Reading Comprehension 50 15 Points

Reading Comprehension 50’ 15 points I. Text A. Read the following text and then decide whether the statements below are true (T) or false (F). Ally McBeal - what the media says 1 Ally McBeal, played by Calista Flockhart, is a young lawyer from Harvard and the main character of the successful program launched in 1997. The series quickly became one of the most talked- about shows, and in 1998 won the Golden Globe Award for best comedy and best actress in a TV series for Flockhart. In the same year the show was nominated for ten Emmy Awards and also won two "Q" awards for "Quality Television. In 1999 it received an Emmy for best comedy. The series centres around Ally's Boston law firm and colleagues, the courtroom and their trials as well as Ally's relationships with men, or more precisely, the desperate search for her soul mate. On the whole, Ally McBeal is not a typical central female figure: she is constantly insecure, narcissistically obsessed but at the same time never really happy with herself. 2 The question of whether or not Ally McBeal is a good role model has been played out in public discourse several times already. The media seems to have a fixation with two issues. The first is with the anti-feminist aspect of Ally McBeal and the portrayal of women in this show in general. The second fixation focuses around actress Calista Flockhart's weight and question if she is anorexic or not. 1. Calista Flockhart is a lawyer from Harvard. T F

2. Ally McBeal was nominated for ten Grammy awards. T F

3. The series focuses on the central character’s public activity at the law firm and 1. on T F her private search for an ideal partner.

4. The author affirms that Ally’s quest for a male partner makes her anorexic. T F

5. Not everybody agrees on Ally’s being a good role model. T F

I. Text B. After reading the text, deal with the tasks below. Ally McBeal - A new type of role model? 1 As pointed out above, the media mainly focused on feminist issues as well as the possible impact of Ally's skinny figure on her fans, and as a result, labelled her as a poor role model. Although her critics made some fair points, the question arises how the show could become so popular with a leading character that is such a poor role model or even allegedly an "insult for women"? One reason is definitely the humor of the program. It is very entertaining to watch Ally and her colleagues in their daily struggles. 2 However, what might be of the same importance is one aspect mentioned by Mercedes Bunz, Jon Katz and Aliza Sherman in their essays. Accordingly, Ally McBeal is amongst the new kind of television series that do not show reality as it should be, but rather as it is. As Bunz puts it, the show addresses problems with gender identities that arise because the traditional way of life in which the roles of men and women were clearly outlined (men work while women stay at home and raise the children) are exchanged by a new model of life that is not yet defined (Bunz 2001: 274). Ally McBeal has to cope with the same clichés and somehow unclear role expectations that the target group of the program - women between 18 and 49 - see themselves confronted with. Being a successful career woman and, at the same time, trying to find a man, or more precisely ones soul mate and having a family is only one of the difficulties they face.

Test de acces în licenţă, sesiunea februarie 2007 Limba engleză 1 3 However, to a certain extent, Ally McBeal can be seen as a typical human in modern society that desires to live a life of her own and struggles with identity matters that arise from the conditions of late modernity. Thus, she can serve as a role model in the sense that she provides 'emotional' support and through that, a kind of guidance. ( Judith Schroeter : Ally McBeal in us: The importance of role models in identity formation)

1. Circle the correct version: The focus of paragraph 1 is on a. the paradoxical success of the Ally Mcbeal series. b. feminist issues raised by the series. c. the humor of the program. 2. Circle the correct version. The best explanation for the phrase ‘cope with’ (paragraph 2) is a. handle something successfully b. survive c. separate 3. Summarize the main idea of paragraph 2. Use the following key words: tradition(al); new; model; roles ______4. Copy the words (no more than 6) that best summarize paragraph 3.

5. Circle the correct version. The target audience of the series is a. all women in search of a husband b. women who stay at home and raise children c. women who are older than18 and younger than 49 I.C. Complete the sentences below with your own word or phrase. Write them down at the end of the exercise. 1(...) refers to a person who fills his or her role as a good or bad example for others. A good example is a positive role model. A bad example is a 2 (…) role model. The term role model on its own often means positive role model. A positive role model carries out a role demonstrating values, ways of thinking and acting, which are considered good in that role. Others hopefully will 3 (…) the example. A woman professor can be seen as a role model for other women. Parents can be positive role models helping their children learn adult ways or they can be negative role models. In dysfunctional families 4(…) tend to be primarily negative role models. The distinction in positive and negative role models can easily lead to accepting a false dilemma. The act of picking a role model consists of first evaluating what are one’s own values (answering the question "what kind of things are important to me?"), then finding a person (usually a famous person) that exhibits a majority of those points and then emulating that 5(…). 1.______; 2. ______; 3. ______; 4. ______; 5. ______.

Use of English 15 points

II.A. Fill in the blanks with the number of the appropriate word or phrase from the list below:

Test de acces în licenţă, sesiunea februarie 2007 Limba engleză 2 1. academic 2. to meet 3. are recruited 4. role 5. trained 6.all of 7. growing 8 share 9. delinquency 10. working

The goal of the Juvenile Justice (…) Model Development Program is (…)a critical shortage of (…) professionals for programs that provide young people with strong, positive role models in their communities. The Program emphasizes cultural and (…) diversity as students (…) from a broad range of disciplines including: criminal justice, criminology, sociology, psychology, education, music therapy, and theatre. (…) the students in the program (…) the same common interest— (…) with young people within communities to help curb the (…) problem of juvenile (…) and crime.

II.B. Choose the right word or phrase to complete the sentences below: 1. On an individual level, I don't think there's (…) harm in men having role models. It would vary from individual to individual; I wouldn't prescribe it for everybody.

a. some b. any c. no

2. A role model (or set of role models) can give a person an idea of how they'd like to be. It would probably be based in some dissatisfaction with an aspect of oneself, and the role model would provide a way of 'turning around' the person's thinking, (…) they can say 'I've got to be more like x' and feel positive about it.

a. so b. so that c. as

3. On a broader social level, having a range of role models (…) to be good for men. It's often said that the male identity is less clear-cut these days.

a. is likely b. is probably c. could

4. This is partly because the range of available role models (…) and is no longer so firmly centred around one traditional idea of masculinity.

a. will broaden b. used to broaden c. has broadened

5 But I think that diversification of models is good. It provides a - still (…) but broader - set of choices for men.

a. limited b. limiting c. limit

Writing 25’ 25 points

III. Write an essay of no more than 250 words on ONE of the following topics. Use the space below.

Test de acces în licenţă, sesiunea februarie 2007 Limba engleză 3 1. What is/are the function(s) of a role model in the process of identity formation? Mention two or three important ideas and illustrate with examples.

2. A role model is a person you look up to. Before you begin writing, think about someone you look up to. Why do you admire this person? Explain whom you admire and why you admire this person.

Test de acces în licenţă, sesiunea februarie 2007 Limba engleză 4