SSCC- Sioufi Date: Monday, June 11th , 2012
Class: 2nd A B C
Name: ______
English Language Final Exam

Part One: Reading (20pts)

Addiction to onlinegamesis becoming more widespread among vulnerableyoung people, according to a treatment centre that has begun running abstinence courses in Britain.As games become more visually enticing and the recession leaves people at home in front of computer screens, therapists are encountering more cases of people obsessed with being online. In extreme circumstances game players can, they warn, become detached from normal existence and forget to eat or sleep as they interact with screen characters such as wizards and monsters. Youngsters can also develop posture problems.

Broadway Lodge, a residential rehabilitation centre in Somerset, which normally deals with alcoholics and drug addicts, has recently treated a 23-year-old for his obsession with online games.Brian Dudley, the centre's chief executive, said: "Ted was staying online for seven or eight hours at a time. We developed a treatment for him that followed the 12-step [abstinence] approach, but you can't tell someone never to use the internet again. He had eating issues, he wasn't eating properly. He did very well. He has … the mechanisms now to cope with it.”

"The problem is not just restricted to young kids. We know parents who are hooked on these things. It's only a small percentage of people who get addicted but it's also only a small percentage of people who gamble too much. I don't know anybody else who is treating [such cases] in this country. There's no helpline."

Peter Smith, another counselor at Broadway Lodge, said: "It's not unusual for people to get so obsessed with online gaming that they forget to eat and drift towards an anorexic and undernourished state. You can play online with people around the world, so it can be at odd times of the day – when it's 5pm in Chicago or evening in Japan. You have a relationship with characters in the game that give you an artificial feeling, created by your body's natural endorphins, when you have killed some monster or solved a problem."

"Addiction" is a loaded term among psychiatrists and psychologists, with many disputing whether the dependency exhibited by a few constitutes the same type of physical craving triggered by opiates such as heroin.

Online Gamers Anonymous, a US website, classifies "massively multiplayer online roleplaying games" as the most addictive. "Success in these games is highly dependent on the amount of time you put into them. Playing the game casually will leave you trailing behind others who put in more time, possibly making you feel as if you aren't as good or are falling behind."

Online role-playing games, the site adds, "encourages interaction among other people and development of groups, allowing people to flourish socially online, providing an escape for their struggling social life"; however, the games could also ruin a "successful social life".

ELSPA, The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association,denied that playing online games could lead to addiction. Its director general, Michael Rawlinson, said: "Playing video games is becoming increasingly mainstream in the UK and we firmly believe in the positive impact playing games can have."

A- Questions: (15pts)

1. Give the reading selection a suitable title. Justify. (1.5pts)

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2.Assess: Which age group is the most vulnerable (=exposed to danger; weak) as far as online games are concerned? Explainby resorting to your experiences.(2.5pts)

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3.Expose: How has Broadway Lodge influenced Ted? (2pts)

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4.List: What are the factors that lead people to become addicted to online games? List three factors. (3pts)

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5.Complete: Fill in the table below with the outcomes(=result)of online gaming according to the social therapists and ELSA. (2pts; each 0.5pt)

Social therapists / ELSPA
1. / 1.
2. / 2.

6. True or False? Write TRUE next to the sentences that express the same ideas mentioned in the text. Write FALSE next to the ones thatmisinterpret information presented in the text. Then, rewrite each so that each complies with the content of the test. (4pts)

______a- Nowadays, only the young generation spends a lot of time playing online games.

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______b- If a person spends long hours using the computer, his/ her posture will not be affected.

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______c- Psychologists & psychiatrists expect addicted online game players to forget their physical needs.

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______d- Losing in an online game affects the player’s self-esteem.

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______e- The reading selection only lists the negative effects of online gaming.

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B- Vocabulary: (5pts)

1.Refer to the text to find words that almost have the same meaning as the given definitions. (2pts)

a- Defenseless and weak (adj): ______

b- Underfed; hungry (adj): ______

c- Communication; relations between two or more (n): ______

d- Normal & ordinary (adj) [compound word]: ______

2. Fill in the gapped sentences with the suitable word from the box.There are more words then needed. (3pts)

encounter – circumstances –abstinence –addicted - denied – association- artificial - recession

a- Strong will-power and a clear target are needed to exert ______from excessive food and beverage.

b- Stanley was ______access on that social network because he displayed a disrespectful avatar.

c- Greece is suffering from a serious ______since during the last few months there has been an alarming decline in its economic trade and prosperity.

d- A director of a company may in certain______ be made liable for the debts of the company of which he is a director.

e- Mom is always busy at school doing something with the Parent-Teacher______.

f- Tina’s hair color looks______because the color is too gaudy.

C- Language: (20pts)

1. Complete the sentences with tag questions. (3pts)

a- Do help yourself to more juice, ______?
b- Pass me the remote control, ______?

c- You hadn’t realized I was in your room, ______?

d- Nothing really happens in the games, ______?

e- Everyone loves cartoons, ______?

f- Let’s go out to the yard, ______?

2. Rewrite the sentences using the given beginnings. (8pts)

a- “You must come home before midnight,” said Mr. Jones to his daughter.

Mr. Jones insisted ______

b- “I am not going to buy you a new Xbox,” said Kate.

Kate refused ______

c- “Well done for passing your final exams,” said my dad to me.

My dad congratulated ______

d- Tony said that he had visited China the previous summer.

“ I ______Tony.

e- Martha complained that she had been waiting there for two hours.

“ I ______.”

f- Ryan told me he wouldn’t lose a single football match the previous day if he was cheerful.

Martin said, “I ______.”

g- Elise didn’t go out because she has an exam tomorrow.

If ______.

h- I don’t like sitcoms, so I didn’t watch Friends.

If ______.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense in the following sentences. (7pts; each 0.5pt)

a- He (not be) 1______so unpopular if he (remember) 2______to bring some gifts for his hosts.

b- If I (not/ persuade)3 ______someone to lend me some money, I don’t know how I (get home) 4______.

c- What on earth (you do) 5______if you (be)6______in the same situation last night?

d- The company (not make) 7______so much moneynow if it (not carry out) 8______the restructuring programme last year.

e- A: (you/ try) 9______the hot dogs? They’re delicious.

B: Yes. (eat/ already) 10______four! The hamburgers (smell) 11______good too. I (think) 12______of having some of those.

f- In the next ten years, electric cars(become) 13______cheap enough for most people to afford. That means we(not/ drive) 14______gasoline-powered cars much longer.

4. Read the conditional sentences carefully so you can answer the questions correctly. (2pts, each 0.25pt)

a- If Alexander Mores had taken the right clothes, he wouldn’t have felt so cold in the unheated house.

i- Did he take the right clothes? ______

ii- Did he feel cold? ______

b- If Leticia Aldridge hadn’t spent many years working as an ambassador’s secretary, she wouldn’t be expected to be an expert on international etiquette now.

i- Did she work as a secretary? ______

ii- Is she an expert on etiquette now? ______

c- The young banker could have offended his hosts if he hadn’t joined them in the boat ride.

i- Did he join his hosts in the boat ride? ______

ii- Did he offend his hosts? ______

d- I might be doing more business if I had bothered to learn about local customs when I first arrived.

i- Am I doing more business now? ______

ii- Did I learn about local customs?______

Part Two: Writing

In no more than 200 words, write an essay about purchasing (=buying) from the internet. Are you for or against it? Discuss.

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Good Luck!!

Your essay will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Grammar/Verb tense / 2pts
Sentence structure/ Coherence / 3pts
Spelling / 1pt
Vocabulary / 2pt
Capitalization/ Punctuation / 1pt
Layout / 1pt
Opinion / 0pt
Total / 10pts