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LYCEE MUNICIPALTANDA ANNEESCOLAIRE: 2012-2013
BP 80 TANDA PROF: Mr KOFFIYao Jules
TEL: 35 91 85 60/61 NIVEAU:Tle A
DUREE: 3 heures
COMMON ENGLISH TEST
Readthistextand do all the activities thatfollow onyouranswersheet.
PART ONE: READING (40%)
A DEMOGRAPHIC TIMEBOMB
The first population count after independence was based on French administration figures, and on
December 31, 1962, the government fixed the population of Central African Republic at 1,279,642
persons. (It should be noted that only a small proportion of either deaths or births are registered and
birth certificates are usually given out for a fee.) The 1962 census represented a gain of about 200,000
over the 1952 tally published by the French. In 1965, Dacko called for a more exhaustive census that5
produced a total population of 2,088,000—almost exactly 1 million more than in 1952. On the whole,
these numbers were not considered valid by most informed observers.
In 1979 the government accepted the results of the 1975 sample census that estimated a total
population of 2,057,000. This estimate was more accurate than a previous figure of over 3 million that
the Bokassa government had promulgated, and it corresponded more closely to the mid-198210
estimates of two million suggested by informed experts.
It is estimated that the annual rate of population increase is about 2.3 percent. Until very
recently a high death rate, especially for children, compensated for the extraordinarily high birth rate
(5 percent). Deaths for children under one year of age currently reach 190 per 1000. Obviously, if
better prenatal and postnatal care and better health practices in general were to lower this figure, a15
veritable population bomb would be set to explode in the Central African Republic. Young people
under fifteen constitute at least 40 percent of the population while people over sixty are scarcely more
than 6.5 percent of the population.
The explosive demand for relevant social services, food, clothing, education, housing, health
services, and job opportunities that this youthful population represents cannot be met by the present20
growth potential of the economy. Runaway urbanization and the current rates of unemployment
already threaten the social and political stability of the country. Clearly some radical policy changes are
called for if the population of Central African Republic is to avoid a population crisis.
At present the population of the Republic is overwhelmingly rural. Less than 30 percent of the
population lives in the capital, Bangui, and the small towns that have grown around former colonial25
administrative posts.
(…) In 1934 the population of Bangui was only about 19,000, but by 1966 the city had grown to
152,000, and in 1985 there were more than 350,000 people living in this capital city.
(…) Like most other African cities, after World War II Bangui experienced accelerated growth
that became even more rapid after independence. The reasons for this rapid growth are hardly unique30
to Bangui. People flocked to the city looking for better life. They came for better health care and
schools and to find salaried employment, not necessarily because they wanted to escape rural life.
Adapted from THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC by Thomas O’Toole, PP 82-84, 1986.
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COMPREHENSION CHECK
A-The words in the left column are from the text. Find the synonym of each of them in the right column.
Write your answers like this: 8-i
1- figures (L1)
2- registered (L3)
3- accurate (L9)
4- increase (L12)
5- under (L14)
6- lower (L15)
7- explode (L16)
8- constitute (L17)
9- current (L21)
10- called for (23)
11- escape (L32)
a- below
b- correct
c- flee
d- reduce
e- numbers
f- growth
g- recorded
h- required
i- make up
j- burst
k- present
B- Basing on the text, answer these questions briefly.
1- Complete this table with figures from the text. Write your answers like this: a= about 19,000
Years The size of the population of
The Central African Republic
The size of the population of
Bangui
1934 (a) about ………………
1952 (b) about ………………..
1962 (c) …………………………...
1966 (d) ………………………..
1975 (e) ……………………………
2-Are all the figures about the population size correct? Justify your answer.
3- Write the number “1,279,642” in words.
4- What’s the death rate for children aged below one?
5- If the death rate for children decreased, what would be the consequence?
6- Is the Central African Republic heading towards a population crisis? Justify your answer.
7- Give one cause of rural exodus mentioned in the text.
PART TWO: WRITING (40%)
TASK: Write an essay on the topic below (25 to 30 lines). The best essay will be read at an English
Club meeting.
Topic: Is it necessary to control population growth?
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PART THREE: LANGUAGE IN USE (20%)
A- Complete each gap with the suitable word from the box. Write your answers like this: 11-j
a-of; b-largest; c-later; d-were; e-by; f-forest; g-grown; h-inhabitants; i-population; j-original; k-estimates
Towns and cities have (…1…) rapidly in recent years. (…2…) 1948, 7 per cent of the population lived in
centers of 2,000 or more (…3…). In 1955 there were 10 towns of 10,000 or more located throughout the
country; at this time nearly half (…4…) the 12 per cent who were urbanized lived in Abidjan and in
Bouaké, the second largest city, located at the meeting point of the (…5…) and the savanna. The (…6…)
city is Abidjan , which grew from a small Ebrié fishing village, with a (…7…) of 720 in 1910, to a town of
5,371 in 1921. In 1945 it had become a city of 46,000, and ten years (…8…) its population was 127,585.
Recent (…9…) are as high as 200,000. In 1935 the Ebrié (…10…) relocated on the nearby island of Petit
Bassam to make room for Frenchmen on the plateau, as the (…11…) location of Abidjan has come to be
called.
B- Choose the most suitable word from the options labelled A to D to fill in each gap. Example: 11-B=at
The most dramatic rate of increase occurred during the (..1..). Between 1948 (..2..) 1957, the proportion
of children of school age attending school (..3..) from about 5 per cent (..4..) nearly 20 per cent,
bypassing all other French West African territories except Dahomey. As the number (..5..) children with
an elementary school education increased, secondary schools were created (..6..) well. Scholarships
were (..7..) granted to enable students to obtain a secondary education (..8..) France or to attend French
universities. The economic boom also enabled some families to send students (..9..) school abroad at
their own expense. By 1959, it was estimated that about 1,000 Ivory Coast students were in France;
(..10..) addition, there were about 200 (..11..) the University of Dakar.
1) A-1950 ; B-1950s ; C-50th ; D-50 7) A-as ; B-too ; C-also ; D-such
2) A-in ; B-after ; C-on ; D-and 8) A-at ; B-on ; C-by ; D-in
3) A-rose ; B-decrease ; C-stayed ; D-fell 9) A-to ; B-at ; C-in ; D-under
4) A-in ; B-at ; C-between ; D-to 10) A-in ; B-by ; C-at ; D-on
5) A-to ; B-in ; C-for ; D-of 11) A-around ; B-at ; C-over ; D-below
6) A-too ; B-as ; C-such ; D-so