Scholastic Year 2024 - 2025
Assessment of Unit One
English Language Grade: “10”
.
Part One: Reading (Score: 11/20)
Read the article below issued in Daily Star in which the writer exposes the issue of street children ‘one
of most important mounting social problems’. When you are through with the reading answer the
questions that follow.
Issue of Street Children
1. The number of street children in Lebanon is rising, and a range of measures need to be taken to
combat the problem, according to participants at a workshop in Beirut.
2. Although no official statistics exist on the number of street children in Lebanon, the Lebanese
Evangelical Organization has 60 children under its protection, said the group’s head John Iter on
Monday. Iter said 15 percent of street children in Lebanon are Lebanese, while 55 percent are foreigners
and the remaining 30 percent are of mixed Lebanese-foreign parentage.
3. Iter made his statements during a three-day workshop at the An-Nahar newspaper’s training center in
Beirut, organized by the Social Affairs Ministry and the Higher Council for Childhood so concerned
groups could exchange views with journalists on the approach to street children in the media.
4. The phenomenon of street children “has become one of the most important mounting social problems
in Lebanon,” said secretary general of the Higher Council for Childhood Elie Mikhael. “According to
UNICEF and the National Labor Organization, street children can be divided into two categories: those
in the street still in full contact with their parents and street children who don’t have anyone and are
totally dependent on themselves,” he said.
5. There are different reasons that drive or force children to resort to the streets, he said. The reasons
include the need for freedom, a wish to escape from parental pressures, violence or indifference and the
search for trust and responsibility.
6. “Certain parents send their children off to work to raise money. Extreme, violent measures ranging
from beatings to sexual abuse are taken [if] the child refuses to go or deliver the earnings of the day,”
Mikhael said, adding parents’ pressure to make money as another reason for the increase in the number
of street children during the hard economic times prevailing in Lebanon.
7. Aside from the daily needs such as food, clothes and shelter, Mikhael said it was important to provide
a child with a suitable environment for a decent life. “The children on the street are the most vulnerable
to going astray, getting raped or abused, as well as manipulated,” he said. “Understanding and
counseling is desperately needed to eliminate their problematic psycho-social state.”
8. In the presence of poor families unable to support their children, Mikhael announced that the council
wished to reinforce family ties and renew missing links. “Sometimes we provide financial aid as well,”
he added.
9. Mikhael announced the introduction to Lebanon of the foster family, where street children are
temporarily placed until their parents are able to care for them or until a family adopts them
permanently. “Though it is still not that popular in Lebanon, foster families do solve lots of problems,”
he said. “Every intervention is carried out according to specific cases that do not resemble each other in
any way,” he added.
10. The Higher Council for Childhood also urged stricter border security and free elementary education.
“Most of the children found in the streets are non-Lebanese citizens who have been brought into the
country through trafficking,” Mikhael added.
11. Rita Karam from the Higher Council for Childhood demanded that street children be given their
rights with full consideration for their different circumstances and environments. Recreational and
educational programs in sync with the children’s needs and circumstances are needed. “Lebanon has
already signed the International Treaty for Children’s Rights, which mandates the implementation of all
articles stated in it,” Karam added.
12. One of the first barriers to addressing the issue is the fact that many street children have no
identification cards, Karam said. “Having no identification documents makes it harder for these children
to be received by organizations or obtain the least of their rights,” she said.
Questions
A. Answer each of the following questions in 1-4 sentences, using your own words.
1. Those concerned see that the problem is so difficult to solve. Explain why. (Score:01)
2. What is the significance of the statistical figures in paragraph 2? Explain. (Score:01)
3. Why is the problem looked at as a mounting social problem? Support your answer with
evidence. (Score:01)
4. In paragraph 12, Karam says, what makes the problem hard for some children is that they don`t
have identification cards. How can you describe the situation? (Score:01)
B.
1. What is the purpose of the writer in the text? (Score:01)
2. Summarize paragraphs 5 and 6 in your own words. (Score:1.5)
3. Identify the type of the text .Justify your answer. (Score:01)
4. Find two types of audience who might find interest in the text and the type of interest each finds
in it. (Score:01)
C. Skim the text, and then write the name of expert that corresponds with the given piece(s) of
information. (Score:1.5)
Expert Information
Explorers the causes of the issue
Calls for the rights of children
Relies on statistics
D. Pick from paragraphs 3, 6, 7 and 9 words that have the following meanings. (Score:01)
1. interested
2. existing
3. go wrong
4. lastingly
Part Two: Writing (Score: 09/20)
Family problems such as poverty…..etc. are behind children`s leaving home and going to streets to
make a living. Write about the causes and effects of having children in the streets. Develop your ideas in
a 250-300 word essay of unified, coherent, and sequenced paragraphs. See that, in your introduction,
you put your reader in the general atmosphere of your topic and clearly provide a thesis statement; and
that each of your body paragraphs starts with a topic sentence which you back up with relevant
supporting details. Draft, revise, and proofread your essay. (Score: 05 for ideas and organization; 03
for language and style; 01 for tidiness and legible handwriting)
Good Work
Answer Key
A.
1. The ones concerned see that the problem is difficult to solve because it is not easy to limit or
contain all the reasons. Some of these reasons are:
need for money,food,clothes,and shelter
need for freedom
wish to escape from violence or indifference
search for trust and responsibility
2. They show ;
severity of the problem
seriousness of the participants in the workshop
the rise in trafficking
The absence of laws which govern and organize the presence of foreigners on the Lebanese
ground.
3. Mounting because of the number of street children is increasing, and neither NGOS alone nor the
government is able to solve,
Social because the problem indicated:
Poverty of families
Families’ disconnection and illiteracy.
4. It appears a discriminatory attitude. Only children who own identity cards are helped. What about
others? Is the problem going to be solved that way?
B.
1. The purpose of the writer is to inform us about one of the most mounting social problems in
Lebanon “Street Children”.
2. The writer in his text “The Issue of Street Children” states the reasons for the phenomenon of
street children in Lebanon….
3. The text is expository. The writer informs us about the high number of street children in
Lebanon, causes of the problem, and the measures that might alleviate the consequences of it.
4.
Audience Type of Interest
sociologists To help in solving family problems which is the main cause for
children to leave their homes
Charity organizations To help all street children without discrimination
C.
Expert Information
Mikhael Explorers the causes of the issue
Karam Calls for the rights of children
Iter Relies on statistics
D.
concerned
prevailing
astray
permanently
