Session 21

 

20th March 2025

chilly, sunny 

Thursday 

wish + past simple / past continuous 

- used for desires / present things to be different 

- similar to conditional type II 

If all the people in our school were sick classes would be cancelled . 

If only the people in my school were sick at the same time!

I wish all the people in my school were sick ! 

wish + had + V3 

- expression of regrets

- similar to conditional III 

If the test had been harder less students would have got an A . 

If only the test had been harder ! 

I wish the test had been harder .

wish + would + V1

- being polite + stop an annoying situation 

I wish he would spend more time with his family . 

SUBIECTUL I – USE OF ENGLISH (25 points)

I.1. Read the following text and fill in the blanks with the correct verb forms. 10 points

POLICE SEEK MISSING SHED

A 32-year-old man 1) _____ (get) home from work on Friday to find that someone 2) _____ (steal) the shed from his back garden. Martin Graham, who 3) _____ (live) in Francis Road, Darnely, told us he couldn't believe his eyes. 'There was simply nothing there. I thought I 4) _____ (go) into the wrong garden.' A neighbour who 5) ____ (notice) the men while they 6) ____ (disassemble) the shed, 7) _____ (assume) that Mr Graham 8) _____ (ask) them to do it. The two men just put the shed in a white van and drove off. Police 9) _____ (investigate) the case and 10) _____ (already, issue) a description of the two men.

The light in the room was too much dim, but Mary strived to read the precious 

letter. When I have managed to turn the light up, I could see that her eyes

 were swollen because she had hardly rubbed them to clear her vision. At 

first, I thought she was crying, but the letter brought a wonderful news: her 

son was returning home safely after his long journey through Asia. She had

 had few little information over the past two weeks, but all was forgotten now.

Later, her son explained that he had been making his way through Nepal, 

climbing the Mount Everest to Base Camp, then through the thick 

overgrowth of the Indian jungle, and finally across the dryly Gobi Desert. He 

hadn't had internet access, then he had lost his phone and couldn’t call 

home. All he could managed to do was write a quick letter before boarding 

on the plane to Tokyo, the last leg of his journey.

1. I think these kinds of exercises ___ STRENGTHEN __ my body.

STRONG

2. She made many ____PROVOCATIVE__ statements.

PROVOKE

3. The claim is __UNQUESTIONABLY ____ true.

QUESTION

4. The judge ordered the _DISCLOSURE _____ of the documents and everything went public.

CLOSE

5. As a child, Jack suffered from a very strict _ UPBRINGING _____ .

BRING

Read the text below and complete the tasks that follow.

1. _________________________

On July 4, 1884, France gave the United States an incredible birthday gift – the Statue of Liberty! July 4 is celebrated as Independence Day in the U.S. because it marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, when the thirteen American colonies declared their freedom from British rule. The gift was a powerful symbol of the strong friendship between France and the United States, as France had supported the American colonies during their fight for independence. The Statue of Liberty soon became one of the most important symbols of freedom and democracy in the world. When immigrants arrived by boat to the United States, the statue was often the first thing they saw, a sign that they had reached a land of freedom and opportunity.

2. _____________________________

The idea for the statue started in 1865, during a dinner near Paris. A group of Frenchmen were discussing their dictator-like emperor and comparing him to the democratic government of the U.S. They wanted to create a monument to freedom, which could also inspire people in France to demand democracy. Among them was the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who imagined a giant statue of a woman holding a torch, shining with the light of liberty. He took inspiration from Libertas, the ancient Roman goddess of freedom, in the popular tradition among 19th-century sculptors, who often used female figures to personify abstract concepts like justice, liberty, and victory. He even used his own mother’s face as the model for Lady Liberty!

3. ______________________________

Turning Bartholdi’s idea into reality took 21 years. The French raised money to build the statue, while Americans collected funds for the pedestal. The famous engineer Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower, created the statue’s internal structure – four huge iron columns that hold the thin copper skin in place. The statue was completed in 1884, then taken apart into 350 pieces and packed into 214 wooden crates. It was shipped across the Atlantic Ocean and rebuilt in New York Harbor. Finally, on October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was officially dedicated in front of a huge crowd, marking a historic moment in U.S. history.

4. ________________________________

The Statue of Liberty has a flexible structure that allows it to sway up to 7.62 cm in the wind, while the torch moves even more – up to 12.7 cm. There is an elevator inside, which takes visitors up to the observation deck at the top of the pedestal. From there, they must climb 354 steps to reach the crown, but the 25 windows, which offer a spectacular view of New York City, make the effort worthwhile. At the time of its completion, the Statue of Liberty was the tallest structure in the United States, standing at 46 meters – the arm with the torch alone is 14 meters long, while a single finger measures 2.4 meters! The statue is covered with 300 sheets of copper, hammered into shape and joined with rivets. The seven rays in the crown represent the seven seas.

5. _________________________________

Originally, the Statue of Liberty was not green – it was a shiny reddish-brown color because it was made of copper, just like a new penny. However, over time, the copper reacted with air, water, and weather, causing a natural chemical process called oxidation. This created a thin layer called ‘patina’, which protected the statue from further damage and gave it its famous greenish-blue color. The transformation took about 20 years, and by the early 1900s, the statue had completely changed to the color we see today. This patina actually helps preserve the statue, preventing the copper underneath from corroding. Today, millions of tourists visit the statue every year, climbing to the top and learning about its history, as well as its unique greenish color and the science behind it.

II.1 Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-G) for each part (1-5). There are two extra headings which you do not need to use. 10 points

A. A formidable endeavour 

B. Green is the new brown 

C. Sealing a historical bond 

D. Aging like fine wine 

E. The spark that ignited the torch of liberty 

F. An engineering marvel 

G. Colonial America

Homework 

page 78 

composition - comment 

rivets = legatura / conexiune