GTU, The Department of Foreign Languages
2020 SPRING, A LEVEL TAKE-HOME 2
READING – 20 POINTS
LANGUAGE SURVIVORS
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Currently, linguists estimate that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages in the world. Some
experts have sounded the alarm that, by the year 2100, at least 3000 of those languages will be wiped out*
forever. With so many languages on the brink of extinction, the efforts of social activists, educators,
government officials, and so many others have got together to try and solve this difficult problem. From
their accumulated experiences, it has become clear that easy answers are difficult to find, and the unique and
complex situation of each language has to be taken into consideration if a language is to experience a
revival*.
The Hawaiian Language
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The Hawaiian language belongs to a related but not mutually intelligible* group of languages spoken
by Pacific islanders. It was the only language spoken in Hawaii from A.D. 1000 until Captain Cook’s ships
descended on the islands in 1778 and disturbed their peaceful isolation. The Hawaiian language was
thereafter enriched with a writing system, and it flourished under the kingdom of Hawaii, which existed
from 1795 to 1894. It is shocking to think that the number of native speakers of Hawaiian has declined from
about 500,000 when Captain Cook arrived to a mere 1,000 today.
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There is good news, however. The Hawaiians have adopted an idea from what the Maori people
called a “language nest”. This is a preschool where children spend time with native speakers of the
language. There has been a distinct resurgence* in second language speakers of Hawaiian: from 8,000 in
1993 to 27,000 in 2003.
The Tjapukai Language
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The Tjapukai language is spoken by the Tjapukai people. They inhabited the Kuranda region of
northern Queensland, Australia, for 10,000 years. When white settlers attempted to build a railroad through
their land to connect the metropolitan areas of Cairns and Herberton, the Tjapukai people fought them back.
For this, they were forced to move off their land, to give up their way of life, and to do rugged farm work.
Their culture was destroyed, their language soon followed, until only a few Tjapukai speakers remained.
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In 1987, an educator named Michael Quinn and one of the last Tjapukai speakers named Roy
Banning got the notion to revive the Tjapukai language. With the help of an artist, they created materials for
language teaching, and while older Tjapukai began to remember their forgotten language, younger people
became more interested and acquired the language. Then, in 2004, the Tjapukai were given land in a
national park to live on. The resurgence of their language and culture has since been an extraordinary
success.
________________________________________________
Wiped out*: destroyed, eliminated
Revival*: rebirth
Intelligible*: understandable, comprehensible
Resurgence*: the act of rising again; resurrection
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GTU, The Department of Foreign Languages
2020 SPRING, A LEVEL TAKE-HOME 2
Read the text above and choose the correct answers for the questions 1-10. (10x2= 20 pts)
1. Why did the author decide to write about
the Hawaiian and Tjapukai languages?
A. Because they are both examples of successful
revival of languages
B. Because they are both very old languages
C. Because they are both taught in the same way
D. Because they are both probably going to
become extinct
6. At first, why did the white settlers want the
Tjapukai land?
A. To do rugged farm work
B. To build schools for the Tjapukai
C. To make a national park
D. To build a railroad
7. What did Michael Quinn and Roy Banning
do to help the Tjapukai language?
A. They created language teaching materials
B. They made a writing system for the Tjapukai
language
C. They gave the Tjapukai land to live on
D. They created a Tjapukai language nest
2. How many languages will be wiped out this
century?
A. Less than 2,100
B. Not less than 3,000
C. More than 6,000
D. Around 7,000
8. What does “it” in the second paragraph
refer to?
A. The Hawaiian people
B. The Hawaiian language
C. The Hawaiian kingdom
D. The number of native speakers
3. There are no easy answers to the problem of
language revival because____ .
A. there are too many opinions
B. there aren’t enough language teachers
C. it’s a complex problem, different for each
language
D. there isn’t enough money
9. What does “them” in the fourth paragraph
refer to?
A. The metropolitan areas
B. Tjapukai way of life
C. Tjapukai culture
D. White settlers
4. Before Captain Cook arrived in Hawaii,
which of these statements was true?
A. There was an independent kingdom of Hawaii
B. The Hawaiian people already spoke a little
English
C. There were only about 1,000 speakers of the
Hawaiian language
D. There was no writing system for the Hawaiian
language
10. The word “acquire” in the fifth paragraph
can be replaced by _____.
A. obtain
B. purchase
C. understand
D. release
5. A “language nest” is probably effective
because____.
A. it is a Maori idea
B. young children can learn from native speakers
C. language nests use excellent textbooks
D. both English and Hawaiian are used together
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GTU, The Department of Foreign Languages
2020 SPRING, A LEVEL TAKE-HOME 2
USE OF ENGLISH – 35 POINTS
Read the situations and write sentences with question tags. Use the words & forms in brackets.
(3x1=3 pts)
11. You’re busy working in the garden. You would like a cup of tea, and your flatmate is in the kitchen.
What would you say to your flatmate? (make / tea / future tense)
Fred, _______________________________?
12. Your favorite mug is broken. You’re sure that your brother has broken it. What do you ask him?
(break / my favorite mug / present perfect tense)
You ________________________________?
13. You’re taking the train to Birmingham, and you missed the announcement from the driver. You think
you’re close and want to know how far your stop is. What do you say to another passenger?
(be / next stop / present simple tense)
Excuse me, New Street_________________?
Rewrite the sentences so that they have the same meanings to the given ones. Use the words/structures
in the brackets. (5x2= 10 pts)
14. Why was she late for class this morning? (INDIRECT QUESTION)
I wonder _____________________________________________________________________.
15. Did he take the train to London? (INDIRECT QUESTION)
Do you have any idea ___________________________________________________________?
16. I will take my umbrella with me because it might rain later today. (IN CASE)
_____________________________________________________________________________.
17. The girl is sitting at the desk by the window. She started school last week.
(REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSE)
The girl ______________________________________________________________________.
18. When it’s noisy in the office, it is hard for me to concentrate.
(THE…THE..COMPARATIVE + noisy + hard)
_____________________________________________________________________________.
Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct form in the text. (10x1= 10 pts)
Hi Julie!
How are you? Sorry, I haven’t been in touch. I_____19. (CONTACT) you earlier if
I _____ 20. (NOT/LOSE) your email address. I know you have been sad lately. If I _____21. (BE) you,
I _____ 22. (GO OUT) more often. Why don’t you join us tomorrow? If it _____ 23. (BE) sunny,
we _____ 24. (RIDE) our bikes through the forest to the lake. I think you _____ 25. (ENJOY) yourself
if you _____ 26. (COME) with us. If you _____ 27. (NOT/HAVE) a bike, my flatmate
_____ 28. (LEND) you hers.
Call me and let me know,
Anna
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GTU, The Department of Foreign Languages
2020 SPRING, A LEVEL TAKE-HOME 2
Read the sentences below. Correct the mistakes. If there is no mistake, put a tick next to the sentence
(✓). (6x2= 12 pts)
29. Maria, that is very clever, won the Maths competition last week.
30. The company finally agreed to give me a refund for the faulty gadget.
31. A: Things will never be the same again after the pandemic.
B: So will I…
32. Lorenzo’s Oil is a film based on the true story of a couple which child develops a horrible disease.
33. I won’t forget to have so much fun last summer, it was awesome to reunite with old friends.
34. I don’t have time enough to see that film today, I’m too busy to do anything else besides work.
WRITING - 15 POINTS
Choose ONE of these topics and write a well-organized essay.
Effect essay: What are the (negative or positive) effects of social distancing on people?
Cause essay: What are the causes of brain drain*?
Brain drain*: the situation in which large numbers of educated and very skilled people leave their own country to
live and work in another one.
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