Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării

Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar

Examenul de bacalaureat 2009

Proba E/F
Proba scrisă la Limba Engleză
L1 - Intensiv 3-4 ore

SUBIECTUL I ( 30 de puncte) Varianta 022

Read the text below and complete the following tasks.

As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized.
(1) … Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-
religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival. (2) … When the second-century
Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they
attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner. It would
have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with
observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the
missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations
by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner. (3) …It
made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts
were slowly won over. The early name, Easter, was eventually changed to its modern spelling,
Easter. The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival
of Easter. The goddess, Easter, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol,
the rabbit. The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored
by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. (4) …

1. Four sentences have been removed from the text. Select the appropriate sentence for
each gap in the text. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. 4 points

A. The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating
their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Easter.
B. As it happened, the pagan festival of Easter occurred at the same time of year as the Christian
observance of the Resurrection of Christ.
C. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern
fabrication.
D. But the bunny never brings luck.
E. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

2. Explain the underlined words. 6 points

3. Sum up the text in about 50 words. 10 points

4. For the following questions, choose the answer (A, B, C, D) which fits according to the
text. 6 points

1. Easter was originally …

A. a pagan festival.
B. a religious celebration.
C. a catholic festival.
D. a protestant custom.

2. Who converted tribes of the north to Christianity?

A. The Pope.
B. Catholic priests.
 Ministerul Educaţiei, Cercetării şi Inovării
Centrul Naţional pentru Curriculum şi Evaluare în Învăţământul Preuniversitar
C. Christian missionaries.
D. Not mentioned.

3. Who brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America?

A. The Anglo-Saxons.
B. The Germans.
C. The Europeans.
D. The Asians.

5. Comment on the following statement: As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been
secularized and commercialized. (100 words) 4 points