving
12. “We don't torture” Churchill once said, but all of the British people were ....................... to unimaginable risk and threat.
A. been subjected B. being subjected C. be subjected D. subjecting
13. Slovakia is the last Member State to have joined the EMU: the euro became legal ………………. on January 1, 2009.
A. tender B. currency C. money D. exchange
14. The euro area, sorely tested by the financial crisis, has survived intact and …………… expand further.
A. is like to B. is likely to C. likes to D. likely to be
15. It is worth ............................ that the US and the Euro area went into recession before the UK did.
A. remember B. remembering C. remembered D. to remember
16. We can’t wait ....................... the investments today that will lead to tomorrow’s prosperity.
A. make B. making C. to make D. we made
17. On January 21st Mr Obama carefully repeated again the 35-.......... oath prescribed by Art. 2 of the Constitution.
A. words B. word C. wordy D. worded
18. They just can’t admit that they might lose the elections, .................................................?
A. can’t they B. can they C. don’t they D. isn’t it
19. .................................... we can get out of that business, the better off we're going to be.
A. The soon B. The soonest C. The sooner D. Soonest
20. We won't always ............. eye to eye. We may disagree, and disagree strongly, about health care reform.
A. agree B. see C. share D. look
21. Rarely ........................................................ to the polls: they are notoriously unreliable in elections.
A. young people go B. go young people C. do young people go D. young people are going
22. Is the Czech Republic holding the rotating presidency this semester? Yes, .......................................
A. she was B. she does C. she is D. she did
23. Poland's President Lech Kaczynski has refused to ratify the treaty for the ............. being, calling it "pointless".
A. moment B. actual C. current D. time
24. My father used ………………………… that we can all leave our mark for good or ill.
A. to telling me B. to tell me C. telling me D. tell me
25. Americans ............................................ for change since November 2006.
A. asked B. have been asking C. ask D. are asking
26. On January 20th Barack Obama was sworn ……………. as the 44th President of the United States.
A. in B. on C. up D. off
27. Europe must not give ………….. on its ambitions when it comes to protecting the environment.
A. on B. up C. over D. off
28. Twice in seven years, the Irish voters have turned .................... EU treaties. They rejected the Nice treaty in 2001 before approving it in a second referendum a year later.
A. in B. down C. up D. over
29. Only half of voters under the age of 30 ………………………………. in the 2004 elections.
A. worked out B. filled out C. turned out D. put out
30. Sweden will take .......................................... the six-month rotating presidency in July 2009.
A. out B. up C. in D. over
Part 2 – June 22, 2009
The use of the dictionary is not allowed.
A Translate the following passage into Italian (15 points)
After 100 days in office, despite occasional foul-ups, fully 70% of Americans like Barack Obama as a person. He scores less well as a president, but not much. A poll by YouGov/Polimetrix found that 59% approve of the way he is doing the job.
On Tuesday April 28th his position grew even stronger: Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican senator from Pennsylvania, announced that he would defect to the Democrats.
Most Americans think Barack Obama is handling the economy well and around 45% of Americans now think the country is on the right track.
Mr Obama has been active in other areas, too. In January he ordered the closure within a year of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, though he has not said what he will do with the detainees. In March he gave an order to lift restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research. And in April he lifted some curbs on travel to Cuba.
Some of Mr Obama’s headaches are being caused by his own party. He has banned “water-boarding”, a form of torture that was used on at least three al-Qaeda members. Among his biggest priorities he wants also to reshape health care and tackle climate change.
B Translate the following passage into English (5 points)
Il processo di ratifica della Costituzione si interruppe il
29 maggio 2005 con un
referendum popolare in cui il 54,7% dell'elettorato
francese scelse di non sottoscrivere il Trattato; pochi giorni dopo, il
1° giugno, anche la popolazione dei
Paesi Bassi si dichiarò contraria all'introduzione del Trattato (con il 61,6% dei voti). Questa costituzione, quindi, non è mai entrata in vigore. Il nuovo trattato, il Trattato di Lisbona, firmato due anni dopo, è stato rigettato dall’Irlanda il 12 giugno 2008, ma gli irlandesi torneranno alle urne entro novembre 2009.
C Read the following passage and then answer the questions below (10 points)
On January 20th Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The former state and national legislator was sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, with a crowd estimated at more than 1 million people gathered on the National Mall and an estimated 1 billion others watching on television around the globe. Making history as the first African-American to become president, Obama took the Oath of Office with his hand on a Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln, also a former U.S. lawmaker from Illinois, at his first inauguration in 1861.
When Barack Obama was born, on 4 August 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, many states, and not just in the South, had laws on their books that enforced segregation, banned mixed-race unions like that of his parents and restricted voting rights. On November 4th America could claim, more credibly than any other western country, to have at last become politically color-blind. America now has a president with half-brothers in Kenya, old schoolmates in Indonesia and a view of the world that seems to be based on respect rather than confrontation.
1. Explain the meaning of “Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States” (2.5 points)
2. Explain the meaning of “On November 4th America could claim to have at last become politically color-blind” (2.5 points)
3. Write your opinion on the new American President. (5 points)