UNIVERSITETET
I OSLO
Institutt f or litteratur, områdestudier og europeiske språk
SKOLEEKSAMEN
2008/HØST
3 sider
ENG0111- English for international students
Vedlegg: 1 side
Varighet: 4 timer
Mandag, 01. desember 2008
Answer questions 1-3. A pass mark is required on each question.
You may use a monolingual (English-English) dictionary.
Question 1 (40%)
Choose ONE of the following literary topics you have studied this semester and write an essay
of at least 300 words.
EITHER
1 Write an essay on 'The Tell-Tale Heart'.
Comment on how Poe creates a feeling of suspense and horror, as well as the function of the main
character and point of view.
OR
2 Write an essay on 'Everyday Use'.
Characterize the two sisters and comment on how they relate to the themes of the short story.
Question 2 (40%)
Choose ONE of the following topics and present a written argument to an educated reader
with no specialist knowledge of the topic. You should use your own ideas, knowledge and
experience and support your arguments with examples and evidence where relevant.
Write at least 300 words
EITHER
Comparison
1 Compare Norwegian mentality (as you have experienced it) to the national mentality of your own
country.
OR
Discussion
2 'School uniforms ought to be obligatory in primary and secondary education – discuss.'
Side 1 av 3
Question 3 (20 %)
Read the passage below and answer the following questions (a-j):
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage below?
On your answer sheet write
TRUE
FALSE
NOT GIVEN
if the statement agrees with the information
if the statement contradicts the information
it there is no information on this
a
Many British universities have been subject to certificate forgeries.
b
The university was alarmed when numerous overseas students showed poor English skills in
the obligatory language tests for non-native speakers of English.
c
A small majority of the excluded students had already studied one semester at Newcastle
University.
d
The falsified degrees could easily have been disclosed if the university had followed its
regular routines.
e
Agents in China and Britain earn millions on forgeries each year.
f
The excluded students will not lose their entire payment to Newcastle University.
g
Dishonest agents have apparently been a severe problem for decades, according to the
university.
h
Immigration authorities will change rules about access to Britain to hinder student fraud in
the future.
i
Most excluded students were law students.
j
A minority of the people being expelled are postgraduate students.
Side 2 av 3
Newcastle expels overseas students with fake grades
All the forgeries were of "high quality", says Newcastle University.
Universities were warned to be vigilant against fraudulent applications today as it emerged one
leading institution was forced to kick out 50 overseas students after an investigation.
Newcastle University has excluded 49 students from China and one from Taiwan after their
documents were found to be fake.
The university is now urging others to watch out for high-quality forged certificates that it believes
may be circulating widely.
University officials became suspicious when some of the students, who started undergraduate and
postgraduate courses last month, failed English language assessments, compulsory for arriving
students who do not speak English as their first language.
An investigation concluded that the students, who had all arrived within the last few weeks to start
their studies, had documents relating to their applications and entry qualifications that were either
forged or altered to state higher grades than were actually achieved.
The university said it regretted having to exclude the students because many of them appeared to be
victims of bogus "agents", based either in China or the UK, who were paid to submit applications,
including supporting documents, on their behalf.
A spokesman said: "The students were insufficiently qualified to meet the rigorous standards of the
university's academic programmes and it was necessary to exclude them to protect the interests of
hundreds of properly qualified students as well as the reputation of the university.
"The forgeries, mainly certificates for English language qualifications or degrees awarded by other
universities, are of such high quality that they could not have been detected by the usual checks
carried out by admissions officers."
The university has informed the Home Office and the police of the results of its investigations and
said it believed other academic institutions could be affected.
"We would strongly advise other universities to look very carefully at the systems they have in
place to detect fraudulent applications and to strengthen them if necessary," it added.
Of the excluded students, 33 are postgraduates and 17 undergraduates.
All the students excluded were admitted at the start of the current academic year, in September
2008, with the majority enrolled for programmes at the university's business school.
They were excluded after being invited to individual interviews and have been notified of the
university's decision. They have the right of appeal within 14 days.
The university said it would not withhold students' full fees and is introducing a number of changes
to its admissions procedures, one of which will be to draw up and publish on its website a list of
approved agents.
"The vast majority of applications for study at this university are genuine," it said.
"We are, however, aware that there is an increasing national and international problem of fraudulent
applications and this prompted us, as a university, to take action."
The use of agents is common among students from several countries, including China. While the
university said most agents are reputable, it believed that the activities of "bogus" agents have
recently become a serious problem.
Critics have claimed that overseas students are allowed to graduate from UK universities with poor
English language skills.
The Home Office is phasing in new visa requirements aimed at weeding out fake students.
(Adapted from The Guardian)
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