I. Translate the Following Text Into German: ( Max. 20 Pts)

FOS-Prüfung 2001

I.  Translate the following text into German: ( max. 20 pts)

Sydney Olympics: The Games go green

Having the Olympic Games is a prize many countries would like to win, and the competition to do so is very hard. So when Sydney decided to apply for the 2000 Olympics, those in charge of the planning knew they had to offer something special. In 1993 Sydney was the first city to apply for the Games with a focus on environmental matters.

Sydney has actually broken all previous records in its preparations for an eco-friendly Olympics. Using special environmentally friendly technology, the city started to clean up Homebush Bay, the planned site for the event and one of Australia`s most polluted areas as heavy metals, DDT and dioxins had been dumped there for thirty years. Energy and water-saving technologies can be found everywhere at the site. The athletes´ village, having offered flats for the thousands of sportsmen and women during the Games, is the world´s largest solar-powered suburb. Rainwater from the roof of the Olympic Stadium was collected, and used water was recycled to flush toilets and water gardens. Public transport was a key part of the environmentally friendly concept. To reduce traffic jams and pollution a new 300 million pound train line was built to the airport, and other bus and train lines were improved to transport thousands of athletes, officials and journalists as well as about 700,000 visitors a day.

Both recycling and energy and water conservation methods may offer a useful model for the western world, but using ozone-killing chemicals for cooling or building a huge volleyball stadium right in the middle of beautiful Bondi Beach spoilt the good impression of Sydney´s Green Games. Besides experts have criticized that the Olympic village is too far from the train station to encourage future residents to reduce their car use.

In spite of all these weak points, Sydney has set new standards on how to deal with the environment. According to Greenpeace and the Australian government the Olympic Games will never be the same again having made the environment the third pillar of the Olympic movement, after sport and culture.

Annotations :

DDT – not be translated;

to dump – to put things which are no longer needed somewhere quickly and carelessly;

athletes´ village – Olympic village;

to flush – to fill something with water to clean it;

to encourage – to give someone courage to do s.th.;

residents – people who live in a house, town or area;

pillar – a tall solid structure used to support part of a building

II. Reading Comprehension (max. 25 points)

Booming tourism in a world of leisure

According to the World Tourism Organisation, about 600 million people - well over twice the population of the USA – travelled away from home on holiday last year, about two thirds of them by air. This boom in tourism would not be possible without cheaper and faster transpotation and increasing wealth among the world´s middle class. Statistics also show the huge increase in leisure time in the developed world. In the last fifty years the average working week in industrialized countries has fallen from 50 hours to 38 hours. Over the same period, pais holidays increased from nine days in 1950 to an average of 28 days in 2000, a rise of more than 300%.

But- as so often – these global statistics can be misleading. While tourism as a whole is booming, some sectors of the holiday industry are doing better than others. The big losers are mass “fly and fry” package holiday firms that transport holiday-makers to hotel blocks in the sun. With more free time and more money in their pockets, tourists are becoming choosier.

They are looking for the constant thrill and want to experience exotic regions and exceptional sensations. For this reason outdoor activity, education and camping holidays as well as trips to new and “unspoilt” parts of Africa, Asia, Latin-America and even the polar regions are doing exceptionally well.

But how long will these places stay unspoillt? Last year about 25,000 tourists attracted by the wide offer of adventure activities such as mountain climing, snowboarding and skiing on virgin snow in an unusal location visited Antarctica. And the number of tourists is expected to double wihin ten years. Plans of the Australian government to establish a permanent airport in Antarctica have reopend the debate about the future of tourism in the world`s last great wilderness. “A direct air link from Australia may result in an explosion of visitors to Antarctica and contribute to the destruction of the careful balance between tourism and antarctica environment established here over the last ten years. Several king penguins died in Antarctica last year because they ate rubbish left by tourists”, explains John Meynell, a member of the World Conservation Union. The Victoria Falls are also suffering from a tourist boom that brings about noisy sightseeing helicopters, bungee jumpers and sky divers, threatening to turn the falls into an adventure playground for foreign thrill-seekers. According to a recent report on the effects of tourism on the environment that was carried out for the World Conservation Union the rainforest as well is suffering by the many visitors leaving behind trampled vegetation, litter and frightened wild animals that are runnig dangerously past walking safaris.

Conservationists are now realizing that the future of the natural wonders of the world is at risk. They are calling for limiting the the nummber of visitors and for introducing “no-go areas” to protect wildlife, the environment and local people from uncontrolled tourism.

But if local governments go on putting cash before conservation, the environmental damage will increase.

Anotations:

leisure – spare time

choosy – difficult to please

thrill – feeling of great excitement or fear

virgin – untouched

to establish – to found/to set up

link – connection

to contribute to – to be one of the causes for

conservation – protection of the environment

sky divers – Fallschirmspringer

thrill seeker – someone looking for excitement

at risk – in danger

Part A: Questions on the text (max. 12 points)

1.  Answer the following questions in complete sentences using your own words:

1.1 What factors in developed contries have made the tourism boom possible (three aspects) (3,0p)

1.2 Wich sectors of the holiday industry have been most succesful recently

(three examples) and why ? (three aspects) (3,0p)

1.3 Find examples to show the negative effects of mass tourism to so-called

“unspoilt” places. (three aspects) (3,0p)

2. True or false ? Give reasons for your answer in your own words

2.1  The majority of tourists go on holiday by plane. (1.0p)

2.2  Antarctica is still untouched by tourism. (1.0p)

2.3  Local governments are also responsible for the damage brought

to a tourist country. (1.0p)

Part B: Language (max. 13 points)

1. Find a synonym for each of the following words: (1.50pt, 0.50 pt each)

1.1 holiday 1.2 often 1.3 realizing

2. Find an antonym for each of the following words: (1.50pt, 0.50pt each)

2.1 wealth 2.2 to protect 2.3 suffering from

3. Give the corresponding word belonging to the same word family: (1.50pt, 0.50pt each)

3.1  sensations (adjective)

3.2  destruction (verb)

3.3  protect (noun)

4. Define the following words in complete sentences: (3.00pts, 1.50pt each)

4.1 educational holiday 4.2 no-go areas

5. Change into reported speech: (1.5pt)

John Meynell said: “Several king penguins died in Antarctica last year because they ate rubbish left by tourists.”

6. Transform into the passive: (1.5pt)

Plans of the Australian governemt to establish a permanent airport in Antarctica have reopened the debate about the future of tourism in the world’s last great wilderness.

7. Change into an if-clause type III: (1.0pt)

But if local governments go on putting cash before conservation, the environmental damage will increase.

8. Start the following sentence with “For several years” and change the

tense accordingly: (1.0pt)

They are looking for the constant thrill and want to experience exotic surroundings and exceptional sensations.

9. Join the two sentences by using a relative clause (1,0pt)

Conservationists are realizing that the future of some of the natural wonders of the world is at risk. They are calling for limiting the number of visitors.

III. Composition (max. 15 points)

Choose one of the following topics for composition. Write at least 220 but not more than 400 words.

1. “Saving energy is the only solution to your energy problems.”

Comment on this statement by discussing ways of saving energy and using alternative sources of energy.

or:

2. Crime and punishment

Describe the causes of crime and discuss different ways of punishment.