موضوع تجريبي لشهادة البكالوريا في اللغة الإنجليزية
Durée: ساعتان ونصف
Is fair trade the answer?
Every morning, millions of people drink coffee without knowing who grew it. In many developing countries, small farmers sell their coffee beans at very low prices, while large companies make huge profits. Fair trade was created to change this situation. It guarantees farmers a minimum price for their products and supports projects such as schools and clean water in their communities. In return, farmers must respect rules on working conditions and the environment, and they must not use child labour. Critics argue that fair-trade products are more expensive and that only a small part of the extra money reaches the farmers. Nevertheless, if more consumers chose fair-trade products, companies would be pushed to behave more ethically.
Part One: Reading (15 points)
A. Comprehension (8 points)
- The text is: a) an advertisement, b) an argumentative article, c) a story. Choose.
- Are these statements true or false? a) Fair trade guarantees a minimum price to farmers. b) Fair-trade farmers can use child labour.
- Answer: a) What projects does fair trade support? b) What do critics say about fair trade?
- What do the underlined words refer to? "It guarantees farmers…" → ...... "their communities" → ......
B. Text exploration (7 points)
- Find in the text words closest in meaning to: assures — however.
- Complete the table:
Verb Noun Adjective to profit ...... ...... ...... guarantee guaranteed - Rewrite using "unless": "If companies don't respect workers, consumers will boycott them."
- Complete: If I (be) a business owner, I (pay) fair wages.
Part Two: Written expression (5 points)
Written expression
Some people think that companies should care only about profit. Write an argumentative essay (about 150 words) in which you give your opinion about ethics in business.