A good site to learn ENGLISH

الثانوية التأهيلية مولاي ادريس الامتحان التجريبي السنة الدراسية: 2009_ 2010
سيدي علال البحراوي للسنة الثانية من سلك الباكالوريا المادة: اللغة الأنجليزية مدة الإنجاز: 2 س المعامل: 2
الإسم: ................................................................................................ القسسم: .............................................................
Social Networks
The names MySpace, Facebook, Orkut are some of the most popular sites on the internet today. These sites are all called 'social networking' sites because they help people meet and discuss things online. Each of these social networking sites has its own strengths: MySpace is especially popular among teenagers, Facebook is popular with college age people, Orkut is especially loved in Brazil, and CyWorld is the site to visit in South Korea. The common thread between all of these social networks is that they provide a place for people to interact, rather than a place to go to read or listen to 'content'.
Social networks are considered to be web 2.0. What does this mean? To understand this, it's important to understand what the original web did (often called web 1.0). Back in the nineties, the web was a place to go to read articles, listen to music, get information, etc. Most people didn't contribute to the sites. They just 'browsed' the sites and took advantage of the information or resources provided. Of course, some people did create their own sites. However, creating a site was difficult. You needed to know basic HTML coding (the original language the internet uses to 'code' pages). It certainly wasn't something most people wanted to do as it could take hours to get a basic page just right. Things began to get easier when blogs (from web log) were introduced. With blogs, many more people began writing 'posts', as well as commenting on other people's blogs.
In 2003 a site named MySpace took the internet by storm. It was trying to mimic the most popular features of Friendster, the first social networking site. It quickly became popular among young users and the rest was history. Soon everyone was trying to develop a social networking site. The sites didn't provide 'content' to people, they helped people create, communicate and share what they loved including music, images and videos. They key to the success of these sites is that they provide a platform on which users create the content. This is very different from the beginning of the internet which focused on providing 'content' for people to enjoy.
Relying on users to create content is the key to the success of web 2.0 companies. Besides the social networking sites discussed here, other huge success stories include: Wikipedia, Digg.com and the latest success - Twitter. All of these companies rely on the desire of users to communicate with each other, thereby creating the 'content' that others want to consume.
Comprehension: (15 pts)
A/ Answer these questions:( 3 pts)
1_According to the article, do the sites MySpace, Facebook, Orkut belong to web 1.0 or web 2.0? Explain.
2_ What services did the internet provide its users at its beginning?
3_ What language is used to code texts on the internet?
B/ Complete the sentences:( 2pts)
1_ Social networking sites are successful because……
2_HTML language was complicated with web 1.0. Consequently, ……
C/ What do the underlined words refer to? ( 3 pts)
a – “these social networking sites” (par§ 1) b-“it” (par§ 2) c- “these companies” (par§ 4)
D/ Are these sentences true or false? Justify ( 3 pts)
1_ The introduction of blogs has improved internet services.
2_ Thanks to web 2.0, people can publish their own content online.
3_ No one was able to create a site in the web 1.0 version of the internet.
E/ Find in the article words or expressions that mean nearly the same as: (4 pts)
1- Commonly frequented (par§ 1) 2-benefited ( par§ 2)
3- imitate (par§3) 4- depending on ( par§
II _ Language (15 pts)
A/ Fill in with the right word from the list : because, despite, due to, although, so, nevertheless, along with( 4 pts)
1----------- --------- providing its users with all kinds of content, the internet has also facilitated worldwide communication.
2_Betty has gained a lot of weight ; ----------- she has decided to start exercising.
3- The two students managed to work together ---------- their differences of opinion.
4- The game's postponement was ------ ------- the heavy rain.
B/ /Give the words between brackets the right form :(2 pts)
1-I can’t help (feel) worried about the situation.
2- It's my (responsible) to postpone the meeting.
C/ Rewrite the sentence starting with the words given: ( 2 pts)
1- They are going to perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony next weekend. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony ……………………………………………

2- Jamie: "Don't eat so much junk food!"
Jamie reminded me ……………………………………….......................
D/ Put the verbs between brackets into the right form and tense:(3 pts)
1-By the time my friends get home this evening, they (drive) more than four hundred miles.
2- (he / phone) Angie before he went to see her in London?
3- I wish I (can) help you solve this problem. Unfortunately, I am so busy myself.
E/ Match the words to make collocations:(2 pts)


Renewable
gender Equality
Energy
Citizenship
Education
F/ Choose the right words to fill in the gaps: ( 3 pts)
1-. Please ------------- your application before two o'clock.
a- hand in b-hand down c-hand out

2- We recorded the conversation ___________ we could refer back to it later.
a- in order b- so as c- so that
3- You __________ have told them that! I begged you to keep the secret!
a- couldn’t b- shouldn’t c- mustn’t
III- Writing: ( 10 pts)
Write an article to your school magazine about how the internet has changed a lot of aspects of modern life.










Answers to the Mock Exam Exercises:
I_ Comprehension:15 pts
A/ Answers to the questions:( 3 pts) 1 pt for each correct answer:
1_ These sites belong to web 2.0 as they allow social networking, ie, they allow people to interact/ communicate online.
2_ At its beginning, the internet provided the users with information, articles to read, and music to listen to.
3_” HTML” is the language used to code texts on the internet.
B/ Complete the sentences:( 2pts) 1 pt for each correct answer. Possible answers are:
1_ Social networking sites are successful because they allow users to communicate with each, publish their content online, make comments on other people’s content….
2_HTML language was complicated with web 1.0. Consequently, very few people created web pages.
C/ What do the underlined words refer to? ( 3 pts) 1 pt for each correct answer.
a – “these social networking sites” refer to MySpace, Facebook, Orkut
b-“it” refers to creating a web site
c-“these companies” (par§ 4) refer to web 2.0 companies.
D/ Are these sentences true or false? Justify ( 3 pts) 1 pt for each correct answer:
1_ The introduction of blogs has improved internet services. True because by then, people started began to contribute their own content.
2_ Thanks to web 2.0, people can publish their own content online. True, as the text says:” Relying on users to create content is the key to the success of web 2.0 companies. “
3_ No one was able to create a site in the web 1.0 version of the internet. False, a few people manged to create their sites even then.
E/ Find in the article words or expressions that mean nearly the same as: (4 pts)
1- Commonly frequented: most popular (par§ 1) 2-benefited : took advantage( par§ 2)
3- imitate : mimic (par§3) 4- depending on : relying on ( par§ )
II _ Language (15 pts)
A/ Fill in with the right word from the list : because, despite, due to, although, so, nevertheless, along with( 4 pts), 1 pt for each correct answer
Along with
So,
Despite
Due to
B/ /Give the words between brackets the right form :(2 pts)
1-feeling
2- responsibility
C/ Rewrite the sentence starting with the words given: ( 2 pts)

1- They are going to perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony next weekend. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is going to be performed next week.
2- Jamie: "Don't eat so much junk food!"
Jamie reminded me not to eat so much junk food.
D/ Put the verbs between brackets into the right form and tense:(3 pts)
1-By the time my friends get home this evening, they will have driven more than four hundred miles.
2- Had he phoned Angie before he went to see her in London?
3- I wish I could help you solve this problem. Unfortunately, I am so busy myself.
E/ Match the words to make collocations:(2 pts)
Renewable energy
Gender equality
F/ Choose the right words to fill in the gaps: ( 3 pts)
a- hand in
c- so that
b- shouldn’t

III- Writing: ( 10 pts)
We use the analytical approach, dealing with content, organization, grammar, spelling and punctuation as entities. 2 pts for each entity.