but - Jeunes Profs

Transcription

but - Jeunes Profs

Sujet 1, langue vivante 1
Inde, avril 2014, séries ES, L, S
Document A
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”Mother, I’m not cut out for tramping fields and serving drunks.” He’d meant ”drinks”
but hadn’t bothered correcting himself. ”I have an imagination.” The young, defiant artist
was unrepentant.
”Are you saying your poor father had no imagination?”
”Strictly speaking, only artists have imagination, and I can’t afford to have mine stifled 1 .
This is not me.” He’d swept an arm majestically with that last remark, to encompass not
only the Crowing Cock pub and their outlying farm but the entire population of Tailorstown and the mountains beyond.
”I’m very disappointed in you, Lorcan. Just so long as you remember that your fathers
pub and the people of this town put food on our table and clothes on your back and funded
your education.”
But he’d won the day nonetheless, had rented out the land to local farmers, employed a
bartender to assist his mother, and returned to Belfast. After graduation, he’d pursued a
career as a painter and printer before finally fetching up in the conservation room of the
Ulster Museum.
Now thirty-seven and considerably wiser, he winced at the arrogance of that younger self,
turned away from the window, and sat down before the Countess 2 once more. An act of
justification, if nothing else.
These days, instead of toiling over his own canvases, he bent over the work of others. Not
that he was bitter, for he was, quite literally, having a hand in the work of the great innovators. The Turners, the Reynoldses, the Laverys: all were revivified under his expert hand.
One week in the Barbizon, the next in the Rococo, Lorcan moved between schools and
periods and styles with the ease of a quick-change artist. It was fulfilling -and lucrativework.
He considered the image on the canvas once again, flexed the fingers of his right hand
several times, and took a deep breath. Sufficiently calmed to continue, he laid a speck of
cadmium on a soupçon of white and blended the minute quantities to the required hue
before taking the brush to the canvas again.
The Countess was a plain woman whom Reynolds had flattered as far as he dared, his
brush more forgiving than a camera lens could ever be. There was little the great painter
could have done about that nose, though: much too long. Each time Lorcan contemplated
it, the perfectionist in him wanted to shorten it, to make her perfect.
That was his problem and he knew it: the quest for perfection, that unattainable moving
target. But the chase brought excellence, and that realization was his prize.
Christina McKenna, The Disenchanted Widow, 2013.
1. stifled : restricted.
2. the Countess : subject of the painting.
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Sujet 1 | Énoncé
Document B
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Of all the young misfits from our little gang at college, Walker was the one who had struck
me as the most promising, and I figured it was inevitable that sooner or later I would begin
reading about the books he had written or come across something he had published in a
magazine–poems or novels, short stories or reviews, perhaps a translation of one of his
beloved French poets–but that moment never came, and I could only conclude that the
boy who had been destined for a life in the literary world had gone on to concern himself
in other matters.
A little less than a year ago (spring 2007), a UPS package was delivered to my house in
Brooklyn. It contained the manuscript of Walker’s story about Rudolf Born (Part I of this
book), along with a cover letter from Adam that read as follows:
Dear Jim,
Forgive the intrusion after such a long silence. If memory serves, it’s been thirty-eight
years since we last talked, but I recently came across an announcement that you’ll be
doing an event in San Francisco next month (I live in Oakland), and I was wondering
if you might have some free time to spend with me–perhaps dinner at my house, for
example–since I’m in urgent need of help, and I believe you’re the only person i know
(or knew) who can give it to me. I say this not to alarm you but because of the enormous
admiration I have for the books you have written–which have made me so proud of you,
so proud to have once counted myself among your friends.
By way of anticipation, I enclose a still-not-finished draft of the first chapter of a book
I am trying to write. I want to go on with it but seem to have hit a wall of struggle and
uncertainty –fear might be the word I’m looking for– and I’m hoping that a talk with you
might give me the courage to climb over it or tear it down. I should add (in case you’re
in doubt) that it is not a work of fiction. [...]
Hoping for a response.
Yours in solidarity,
Adam Walker
Paul Auster, Invisible, 2009.
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Sujet 1 | Énoncé
I. Compréhension écrite
Questions on document A
Read the whole text.
1 What do you learn about :
a the main character? (name, age, occupation)
b that character’s family and background?
2 Explain the role of the following places in the main character’s life: (30 words)
the Crowing Cock pub; Tailorstown; Belfast; the Ulster Museum
Il faut expliciter le lien entre chaque lieu et le personage central.
Read from the beginning to ”Ulster Museum” (l. 15).
3 a) ”This is not me.” (l. 6)
Explain the main character’s dreams and ambitions and compare them to his mother’s
expectations. (20 to 30 words)
b) ”But he’d won the day nonetheless” (l. 12)
Explain in your own words what steps he took to realize his ambition.
Il faut expliquer les ambitions du personnage principal et les comparer aux attentes maternelles. Ensuite, il faut expliciter les étapes qu’il a franchies pour réaliser ses ambitions.
Read from ”Now thirty-seven” (l. 16) to the end.
4 a) What does the main character’s job consist in precisely? Explain in your own words
and justify by quoting one element from the text.
b) Use two elements from the text to show that he has mixed feelings about this job. (30
to 40 words)
Vous devez d’abord expliciter la nature de son métier en vos propres termes et citer le
texte pour le prouver. Ensuite, vous devez citer deux éléments du texte pour montrer que
ses sentiments sont partagés par rapport à son travail.
Questions on document B
Read the whole text.
5 a) Identify the two main characters and say how they know each other.
b) When did they last meet?
c) What do they have in common?
6 Who has written the letter? What for?
7 Which adjectives best describe the state of mind of the author of the letter?
cynical – doubtful – scared – scornful – self-confident
Justify in your own words.
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Sujet 1 | Énoncé
8 a) Explain in your own words what the narrator had imagined about his friend’s career
before receiving the letter.
b) What does that reveal about his own career?
Vous devez expliquer ce que le narrateur a imaginé au sujet de la carrière de son ami avant
de recevoir cette lettre, et en déduire ses sentiments par rapport à sa propre carrière.
Questions on documents A and B
9 Now focus on the main character in document A.
With which of the two main characters in document B would you rather identify him? To
what extent? (30 to 40 words)
On vous demande d’identifier lequel des personnages du document B se rapproche le
plus de celui du document A et d’expliciter le degré de ce rapprochement.
10 Now focus on the narrator in document B.
In what aspects is he different from the other male characters in documents A and B?
Il s’agit de contraster le narrateur du document B avec les deux autres personnages masculins des deux documents.
II. Expression écrite
Tous les candidats traiteront au choix l’un des deux sujets suivants.
1 Today, on social networks we create our own portraits and profiles. To what extent do
they reflect reality? (300 words)
Il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif.
« To what extent » signifie dans quelle mesure.
Vous devez donc déterminer si, à votre avis, les profils créés en ligne sont proches de la
réalité ou non.
2 Tous les candidats traiteront les deux parties du sujet.
a) You’ve just created your own video game. You’d love to have it produced but you’re
not sure that it’s good enough. You know an expert who could help you out. Write him or
her a letter with the following opening lines:
”Dear...,
I’m in urgent need of help, I was wondering...”
(150 words)
Vous devez rédigez une lettre. Servez-vous du modèle dans le document A pour vous
guider (évidemment sans recopier les phrases).
b) ”Only artists have imagination”. Discuss and illustrate. (150 words)
Il s’agit d’un court essai argumentatif. Pensez à organiser vos idées de manière cohérente
(pour et contre) et à utiliser des mots de liaison pour coordonner vos arguments.
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Sujet 1 | Corrigé
1 a) Lorcan is a 37-year-old conservationist who works at the Ulster Museum.
b) His parents owned a pub and had a farm. His father is dead.
2 The Crowing Cock pub is the name of his parents’ pub in the town of Tailorstown.
Belfast is the city where Lorcan went to university, and where he now works as a conservationist for the Ulster Museum.
3 a) Lorcan despises the region he grew up in and his parents activity as publicans and
farmers. While his mother would like him to follow in his father’s footsteps, he dreams
of pursuing a career in art, and considers that there is no room for imagination in his
parents’ lifestyle. His mother reminds him that such a hardworking lifestyle enabled them
to provide for Lorcan’s needs as a child.
b) Despite their difference of opinion, Lorcan won his way and was able to leave pub and
farm behind without totally abandoning his mother, as he managed to pay for someone to
help her in the pub and rented out the farm.
4 a) His job is to recondition the works of famous artists. We can read: ”Lorcan moved
between schools and periods and styles with the ease of a quick-change artist” (l. 22).
b) He finds the work inspirational and worthwhile, as it pays well. Yet, at the same time,
he is frustrated, as he must reproduce the artists’ imperfections, while he aspires for perfection. We can read: ”It was fulfilling –and lucrative– work” (l. 23) and ”That was his
problem and he knew it: the quest for perfection, that unattainable moving target” (l. 33).
5 a) Adam Walker and Jim went to college together.
b) They last met 38 years ago.
c) They are both writers.
6 Adam has written a letter to Jim to ask him to have dinner with him, as he needs his
help to overcome some difficulties in trying to write a book.
7 Adam is doubtful and scared. He seems very uncertain that Jim will accept his invitation: he writes ”I was wondering if you might have some free time to spend with me”
(l. 14). And he is frightened that he may never manage to finish his book: he writes ”fear
might be the word I’m looking for” (l. 22).
8 a) The narrator had imagined that Adam was a prolific writer, publishing all sorts of
works, even translating French poets.
b) It suggests that the narrator’s own career has been successful, and that he is disappointed
and surprised to learn that Adam’s career has not lived up to his expectations.
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Sujet 1 | Corrigé
9 Lorcan has more in common with Jim than with Adam, as Adam is struggling to move
on with his writing work. They have both fulfilled their ambition in pursuing the career
they desired, and yet both of them give the impression that they are not entirely satisfied
with their production, and that they would like to achieve something more accomplished.
10 Contrary to both Lorcan and Adam, Jim is not self-obsessed and actually talks more
about someone else than about himself. It’s Jim’s admiration for Adam that gives us the
impression that he feels he is underperforming but he is not explicit about it. Both Adam
and Lorcan are analytical about their work.
1 The question invites us to discuss whether portraits and profiles created on social networks reflect reality. In this essay, we will first demonstrate to what extent such portraits
are realistic and then we will examine how this trend actually corresponds to a new virtual
reality that exists alongside real world reality.
Even if the portraits on social networks are created, we can consider that they are relatively
close to reality for two reasons. Firstly, their creator is more familiar with his or her real
personality than with an imagined one. Secondly, if someone posts an unrealistic profile
on a social network, the people who try to interact with him or her may do it for the wrong
reasons, as they may be attracted by the invented aspects of the profile. This would mean
that the creator has actually produced an avatar that doesn’t really exist. The subsequent
relationships or interactions can only be virtual. In short, the absence of reality in created
profiles and portraits will ultimately be a source of frustration and unhappiness.
Even if they are virtual, social networks, avatars, online portraits and profiles correspond
to a modern technological reality that cannot be denied. In the real world, it is becoming
more and more frequent for people to develop multiple facets to their personality depending on the context in which they find themselves. For example, high-powered politicians
present a certain image of themselves in public: this image will be different when they assume the role of the parents of young children, or when they engage in a collective sport
with a fiery team spirit. Likewise, people may have several different profiles on the various social networks and adapt them to the function and role of each network.
In conclusion, each portrait or online profile is real in the virtual world, yet each reality
is different.
2 a) Dear Mr Einstein,
I’m in urgent need of help, I was wondering if you would mind granting me a few minutes
of your time, as you are an expert in the field of video games.
Indeed, I have created a fantastic game, and all the people I have shown it to have told me
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Sujet 1 | Corrigé
that it is guaranteed commercial success, and that I must have it produced.
However, I am inexperienced in the commerce of video games, even if I have excellent
knowledge of the existing games on the market. I really need an expert in the field to test
my game and to help me market it.
Of course, I am ready to share the profits from the sale of this game, if you agree to help
me make it marketable. I know that you have already helped other video game creators in
the past, and I’m sure you do not wish to miss this excellent opportunity.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Albert Hawk.
b) This quotation suggests that imagination only exists in art, and that only artists have
imagination. We will argue in the first part that this is true, and in the second part of
our essay, we will prove the contrary.
If we define art as being any activity that involves creativity, and that anyone who practises
creativity is an artist, it is evident that the affirmation is true. Art is not just painting, or
sculpture. Literature and performing arts are also artistic forms, and all forms of art require
imagination.
However, it is possible to practise an art form without using one’s imagination. For
example, someone who reproduces a photograph in a painting or who produces a sculpture of an object or person that already exists is not really using his imagination. At the
same time, researchers in the field of technology or science also use their imagination to
develop hypotheses and invent new objects.
In conclusion, artists have imagination, but anyone who uses his brain in an independent
way can be imaginative.
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Inde, avril 2013, séries ES, L, S
Document A
The scene is set in the fifties. Samantha, Mira’s friend, has a money problem. Mira has
offered to help her.
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’Absolutely not,’ Norm said.
’Norm, poor Samantha!’
’I feel very very sorry for Samantha,’ he said solemnly, ’but I’ll be goddamned if I’m
going to lay out my hard-earned money to help that creep Simp.’
’You wouldn’t be helping Simp. He doesn’t even live there now.’
’He owns the house, doesn’t he? It would be different if I thought he’d ever repay it, but
from what you say, he’s a loser and a stupid bastard, and I’d never see that money again.’
’Oh, Norm, what difference does it make? We have plenty.’
’That’s easy for you to say. That money comes out of my hide.’
’What do you think I do all day? What have I done all these years? I work as hard as you
do.’
’Oh, come off it, Mira.’
’What do you mean, come off it?’ Her voice rose wildly. ’Am I not an equal participant
in this marriage? Don’t I contribute to it?’
’Of course you do,’ he said placatingly, but there was an edge of disgust in his voice, ’but
you contribute different things. You don’t contribute money.’
’My work enables you to make that money!’
’Oh, Mira, don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I need you to do my work? I could live
anywhere, I could have a housekeeper, or live in a hotel. I support your way of life by my
work, not the reverse.’
’And I have nothing to say about how it’s spent?’
’Of course you do. Don’t I give you everything you want?’
’I don’t know. I never seem to want anything.’
’Do I complain about your bills for clothes, or the kids’ music lessons or camp?’
’I want this, then. I want three hundred dollars for Samantha.’
’No, Mira. And that’s the end of it.’ He stood up and left the room, and in a few minutes,
she heard the shower running. He was going out to a meeting that evening.
She stood up too, and only then did she realize her whole body was shaking. She held on
to the back of the kitchen chair. She wanted to pick it up, she wanted to race upstairs with
it and smash open the bathroom door and crash it down on his head.
Marilyn French, The Women’s Room, 1978.
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Sujet 2 | Énoncé
Document B
The scene is set in the late sixties.
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But what I hadn’t understood about my mother was that buried deep beneath this conventional exterior was the hardy little seed of a feminist. I’m sure that word never passed her
lips, but it made no difference. Her certainty frightened me. She said it was my duty as a
woman to go to Cambridge to study maths. As a woman? In those days, in our milieu, no
one ever spoke like that. No woman did anything ’as a woman’. She told me she would
not permit me to waste my talent. I was to excel and become extraordinary. I must have
a proper career in science or engineering or economics. She allowed herself the worldoyster cliché 1 . It was unfair on my sister that I was both clever and beautiful when she
was neither. It would compound the injustice if I failed to aim high. I didn’t follow the
logic of this, but I said nothing. My mother told me she would never forgive me and
she would never forgive herself if I went off to read 2 English and became no more than
a slightly better educated housewife than she was. I was in danger of wasting my life.
Those were her words, and they represented an admission. This was the only time she
expressed or implied dissatisfaction with her lot 3 .
Then she enlisted my father – ’the Bishop’ was what my sister and I called him. When
I came in from school one afternoon my mother told me he was waiting for me in his
study. In my green blazer with its heraldic crest and emblazoned motto –Nisi Dominus
Vanum (Without the Lord All is in Vain)– I sulkily lolled in his clubbish leather armchair
while he presided at his desk, shuffling papers, humming to himself as he ordered his
thoughts. [...] He had made some enquiries. Cambridge was anxious to be seen to be
’opening its gates to the modern egalitarian world’. With my burden of triple misfortune
− a grammar-school 4 , a girl, an all-male subject − I was certain to get in.
Ian McEwan, Sweet Tooth, 2011.
1. When ”the world is your oyster”, you have everything to succeed in life.
2. read : study (at university).
3. her lot : her own life.
4. grammar-school : traditional British school where uniforms are required and pupils generally go on to study
at prestigious universities.
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Sujet 2 | Énoncé
1 How are the four main characters related?
« How are... related? » nous demande d’établir le lien de parenté ou de hiérarchie professionnelle entre les personnages. La question nous précise que les personnages principaux
sont au nombre de quatre.
La lecture de l’extrait semble suggérer que nous sommes dans un contexte social plutôt
que professionnel : il convient de rechercher des liens de parenté. On peut mobiliser le
lexique de la famille (parent/ child, brother, sister, husband, wife) et de l’amitié (friend,
boyfriend, lover) etc. Mais ce lien n’est pas forcément explicité dans le texte. Vous en
aurez besoin pour rédiger la réponse. N’oubliez pas le génitif (apostrophe « s ») qui
s’utilise en anglais pour exprimer la notion d’appartenance avec des personnes. Exemple :
Joe’s mother.
Il faut commencer par établir la relation qui existe entre les quatre personnages, en recherchant leurs noms et/ ou prénoms et en repérant les passages où ils s’interpellent ou
bien où ils parlent des autres personnages pour analyser comment ils les identifient. Le
lien de parenté peut être implicite, auquel cas il faut le déduire à partir des informations
repérées.
Rédigez votre réponse en indiquant clairement chaque personnage et son lien avec au
moins un des autres personnages.
2 Read from the beginning to ”Oh, come off it, Mira.” (l. 12).
Does Norm agree with Mira’s suggestion to help Samantha? Explain in your own words.
(about 40 words)
Identifiez si Norm est d’accord ou non. Il faudra rechercher des indications sur les motivations du personnage dans les douze premières lignes du document.
Recherchez ses motifs et reformulez-les. Rédigez votre réponse à la question en indiquant
d’abord la position de Norm et ensuite la ou les raisons.
Pour répondre, il faudra exprimer :
– l’accord : he agrees with, he approves of + V-ing, he is in favour of + V-ing ;
– le désaccord : he disagrees with, he refuses to + verbe, he is against + V-ing ;
– la raison : because, since, as + sujet + verbe ; because of, on account of + complément.
3 Read from ”That’s easy for you to say. That money comes out of my hide.” (l. 9)
to ”He was going out to a meeting that evening.” (l. 27).
Contrast Mira’s and Norm’s views on money. Find at least two of the arguments used by
each of them. (about 70 words)
Il s’agit de trouver au moins deux arguments par personnage (Mira et Norm) au sujet de
l’argent et de souligner la différence entre les deux. On comprend déjà qu’ils ne sont pas
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Sujet 2 | Énoncé
d’accord au sujet de l’argent. Il faut faire attention : la réponse doit précisément porter
sur le passage mentionné. Il faudra rédiger environ sept lignes.
Pour répondre, il faudra exprimer :
– le contraste : whereas, while + sujet + verbe ; contrary to, unlike + complément ;
– les verbes d’opinion : think, consider, say, argue.
4 Describe Mira’s feelings at the end of the text. (about 30 words)
Il s’agit de décrire les sentiments de Mira à la fin du texte en trois lignes. Cela veut dire
qu’il faut déduire ce qu’elle ressent à partir du texte et le reformuler. Les émotions s’expriment sous forme d’adjectifs (sad, happy, angry...) ou bien sous forme de substantifs
(sadness, happiness, anger...).
Pour répondre, il faudra exprimer l’intensité de ses émotions :
– she feels + so + adjectif (exemple : she feels so shocked that...) ;
– her anger is so great, intense, deep, forceful that... .
5 What did the narrator’s mother want her to do?
Cette question vous apporte une confirmation de la situation : le narrateur est de sexe
féminin et cette personne parle de sa mère. Lorsque la question n’invite pas un développement et qu’elle ne précise pas qu’il faut utiliser ses propres mots, on peut repartir de la
question pour structurer la réponse. Dans le cas présent, la question est au passé (Did...) :
il faut donc utiliser le prétérit (verbe + -ed) pour répondre.
Souvenez-vous que la structure avec want est particulière en anglais : want + complément
+ to + verbe.
6 a) ”I was in danger of wasting my life” (l. 12). Explain the mother’s attitude about the
narrator’s future. Give at least two reasons to justify your answer. (about 30 words)
La question part d’une citation du texte qu’il faudrait développer : on vous demande
d’expliquer ce que veut dire la mère en disant que sa fille risque de « gâcher sa vie ».
Pour cela, on vous propose de trouver au moins deux raisons dans le texte et de rédiger
une réponse sur trois lignes.
b) Did the narrator agree with her mother? (Find a sentence in the first paragraph to justify
your answer.)
La question vous demande de citer une phrase du premier paragraphe dans laquelle le
narrateur exprime sa réaction et de l’expliquer.
Pour expliquer, vous pouvez utiliser les synonymes et constructions de phrases suivantes :
– (to) waste = (to) spoil, (to) ruin ;
– (to) excel = (to) do brilliantly, (to) achieve excellence.
– le comparatif (more + adjectif long, adjectif court + -er + than) pour comparer la
narratrice avec sa sœur ;
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Sujet 2 | Énoncé
– la notion d’attente (she expected her daughter to + verbe) pour exprimer ce que la
mère attendait de sa fille ;
– la notion d’espoir (she hoped she would (not) + verbe) pour exprimer ses souhaits.
7 ”Then she enlisted my father” (l. 15). What does this sentence reveal about the father’s
attitude concerning his wife’s plans?
Cette question porte sur l’implication derrière la phrase citée. L’implicite est véhiculé par
la phrase elle-même, mais aussi par son articulation avec ce qui précède. Deux mots sont
importants ici : then et enlisted.
Comment faire quand vous êtes gêné par le sens d’un mot tel que enlisted ? Intéressezvous à la dérivation du mot. Ici, on trouve le préfixe en- que l’on rencontre aussi fréquemment en anglais (engage, enjoy...) qu’en français (enjoliver, enrôler...). Ce préfixe
a le sens de « rendre + adjectif », ou bien « intégrer + nom ».
Si la réflexion sur la dérivation ne vous aide pas : tout simplement, remplacez le mot par
un autre avec la même fonction (enlisted est un verbe). Ce mot doit être aussi neutre que
possible. Vérifiez que le sens de ce mot puisse fonctionner avec la suite du texte. Ici, ask
pourrait convenir.
8 In your own words, explain why, according to the narrator’s father, she was certain to
get a place at Cambridge University. Find at least three reasons. (about 40 words)
La question vous indique que le père donne au moins trois raisons pour lesquelles sa fille
est certaine d’avoir une place à l’université de Cambridge. Vous devez expliquer cette
certitude et les trois raisons avec vos propres mots en quatre lignes.
Pour reformuler les idées du texte, vous aurez besoin des synonymes et adverbes d’énumération suivants :
–
–
–
–
anxious : keen, enthusiastic ;
egalitarian : equal, fair :
girl : female, woman ;
firstly, secondly, thirdly, finally.
Question on documents A and B
9 Compare and contrast the following female characters in terms of influence over their
present (or future) situations.
a) Mira in document A and the narrator’s mother in document B.
b) Mira in document A and the narrator in document B.
On vous demande de comparer les personnages féminins par rapport au degré d’influence
qu’elles peuvent exercer sur leur situation actuelle ou future. Il s’agit dans un premier
temps de Mira et de la mère du narrateur dans le document B (question a) et ensuite de
Mira et de la narratrice (question b).
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Sujet 2 | Énoncé
Pour répondre à une telle question, vous avez besoin d’exprimer la comparaison et le
contraste :
–
–
–
–
–
le comparatif (more + adjectif long, adjectif court + -er + than) ;
similar to/different from ;
the same as ;
likewise : in the same way ;
both + nom pluriel + verbe, sujet + both + verbe.
– whereas, while + sujet + verbe ;
– contrary to, unlike + complément.
1 Tous les candidats traiteront les deux parties du sujet.
a) Imagine the conversation between Mira and Samantha after the scene described in do-
cument A.
Il s’agit de rédiger une conversation entre Mira et son amie Samantha (à qui elle a demandé à son mari de prêter de l’argent).
Une conversation nécessite l’utilisation de l’anglais oral : formes contractées (it’s, don’t),
impératif (tell me, don’t worry) et formules idiomatiques :
– What’s up?, What’s the matter?, What’s wrong?
– Are you okay?, Are you alright?, Is everything okay?
– There’s nothing worth + V-ing, It’s no use + V-ing
Chaque personnage joue un rôle précis dans la conversation :
– Samantha espère de bonnes nouvelles : I hope (that)..., Please tell me that... ;
– Mira doit expliquer l’avis de son mari (He thinks, He says, He considers, He reckons...)
et assurer Samantha de sa solidarité (You know..., Please don’t think...).
b) Would you say that the mother in document B is too ambitious for her daughter?
Il s’agit de prendre position par rapport à l’attitude de la mère et d’exprimer son propre
point de vue. Cette mère doit-elle avoir de l’ambition pour sa fille ? Si « oui », y a-t-il
des limites ? Si « non », s’agit-il d’une prise de position générale en ce qui concerne
les rapports parents-enfants, ou est-ce en raison de la personnalité précise des personnages ici (mère féministe, fille quelque peu passive...) ? Quelle que soit la position que
vous adoptiez, il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif. Ce qui importe le plus, c’est que vous
démontriez votre capacité à argumenter. Vous pouvez présenter les deux faces du même
argument et annoncer votre position personnelle dans la conclusion.
Pour un essai argumentatif, il faut mobiliser les expressions d’opinion et les mots de
liaison pour articuler votre discours :
28
Sujet 2 | Énoncé
– to my mind, in my opinion, from my point of view, as far as I’m concerned ;
– en renforcement : indeed, moreover, what’s more ;
– pour marquer une opposition : however, and yet.
2 In document B, we are told that ”Cambridge was anxious to be seen to be ’opening its
gates to the modern egalitarian world.’” (l. 20) Generally speaking, do you think that our
modern world has become egalitarian concerning equality between men and women?
Il s’agit d’exprimer votre point de vue sur l’égalité des sexes au XXIe siècle dans un essai
argumentatif. Cette égalité est-elle réellement acquise aujourd’hui ? Vous allez pouvoir
démontrer d’un côté ce qui est acquis, et de l’autre ce qui reste à acquérir. Dans la conclusion, vous pouvez exprimer un point de vue plus personnel.
Rédigez votre réponse en respectant la structure d’un un essai argumentatif :
– Introduction (reformulation du sujet) ;
– 1er paragraphe : « thèse » (Exemple : l’égalité sexuelle est une réalité parce que...) ;
– 2e paragraphe : « antithèse » (Exemple : l’égalité sexuelle n’est que théorique parce
que...) ;
– Conclusion (rappel du sujet et votre avis personnel circonstancié).
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Sujet 2 | Corrigé
1 Norm and Mira are husband and wife. Samantha is Mira’s friend and Simp must be her
boyfriend or husband, but it would seem that they no longer live together.
2 Whereas Mira is very keen to help Samantha financially, Norm refuses to do so. He
reasons that as the loan concerns Simp and that he is totally unreliable, they would never
get the money back. Norm considers that the decision is his to make alone, as he is the
breadwinner.
3 While Norm considers that he alone is responsible for the fact that the family is well
off, since he is the only one to have a job, Mira argues that her participation in running the
household and looking after the children gives her equal rights with her husband as to how
the money is spent. Norm doesn’t accept Mira’s argument that her role allows Norm to
concentrate on his work without other worries. The difference is that Norm makes money,
Mira only spends it, and Norm doesn’t need Mira to do his job.
4 Mira is in a state of shock. She is trembling so much that she is unable to stand up
without holding onto her chair. She is furious with her husband. Her anger is so great that
she would like to hit him over the head with the kitchen chair.
5 The narrator’s mother wanted her daughter to go to Cambridge University to study
mathematics.
6 a) The mother was a feminist at heart and she did not want her daughter to simply
accept the role of housewife that traditionally awaited young university educated women.
She wanted her to achieve excellence in a domain that at the time was dominated by men.
She argued that she owed it to her less smart and less beautiful sister to succeed.
b) The narrator doesn’t actually voice her opinion, however she has difficulty understanding the logic behind her mother’s arguments: ’I didn’t follow the logic of this, but I said
nothing’ (l. 9).
7 It seems that the husband lets his wife run the household and organise the children’s
lives without being consulted. When she asks for his help, he doesn’t question the matter
and simply does what she asks him to do.
8 The father expresses the same certainty as the mother with regards the narrator’s acceptance at Cambridge. He enumerates three reasons.
– Firstly, the narrator has a grammar school education, so she is an ideal candidate.
– Secondly, she is a woman and Cambridge wants to be seen as practising gender equality.
30
Sujet 2 | Corrigé
– Finally, in choosing a subject such as mathematics that no other woman chose, she
would inevitably be chosen.
9 a) Both Mira and the narrator’s mother are housewives who are devoted to running
their households and looking after their families’ interests to the best of their abilities.
In both households, the husbands are the sole breadwinners. However, the degree of influence in the decision making is not the same.
Indeed, the narrator’s mother takes a very active role in the important decisions concerning her daughter’s future, and her husband appears to be content to let her do so and
complies with her wishes approvingly. On the contrary, Mira is in conflict with her husband, who considers he is the sole decision maker.
b) Mira and the narrator in document B are in a similar situation: in both cases, another
member of the family is trying to make the right decision for the young woman. In Mira’s
case, she reacts violently, as she totally disagrees with her husband’s opinion that she has
no say as to how the family’s money is spent. As for the narrator in document B, she seems
to adopt a more passive attitude, since the passage focuses on her parents’ comments. One
major difference is that Mira is trying to defend a friend’s interests, while the object of
the discussion in document B is the narrator’s own future.
1 a) Samantha pops round to Mira’s house after Norm has left for work the next day.
Samantha : Hi Mira, it’s me! I hope you’ve got good news for me –the bank is threatening
to close my account. Hey –what’s up? You look really sick! Are you okay?
Mira : Oh Samantha, I don’t know how to tell you! I thought Norm would be more than
ready to give you a helping hand but–
Samantha : If he needs a bit more time to free some cash, it doesn’t matter! I’ll find a way
to hold off my bank manager another few days! Don’t worry!
Mira : No, Samantha, it’s worse than that! He refuses to help you at all!
Samantha : Hmmm, I should have expected him to react like that. I always felt he didn’t
really like me!
Mira : Don’t be stupid! He loves you as much as I do! The problem is he can’t forgive
Simp for walking out on you –and as the house is his, Norm reckons he’d be helping Simp,
if he helps you! And worse than that– (she bursts out crying)
Samantha : Mira, what’s wrong? There’s nothing worth crying about –it’s only money!
Mira : No, Sam –I’ve finally seen the true Norm! He despises me, he considers that my
contribution to running the house is no better than a domestic’s. I have no say in how he
uses his money!
31
Sujet 2 | Corrigé
b) In my opinion, the narrator’s mother is right to be ambitious for her daughter. Indeed,
it is important for children to feel that their parents have confidence in them. In encouraging the narrator to be ambitious, her mother shows her that she deserves to succeed.
What I find less satisfactory is the fact that the narrator’s mother is trying to organise
her daughter’s future, without giving her any say in the matter. It’s not said explicitly in
the extract, but we can imagine that the narrator has chosen to go to Cambridge to study
English. Her mother is trying to force her to do mathematics. The level of education is a
matter of ambition, but to my mind the subject is a matter of personal choice.
There is another element in the passage that makes me wonder about the mother’s
motivations. Apparently, she is dissatisfied with her own life, and I get the impression
that she would like her daughter to live the life she would have liked for herself. Trying
to fulfil your dreams through your children is never a good idea: I disapprove.
2 Sexual equality is an issue that regularly hits the news today, but which is relatively
modern with regards to the history of the human race. Indeed, over the course of history,
the physical superiority of males has always meant that they played the role of protector of
women. The situation has evolved progressively in recent centuries with first, the active
participation of women at work outside the home, then, the schooling of girls on an equal
level with boys, next, the development of time-saving household equipment and more
recently, the invention of the pill enabling women to choose when to have children.
In theory, men and women are considered equal in the twenty-first century. However,
the reality is very different. Children of both sexes now receive an identical education,
until the first choices have to be made regarding a future career. We still find more girls
doing courses geared towards office work and more boys for technical, even scientific
jobs. Worse still, in jobs where men and women occupy the same post, the males very
often are better paid than the women, and women with the same qualifications as men find
themselves confronted by a ”glass ceiling” that prevents them from progressing as far as
their male counterparts.
On the other hand, in the last century there has been considerable evolution in the way
men and women handle their social and family life. Indeed, most men now play an active
role in the home.
32
Sujet national, septembre 2013, séries ES, L, S
Document A
21-Year-Old Poses as Fake Celebrity, Gets His 15 Minutes of Fame
5
10
15
20
Brett Cohen isn’t your typical 21-year-old, at least not according to the tourists in New
York City’s Time Square on July 27.
Cohen is now ”famous” after pulling a huge prank on the city, posing as a celebrity and
wandering the streets of Manhattan.
Accompanied by two bodyguards he hired on Craigslist 1 , as well as three cameramen
and four photographers acting as his own paparazzi, he attracted a huge fan following
and caused quite a stir in response to what he calls his ”social experiment.”
”It was a social experiment. It confirms the theory of how our culture is so obsessed with
celebrity and fame,” Cohen told ABC News. [...]
”I had photographers follow me around and act as paparazzi. There were 15 people in
total that were actually in on it.” [...]
Cohen and his entourage began their walk toward Times Square. It didn’t take long before
crowds began to surround him on every block. [...]
One little boy was particularly excited to meet the fake celebrity. Cohen said the boy
went so far as to make an international call home on his cell phone, and was overheard
screaming, ”I just met Brett Cohen!”
[...]
From beginning to end, the whole thing took about three hours to shoot. Cohen said the
hardest thing about the entire experience was stopping the frenzy, literally.
”It was really hard to end the shoot. How the hell do you stop when there’s so many people
following you? We actually had to walk away from Times Square and into a small hotel,”
Cohen said. ”One of my bouncers blocked off the door to the bar to keep the public from
going in. It was the only way we were able to stop it.”
Eliza Murphy, ABC News Blogs, Aug 23, 2012.
Document B
5
Zed Benjamin had never been called into the Editor’s office before, and he found the
experience simultaneously disconcerting and thrilling. [...]
He sought a distraction, easy enough to find in Rodney Aronson’s office. While the Editor
of the newspaper continued to read Zed’s story, Zed began to read the headlines on the old
issues of the tabloid that were framed and hung along the walls. He found them distasteful
1. Craigslist : journal d’annonces.
33
Sujet 3 | Énoncé
10
15
20
25
and idiotic, their stories pandering to the worst inclinations in the human psyche. [...] This
was particularly the case for such hot topics as Prince Harry in Bedroom Brouhaha.
Kiss and Tell Equerry Shocks Palace, and Another Royal Divorce? All of which, Zed
knew very well from gossip in the canteen, had topped The Source’s previous circulation
figures by over one hundred thousand copies each. This was the sort of reportage for
which the red-top 2 was known. Everyone in the news-room understood that if you didn’t
want to get your hands dirty sifting through other people’s nasty bits of laundry, then you
didn’t want to work as an investigative reporter at The Source.
Which was, admittedly, the case for Zedekiah Benjamin. He definitely didn’t want to
work as an investigative reporter at The Source. He saw himself as a columnist for the
Financial-Times kind of bloke, someone with a career providing enough respectability
and name recognition to support his real passion, which was writing fine poetry. But
jobs as respectable columnists were as scarce as knickers under kilts, and one had to do
something to put food on the table since writing excellent verse wasn’t about to do it. Thus
Zed knew it behoved him to act at all times like a man who found the pursuit of the social
gaffes of celebrities and the peccadilloes of members of the Royal Family journalistically
and professionally fulfilling. Still, he liked to believe that even a paper like The Source
could benefit from a slight elevation from its usual position in the gutter from where, it
had to be said, no one was gazing at the stars.
The piece that Rodney Aronson was reading demonstrated this. In Zed’s mind, a tabloid
story did not have to swim in lubricious facts in order to capture the reader’s interest.
Stories could be uplifting and redemptive like this one and still sell newspapers.
Elizabeth George, Believing the Lie, 2012.
1 Choose the sentence which best summarizes the text.
Brett Cohen is a young man who...
a) wants to become a celebrity before he turns 21.
b) became a celebrity overnight and who has a lot of fans.
c) made people believe he was a celebrity.
d) tried to interview tourists on celebrities.
Vous devez choisir la réponse qui permet de résumer au mieux le texte.
2 Make a detailed list of the people who helped Brett Cohen.
On vous demande d’énumérer les personnes ayant aidé Cohen.
2. Red-top : tabloid.
34
Sujet 3 | Énoncé
3 Explain why he chose to hire these people.
Il s’agit d’expliquer pourquoi il a embauché ces personnes.
4 Copy out and complete the following sentence with the three possible endings. Then
justify your choice with a quotation.
He was so successful that...
a) one little boy was convinced that Brett Cohen was a celebrity.
b) many celebrities tried to meet him.
c) he had to call the police to get protection.
d) in a very short time lots of people gathered around him.
e) it got difficult for him to get rid of his fans and he had to find shelter in a bar.
f) he was chased by journalists and photographers.
On vous demande de recopier le début de la phrase, suivi des trois phrases qui explicitent
les trois conséquences de sa célébrité. Il faut aussi citer le texte pour justifier votre choix.
5 Find a sentence in the text explaining Brett Cohen’s goal and copy it out.
Il faut citer la phrase dans le texte qui explicite le but de Brett Cohen.
6 Complete the following summary with words from the text. (one blank = one word)
Zed is an ......... ......... He works at ........., a .......... He’s with Rodney Aronson, his .........
to show him the ......... he wants to publish.
On vous demande de recopier le résumé en le complétant avec un mot pour chaque blanc.
Les mots sont dans le texte.
7 What kind of articles can be read in The Source? Justify with a quotation.
Vous devez expliciter le genre d’articles que publie The Source et citer le texte pour
justifier votre réponse.
8 Say if the following statements are right or wrong and justify by quoting from the text.
a) He loves his job and finds it very fulfilling.
b) He would prefer to work for a more prestigious newspaper.
c) His ultimate ambition is to become a famous journalist.
9 What is Zed’s opinion of The Source? Choose the right answers and justify each choice
with a quotation.
a) He thinks The Source publishes articles which are...
–
–
–
–
stupid.
clever.
interesting.
tasteless.
35
Sujet 3 | Énoncé
b) But he knows that...
– people don’t buy any copies of the newspaper.
– people enjoy reading this type of newspaper.
– people have stopped buying this newspaper.
Il faut choisir une bonne réponse pour chaque partie et citer le texte pour justifier.
10 What impact does he think his article will have on the reader? Explain in your own
words and justify with two quotations.
Vous devez expliquer avec vos propres mots l’impact que son article devrait avoir sur le
lecteur selon Zed, et fournir deux citations pour justifier.
Questions on documents A et B
11 What does Brett want to prove with his experiment? Explain in your own words.
On vous demande d’expliquer avec vos propres mots ce que Brett cherche à démontrer.
12 a) To what extent does Zed share Brett’s vision of public opinion?
b) What does Zed think his mission as a journalist is?
Il s’agit d’abord de comparer la vision qu’entretient chaque personnage de l’opinion publique, et ensuite d’expliciter la mission de journaliste telle que Zed la conçoit.
Seuls les candidats de la série L traiteront les questions 13 et 14.
13 Compare Brett’s and Zed’s ways of denouncing ”a culture [...] obsessed with celebrity
and fame” (document A).
On vous demande de comparer la manière dont chaque personnage dénonce la culture
du star système.
Pour répondre à une telle question, vous avez besoin d’exprimer :
La comparaison :
–
–
–
–
–
le comparatif (more + adjectif long, adjectif court + -er + than) ;
similar to / different from ;
the same as ;
likewise : in the same way ;
both + nom pluriel + verbe, sujet + both + verbe.
Le contraste :
– whereas, while + sujet + verbe ;
– contrary to, unlike + complément.
36
Sujet 3 | Énoncé
14 Explain in a few sentences how the title of Elizabeth George’s novel, Believing the
Lie (document B), could apply to document A.
On vous invite à expliquer comment le titre du roman dont est extrait le document B
pourrait s’appliquer au document A.
Pensez à utiliser des mots de liaison pour flécher vos arguments :
– Conséquence : so, thus, that’s why ;
– Cause : as, since, because.
Les candidats des séries ES et S traiteront un des trois sujets ci-dessous. (150 mots au
moins)
Les candidats de la série L traiteront deux sujets au choix. (total pour les deux sujets :
250 mots au moins)
1 After reading Zed’s story, Rodney Aronson tells him he doesn’t want to publish his
article. Imagine their conversation.
Il s’agit d’imaginer la conversation entre l’éditeur et son reporter. On peut s’attendre à
un désaccord.
Expressions utiles :
– you’re right / you’re wrong ;
– I agree / I disagree ;
– you’re crazy, you’re out of your mind.
2 Zed decides to write an article about Brett’s experiment.
On vous demande de rédiger un article. Vous devez adoptez un ton impersonnel et évitez
des commentaires subjectifs.
L’article devra comporter un titre et une série de paragraphes concis et factuels.
3 Do you agree with the fact that we live in a society ”obsessed with celebrity and fame”
(document A)?
Rédigez votre réponse en respectant la structure d’un essai argumentatif :
– Introduction (reformulation du sujet) ;
– 1er paragraphe : « thèse » (Exemple : la société est obsédée par la célébrité parce
que...) ;
– 2e paragraphe : « antithèse » (Exemple : cette obsession n’est que limitée parce que...) ;
– Conclusion (rappel du sujet et votre avis personnel circonstancié).
37
Sujet 3 | Corrigé
1 Brett Cohen is a young man who...
c) made people believe he was a celebrity.
2 The people who helped Brett are two bodyguards (hired on Craigslist), three cameramen, four photographers who acted as his own paparazzi and some bouncers. All in all,
fifteen people knew about it.
3 He hired these people so as to create the impression that he was someone famous. The
photographers were supposed to follow him and pretend they were paparazzi desperate to
take his photograph.
4 He was so successful that...
a) one little boy was convinced that Brett Cohen was a celebrity.
”One little boy was particularly excited to meet the fake celebrity.” (l. 14)
d) in a very short time lots of people gathered around him.
”It didn’t take long before crowds began to surround him.” (l. 12)
e) it got difficult for him to get rid of his fans and he had to find shelter in a bar.
”One of my bouncers blocked off the door to the bar to keep the public from going in.”
(l. 22)
5 ”It was a social experiment. It confirms the theory of how our culture is so obsessed
with celebrity and fame.” (l. 8)
6 Zed is an investigative reporter. He works at the Source, a newspaper/ tabloid. He’s
with Rodney Aronson, his editor to show him the piece/ story he wants to publish.
7 The Source publishes scandals about celebrities and members of the Royal Family. It’s
a tabloid, part of the gutter press.
We can read in the text: ”hot topics as Prince Harry in Bedroom Brouhaha, Kiss and Tell
Equerry Shocks Palace, and Another Royal Divorce?”, ”the social gaffes of celebrities
and the peccadilloes of members of the Royal Family”.
8 a) This sentence is false: ”He definitely didn’t want to work as an investigative reporter
at The Source.” (l. 14)
b) This sentence is true: ”He saw himself as a columnist for the Financial Times kind of
bloke.” (l. 15)
c) This sentence is false: ”his real passion, which was writing fine poetry” (l. 17).
38
Sujet 3 | Corrigé
9 a) He thinks The Source publishes articles which are tasteless: ”distasteful and idiotic”
(l. 5).
b) But he knows that people enjoy reading this type of newspaper: ”stories pandering to
the worst inclinations in the human psyche” (l. 6).
10 He hopes that readers will be interested in his story and appreciate its positive message
devoid of the usual scandalous details: ”a tabloid story did not have to swim in lubricious
facts in order to capture the reader’s interest. Stories could be uplifting and redemptive
like this one” (l. 25).
Questions on documents A et B
11 Brett wants to prove that modern society is obsessed with its celebrity culture to the
point that the reason for someone’s celebrity is less important than the celebrity itself.
12 a) Zed’s vision of public opinion is more negative than Brett’s. Brett targets an obsession with celebrity, whereas Zed is demoralized by the obsession with scandal.
b) Zed thinks his mission is to improve people’s knowledge, and to elevate their interests.
13 Both Brett and Zed would like to change our celebrity-obsessed society. However,
Brett has a more sociological approach, with a real-life experimentation to demonstrate
the folly of our celebrity system. In contrast, Zed’s protest is more personal and undoubtedly less effective. Brett actually uses society’s means of communication to create a buzz
about his experiment, whereas Zed relies on the possible impact of his story in one newspaper to make his statement. At the same time, Brett is real ; Zed is simply a figment of
Elizabeth George’s imagination, his role is essentially that of a fictional character and not
as a spokesman against the star system.
14 Elizabeth George’s title is in fact most appropriate for Brett Cohen’s experiment, as it
demonstrates that people are so eager to rub shoulders with celebrity, that they will believe
whatever is presented to them as long as it corresponds to their vision of the star system.
Brett Cohen is a fake celebrity and yet hundreds of people pursued him as if he were as
famous as a film star or a pop singer, even if nobody recognized his name.
1 Rodney: What the heck is this, Zed ? Have you fallen on your head or something ? We
don’t publish stuff like this here at the Source!
Zed: Maybe we don’t, Rodney, you’re right! But maybe, we should!
Rodney: Are you trying to tell me that I’m wrong to encourage my reporters to unearth
topics that enable us to constantly increase our circulation figures?
Zed: I agree with you that what counts the most is the popularity of our tabloid, Rodney.
But don’t you think there should be a limit to the amount of dirty laundry we’re ready to
39
Sujet 3 | Corrigé
air in public?
Rodney: But that’s where the money is, that’s the way it works. You know that!
Zed: I do, of course, but seriously, don’t you think the public will appreciate my story?
Rodney: I’ve got to be frank here, Zed, otherwise you’re going to make this mistake again.
No one who buys The Source, is going to appreciate your comments on poetry, even if it
is twenty-first century poetry. I’ll go even further now, to make things quite clear: it’s not
just our readers, but even your colleagues in the news room. You’ve got it all wrong, Zed,
poetry is just not on the menu, not for any of us! You’re fired!
2 FAKE CELEBRITY PROVES FAME IS FOLLY
21-year-old Brett Cohen has just pulled off the greatest hoax ever and all of New York
City is still shivering as a consequence.
Cohen recruited a small party of followers to help him carry out his experiment. His goal:
to test New Yorkers thirst for fame.
To see if the general public are celebrity mad, the strategy could not have been simpler.
Cohen appeared on Times Square surrounded by bodyguards, who were soon to be seen
pushing away determined cameramen and photographers. The crowd of onlookers grew
rapidly and his name ’Brett Cohen’ was on everyone’s lips.
Members of the public jostled with the bodyguards to try to get close and Cohen even
heard someone screaming on their mobile that they’d just met Brett Cohen.
At the end of the 15 minute experiment, Cohen had to make a disappearing act in a side
street to escape the crowd. Before the experiment, Cohen was totally unknown. 15 minutes
later, he’s a star! Who is he? No one knows.
3 Reading these two extracts would lead anyone to conclude that we live in a society
obsessed by celebrity. But is it really the case? We will see first to what extent the star
system rules our society and then, to what extent the contrary is true.
Both of these extracts actually underline the role the media and means of communication
play in the star system. These two dimensions have actually evolved in parallel with the
leisure society of the twentieth century. In today’s world, we have more free time, greater
access to the media and a worldwide communications system. When you look at the media
in the press, on the radio and TV or on the Internet, celebrities are often in the news and
most people clearly enjoy hearing about stars’antics or accomplishments.
At the same time, it would be terribly wrong to infer that everyone is obsessed with fame.
It amuses us to know what stars get up to or how they live, but it is simply a form of
entertainment. At the end of the day, we are all much more concerned about our ageing
parents or our young children, than about stars that we will probably never meet.
In conclusion, the obsession with celebrity and fame is simply a pastime for a society
which is much more obsessed with its personal well-being and happiness than that of
people we don’t really know.
40
Sujet national, juin 2013, séries ES, L, S
Document A
”The Great Escape” on TNT features teams competing for a cash prize in an
hour-long episode
5
10
15
20
One could try to avoid comparing TNT’s new reality show ”The Great Escape” with
CBS’ long-running and perpetually Emmy-winning reality show ”The Amazing Race,”
but why? Especially when the similarities and differences are so readily apparent.
In ”The Amazing Race,” 11 teams of two travel around the world chasing clues and fighting off elimination in hour-long episodes until the finale where three teams compete for
the $1,000,000 grand prize. Meanwhile, in ”The Great Escape,” three pairs of contestants
spend an hour-long episode chasing clues and evading capture as they frantically labor to
escape from some labyrinthine site in order to win $100,000. [...]
Yes, the prize is smaller, but even though most of us do not have the time, or the endurance,
for a weeks-long, continents-wide race, we could all give up a day or so to participate in
a super-cool treasure hunt.
In the second episode, [...] the activities were more demanding and a bit more extreme
– contestants had to tolerate cold water and rappel from lofty heights. Though the more
timid among us might have hesitated, it was great fun to watch a father and daughter try
to not just win but keep their relationship intact while doing so.
The show’s episodic nature, however, limits the attachment viewers can form for the
teams (and also, mercifully, the level of celebrity these folks can later attain). But there
is something to be said for brevity – unlike many competitive reality shows, ”The Great
Escape” doesn’t take itself too seriously. The contestants are playing a game, not transforming themselves as human beings.
Mary McNamara, June 23, 2012.
Document B
5
That’s the stuff, Marley! Marley did not know why he had started talking like this to
himself, since he had never been anywhere near the Army. But he remembered when the
voice had begun. It had suddenly come to him, out of nowhere at the end of the first week,
after his seventh unbearable, sleepless vigil in the forest (the days were horrendous, but
the nights beggared belief), when he had been on the verge of quickly giving up on the
chance of winning Brit Pluck 1 , Green Hell, Two Million. That morning, the helicopters
had come down to offer the six contestants for the first time the (of course) dramatically
1. Pluck : courage.
41
Sujet 4 | Énoncé
10
15
20
25
televised and (naturally) well-strung-out choice: were they really going to stay for another
week in the soaking, sauna-hot, pitch-black forest [...]? Or would they choose instead to
fly straight off home, to warmth, sanity, medical care and the consolation of many tabloid
interviews? Marley had hesitated, pen in sweating hand, as he looked at the legal waiver 2
which they all had to re-sign each week, before the helicopters left them here again. Live
in front of the cameras, he had almost cracked. [...]
One by one, his rivals had given up, their greed for money and their lust for that modern
sainthood, media fame, giving way under the unspeakable, crawling, winged nightmare
of the rainforest. Each had at last taken the helicopter out in a state of total mental and
physical collapse (great telly!) 3 . [...]
How clearly Marley could remember the moment, the glorious moment, when the choppers had come down once again and the schoolteacher had crawled towards the landing
place, blubbering 4 gratefully, already clearly doomed to lose his left leg to gangrene.
Marley had stood and watched quite happily, assuming an At Ease position, saluting the
two helicopters in a nonchalant manner. He knew the rules. He was now the sole remaining competitor, he would sign a final legal waiver, they would cart off the destroyed
schoolteacher from Swansea and leave him, Brian Marley, there for one further week, a
whole week utterly alone, just himself [...].
James Hawes, Speak for England, 2006.
1 What is the nature of this document?
Vous devez identifier la nature du document. La source vous indique que le document a
été publié dans un journal, et vous fournit la date.
2 Which statement best corresponds to the passage?
a) It deals with reality shows in general.
b) It compares two reality shows.
c) It explains how to become a candidate on a reality show.
d) It describes a reality show.
On vous demande d’identifier l’affirmation qui correspond le mieux au sens du passage.
3 Fill in the blanks. Each blank corresponds to one word.
If you take part in ”The Great Escape” you may win ......... money than in ......... .........
........., however the competition will not last ......... ......... and it will demand ......... physical
effort.
2. waiver : document in which a person abandons a legal right.
3. telly : television.
4. blubbering : crying noisily.
42
Sujet 4 | Énoncé
Il s’agit de compléter ce court texte. C’est une comparaison avec une autre émission de
téléréalité dont on parle dans le passage.
4 What is the nature of document B?
La source ne fait aucune mention ni d’un journal ni d’une date précise. Vous avez un nom
d’auteur, un titre et une date de publication. Il s’agit donc d’un livre. À vous de dire si
c’est de la fiction ou non.
5 Choose the statement which best sums up the action in this document.
a) Brian Marley is a contestant on a TV reality show and has decided to abandon the show.
b) Brian Marley is a contestant on a TV reality show and has managed to become the last
contestant in the tropical forest.
c) Brian Marley is a contestant on a TV reality show and is waiting for the helicopter to
come and take him home.
d) Brian and a schoolteacher from Swansea are two remaining contestants on a reality
show.
6 Find one quotation revealing why Marley and the other contestants wanted to take part
in the show.
Il s’agit de citer la phrase du texte qui explique pourquoi Marley et les autres concurrents
voulaient participer à l’émission.
7 Say whether the following statements are Right or Wrong. Justify each answer with
two quotations.
a) Marley has found the whole experience very difficult.
b) He has never considered abandoning the TV show.
Attention, il faut justifier chaque réponse avec deux citations.
8 Which shows (”The Great Escape”, ”The Amazing Race” or ”Brit Pluck”, ”Green
Hell”, ”Two Million”) do the following statements refer to?
a) A treasure hunt.
b) A chance for families to work together.
c) A show where the contestants can decide whether to stay or leave.
d) A show where contestants are eliminated.
e) A show where contestants are transformed physically and mentally.
Pour chaque affirmation, on vous demande d’identifier la ou les émissions de téléréalité
(parmi les trois citées) qui y correspond(ent).
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Sujet 4 | Énoncé
9 Which show in document A corresponds best to the TV show in document B? Give
two reasons to explain why. Use your own words.
Il s’agit de choisir laquelle des deux émissions citées dans le document A correspond le
mieux à celle du document B. Vous devez donner deux raisons.
Seuls les candidats de la série L traiteront les deux questions suivantes (10 et 11).
10 In a few words, compare and contrast the names of the reality shows in both documents.
On vous demande de comparer et de contraster les noms des trois émissions de téléréalité.
11 a) Which adjectives from the following list best describe the tone of document B?
uncritical - romantic - critical - humorous - sarcastic - impartial
b) Explain in a few sentences what the name of the show in document B tells us about the
intention of the narrator.
Vous devez choisir dans la liste les adjectifs qui décrivent le mieux la tonalité du document B et expliquer ce que le nom de l’émission dans le document B nous indique au
sujet de l’intention de l’auteur.
Pour exprimer l’intention, vous pouvez utiliser les expressions suivantes : (to) intend,
mean, aim to + verbe.
Les candidats des séries S et ES traiteront un des trois sujets. (150 mots au moins)
Les candidats de la série L traiteront deux des trois sujets. (total pour les deux sujets :
250 mots au moins)
1 Do you personally consider that reality shows are great television?
2 Marley becomes a celebrity after winning the show. A journalist interviews him about
the changes that have happened in his life since the end of the show. Imagine the interview.
Pour faire le bilan, il faut utiliser le present perfect : have + participe passé).
Pour parler des émissions de téléréalité, on peut avoir besoin du lexique relatif à la notion
de compétition :
–
–
–
–
–
(to) compete, fight, win, lose ;
competition, game, race ;
prize, reward ;
team, individual ;
individual, collective.
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Sujet 4 | Énoncé
3 Would you personally be tempted to take part in a reality show? Explain why.
Auriez-vous envie de participer à une émission de téléréalité ? Expliquez pourquoi. (Il
faut reprendre la même forme verbale : I would be tempted, I would not like, I would
refuse).
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Sujet 4 | Corrigé
1 The document is an excerpt from a press article published in the Los Angeles Times in
June 2012.
2 It compares two reality shows.
3 If you take part in ”the Great Escape” you may win less money than in ”The Amazing
Race”, however the competition will not last a week and it will demand no or little physical
effort.
4 The document is an excerpt from a novel entitled Speak for England, written by
James Hawes and published in 2006.
5 Brian Marley is a contestant on a TV reality show and has managed to become the last
contestant in the tropical forest.
6 Their main motivation is money and becoming famous: ”[...] their greed for money
and their lust for that modern sainthood, media fame [...]” (l. 14).
7 Right or Wrong.
a) Right : ”[...] after his seventh unbearable, sleepless vigil in the forest” (l. 4), ”the days
were horrendous” (l. 4), ”were they really going to stay for another week in the soaking,
sauna-hot, pitch-black forest” (l. 8), ”the unspeakable, crawling, winged nightmare of the
rainforest [...]?” (l. 15).
b) Wrong: ”when he had been on the verge of quickly giving up on the chance of winning
[...]” (l. 5).
”Marley had hesitated, pen in sweating hand” (l. 11).
”Live in front of the cameras, he had almost cracked [...]” (l. 12).
8 a) A treasure Hunt: The Amazing Race, The Great Escape.
b) A chance for families to work together: The Great capture.
c) A show where the contestants can decide whether to stay or leave: Brit Pluck, Green
Hell, Two Million.
d) A show where contestants are eliminated: the Amazing Race, The Great Capture.
e) A show where contestants are transformed physically and mentally: Brit Pluck, Green
Hell, Two Million.
9 The reality game ”The Amazing Race” seems to correspond best to the game described
in document B. First the amount of the prize is similar: a one-million-dollar cash prize for
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Sujet 4 | Corrigé
”The Amazing Race” and a two million one for ”The Brit Pluck” game. Both games are
based on how enduring the contestants are. They are supposed to go beyond their limits at
all cost and the shows last weeks and encourage the viewers to identify to the contestants,
as opposed to ”The Great Escape”.
10 ”The Amazing Race” and ”The Great Escape” both suggest the idea of adventure and
fun. They seem to promote a positive experience. The title of the third reality show evokes
the idea of a difficult and demanding experience in a jungle or forest. It requires courage
and will necessitate suffering (hell), but the reward is worth it.
11 a) The following adjectives describe best the tone of document B:
Numerous, sarcastic, critical.
b) In this work of fiction, the writer wants to parody a TV reality show. He is denouncing
the excesses of such programs and accuses the contestants of being thirsty for fame.
1 In my opinion, reality shows are very far from offering ’great television’. I will first
explain what I think ’great television’ is and then give my opinion of reality shows.
For me, a good television programme is either very informative or else very entertaining.
Indeed, I think TV serves a dual purpose. It enables viewers to improve their knowledge
and widen their culture with documentaries and news programmes, but also lets them relax
and escape from the stress of the rat race with fictional shows like sitcoms or TV games
like quizzes.
Reality shows were intended to offer a mixture of information and entertainment. Viewers
are supposed to take pleasure in watching how real people deal with difficult situations
or difficult people. However, there is considerable difference between the theory and the
reality of reality shows. Indeed, nothing is really real, as the TV programmers create situations and provoke the participants in order to make the show entertaining.
This type of manipulation or even brainwashing of viewers is nowhere near great TV to
my mind!
2 Journalist: Brian Marley, twelve months ago you won Brit Pluck1, Green Hell, Two
Million. Could you tell us how your life has changed since then?
Marley: I thought the game was hell, but life as a celebrity has turned out to be even worse!
Journalist: What do you mean? Don’t you have everything you’ve ever dreamed of – money, fame and happiness?
Marley: You must be joking! I was much happier when I was anonymous and nobody
knew me. I can’t go anywhere without paparazzi chasing after me or somebody coming
up to ask for my autograph.
Journalist: Well, there have to be one or two drawbacks to celebrity, I suppose!
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Sujet 4 | Corrigé
Marley: I’m not sure there are any advantages to compensate for all the rest! Winning
£2 million has made me everyone’s best friend, but nobody wants true friendship, they
just want my money! As for happiness, I was much happier when I was unknown and
penniless. Today, I have so much to worry about and no dreams to look forward to! I wish
I had never entered the game!
3 I enjoy challenges and I also enjoy team sports, so I think I would like taking part in a
game like Fort Boyard or Koh-Lanta, if it was not a reality show. In other words, I would
like to participate in a competitive game as a member of a team, but I would not appreciate
being manipulated by a TV producer for a reality show.
At the same time, I would love to win a lot of money like the prize for a reality show, so
I suppose I would be ready to sacrifice my principles for a few weeks, if I really thought
I had a chance of winning.
So, it would seem that I am unable to offer a clear cut answer. My participation in a reality
show would depend on the nature of the competition, the prize money and the degree of
manipulation by the producer.
48
Polynésie, juin 2013, séries technologiques
Document A
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My first experiences of disability sport were pretty confusing, not to mention painful and
slightly humiliating.
I lost my sight very suddenly aged 13 in 1984 and, before I could blink, or think, I was
whisked away to a ”special” boarding school for blind children in Worcester –200 miles
away from my home.
Braille books were put in front of me, a white cane was stuffed in my hand, and the hard
rehabilitation work began.
After weeks of not being able to feel the difference between an S and a T in this annoying
dotty feelable alphabet, I was pretty relieved, and intrigued, when it came to having my
first PE lesson.
So, how does sports work with one teacher and 10 blind kids in a class? I’m still not quite
sure actually but we all trooped out onto the running track, with everyone cracking jokes
and pushing each other, all seeing it as an entirely normal lesson –except me.
We were going to do a 100m sprint, I learned. But how do you run if you can’t see? A
fairly basic question which, seemingly, I was a bit too embarrassed to ask at that tender
age. So I didn’t.
We all lined up at the top of the track, and, as new boy, I was chosen to go first.
The teacher stood at the other end with a very loud megaphone. ”OK Damon. On your
marks, get set, go...”
I ran as hard and as fast as I could but something weird was happening. The teacher started
shouting ”five, five, five!”
I didn’t get it. Was he adding maths into our leisure curriculum?
”Five, five, five, six, six, six, seven!” I must have been going impressively fast because I
could no longer feel the track under my trainers.
”Eight, eight, eight, nine!” It was all happening at a dizzying pace and, was it my imagination or was I going slightly downhill?
”Nine, nine, nine, 10, 11, ditch, long grass, brambles...Whittington Road”.
Everyone laughed loudly and, as the teacher unravelled me from the bushes, he explained
his number shouting system.
”Did you not know? Five means you’re running straight towards me, four means you’ve
gone a little to the left, six means you’re erring right.” I’d gone off the scale.
Damon Rose, Paralympics: The perils of being a blind athlete, BBC News, 7 September 2012.
49
Sujet 5 | Énoncé
Document B
London 2012: How the world saw the Paralympics
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As the final day of the Paralympic Games unfolded across London, media commentators
from around the world have reflected on its achievements.
China’s Xinhua news agency said: ”London has pushed the Paralympics to a new height
after taking over the legacy of the Beijing Paralympics.”
It added that a better understanding of disability had become ”one of the core parts of the
’Paralympic story’”. It said it was struck by the spirit of ”increasingly fierce competition
at the Paralympics”.
Bahrain’s Gulf Daily went as far as to say that the abiding legacy of London 2012 may
not be the victories of the likes of Mo Farah or Bradley Wiggins, but the ”fundamental
change in the way much of the world looks at disability”.
It said the Paralympics ”have swiftly taught us to look beyond disability towards achievement”.
Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper said the games ”have given humanity an opportunity to
push the limits of human capacity to adapt as evident in the stunning performances of
disabled athletes”.
Germany’s Zeit daily said: ”The British can not only organise, they can celebrate. With
seemingly boundless enthusiasm they cheered in the packed stadiums every last runner
to finish the Paralympics.”
Australia’s Canberra Times said: ”Those who admire, respect and are inspired by the
magnificent feats of athletes with a disability might reflect on folk who show as much
courage, determination and perseverance in their daily personal and professional lives”.
During the games, Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda said ”Russians are not used
to encountering disabled people in the street... Yet for the first time, they discovered a previously unknown sporting world and its courageous fighters”. Moscow famously refused
to stage the Paralympic games in 1980.
Writing for the Australian newspaper, disabled journalist Melanie Reid marvelled at the
unique sights of Paralympic events: ”80,000 people falling silent so that a blind longjumper can sprint into her darkness towards the sound of someone clapping.”
”The sight of a young woman, her body frantic with cerebral palsy, achieving serenity on
the back of a horse. The potency of men with no legs turned into gods by the menace of
their running blades.” She concluded that the games had somehow made disability ”cool”.
BBC News, 10 September 2012.
50
Sujet 5 | Énoncé
1 What do documents A and B deal with?
Il s’agit d’identifier le sujet des deux documents. De quoi parlent-ils ?
2 What terrible thing happened to the narrator and when?
On vous demande de préciser ce qui est arrivé au narrateur et quand. Vous avez besoin
pour cela de connaître quelques handicaps :
If you can’t hear, you’re deaf.
If you can’t speak, you’re dumb.
If you can’t see, you’re blind.
3 In his new ”special school”, what did he have to do? Give two quotes from the text.
Vous devez expliquer ce que le narrateur a dû faire dans son école spécialisée, en recopiant deux citations du texte.
4 When he left the track during the PE lesson, where did he end up?
On vous demande de préciser où le narrateur a atterri quand il a quitté la piste pendant le
cours de sports.
Ce lexique peut vous faire défaut :
–
–
–
–
–
–
pace : speed ;
slightly : a little bit ;
downhill : vers le bas ;
ditch : fossé ;
brambles : ronces ;
bush : buisson.
5 Why didn’t the narrator ask his teacher for more information about how to run in a
straight line?
Il s’agit de repérer la raison pour laquelle le narrateur n’a pas demandé à son professeur
comment courir dans une ligne droite.
6 The document is:
a) a newspaper article.
b) a collection of newspaper clips.
c) an extract from the Guinness Book of World Records.
7 ”[...] increasingly fierce competition” (l. 6); ”[...] stunning performances” (l. 14); ”[...]
boundless enthusiasm” (l. 17)
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Sujet 5 | Énoncé
Explain in your own words what these expressions show about the general opinion expressed by all media.
On vous demande d’expliquer ce que montrent les trois citations par rapport à l’attitude
du public.
Ce lexique peut vous faire défaut :
–
–
–
–
increasingly : more and more ;
fierce : intense, strong, powerful ;
stunning : surprising, amazing, unbelievable ;
boundless : unlimited, unconditional, endless, infinite.
8 How have the London Paralympics changed the perception of disabled people among
the public?
Il s’agit d’expliquer en quoi les Jeux Paralympiques de Londres ont changé la vision qu’a
le public des personnes handicapées.
Tous les candidats traiteront les deux sujets suivants.
1 You are a disabled athlete. Explain why you would like to enter an Olympic competition? (80 words)
Vous devez vous mettre dans la peau d’un athlète handicapé et expliquer pourquoi vous
souhaitez participer aux Jeux Olympiques.
Ces structures peuvent vous être utiles :
–
–
–
–
to, in order to, so as to + verbe (l’expression du but) ;
need to + verbe ;
It’s important, essential, vital for + complément to + verbe ;
as a result of, as a consequence of.
2 After a ski accident, one of your arms is broken. You tell a friend about your daily life
and feelings about this temporary handicap. (120 words)
Vous devez imaginer ce que vous pourriez raconter à un ami au sujet de votre vie quotidienne et vos sentiments par rapport à votre bras cassé.
Vous pouvez utiliser ces expressions :
–
–
–
–
–
–
right handed / left handed ;
(to) get dressed, feed, eat, write ;
(to) lose balance, fall over ;
difficult, time consuming ;
(to) complain, moan ;
it would be easy, better if sujet + prétérit.
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Sujet 5 | Corrigé
1 Both texts deal with the Paralympics in 2012.
2 The narrator in document A lost his sight all of a sudden when he was 13.
3 In his new special school, he had to learn Braille (Braille books were put in front of
me) and do sports (my first PE lesson).
4 He ended up in bushes on the side of Whittington Road.
5 He was too embarrassed to ask.
6 The document is a collection of newspaper clips.
7 ”[...] increasingly fierce competition” (l. 6): the public are impressed by the fighting
spirit of the disabled sportsmen and women.
”[...] stunning performances” (l. 14): everyone is surprised by the high level of the results.
”[...] boundless enthusiasm” (l. 17): the disabled show no limit to their enthusiasm.
8 As a result of the London Paralympics, people are no longer embarrassed by disability,
but are keen to talk about it and to show what can be done. It’s become cool.
1 I would like to enter the running competition to prove to the public that disability is
simply an additional challenge. I want to show people that when we are physically handicapped, we find interior strength and develop our mental faculties in compensation. I
would like to be a model for other young people to inspire them and to encourage them to
overcome their disability.
I think it’s important to make young people who are born disabled and others who become
disabled as a result of an accident that it is not the end of their lives. Everyone can learn
to overcome their disability and accomplish something great.
2 It would be so easy if it was my left arm, but I’m right handed and it’s my right hand I
can’t use. I’m learning to get dressed by myself, to eat and to write. But it takes an awful
lot of time and I’ve already lost balance and fallen over, so I need to be more careful.
Eating is more difficult than I thought it would be! It would be much better if we were
all encouraged to be ambidextrous! As for writing, it’s an excuse to be lazy in class –the
person I sit next to in each lesson takes notes for me!
I’m not going to complain, as in fact everyone has been very comprehensive and compassionate. I never realised I had so many friends. Everyone has come to see me and signed
53
Sujet 5 | Corrigé
their autograph or drawn a silly picture on my plaster.
If it didn’t scratch so much, I could actually consider keeping it!
54
Document A
The narrator recalls his sea voyage to England as a child.
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His name was Mr Fonseka and he was travelling to England to be a teacher, I would visit
him every few days. He knew passages from all kinds of books he could recite by heart,
and he sat at his desk all day wondering about them, thinking what he could say about
them. I knew scarcely a thing about the world of literature, but he welcomed me with
unusual and interesting stories, stopping abruptly in mid-tale and saying that someday I
should find out what happened after that. ’You will like it I think. Perhaps he will find the
eagle.’ Or, ’They will escape the maze with the help of someone they are about to meet...’
Often, during the night, while stalking the adult world with Ramadhin and Cassius, I’d
attempt to add to the bare bones of an adventure Mr Fonseka had left unfinished. [...]
I tried to coax him up on deck a few times, but his porthole and what he could see through
it seemed enough nature for him. With his books [...] as well as a few family photographs,
he had no need to leave his time capsule. I would visit that smoky room if the day was dull,
and he would at some point begin reading to me. It was the anonymity of the stories and
the poems that went deepest into me. And the curl of a rhyme was something new. I had
not thought to believe he was actually quoting something written with care, in some far
country, centuries earlier. He had lived in Colombo 1 all his life, and his manner and accent
were a product of the island, but at the same time he had this wide-ranging knowledge of
books. He’d sing a song from the Azores or recite lines from an Irish play.
I brought Cassius and Ramadhin to meet him. He had become curious about them, and
he made me tell him of our adventures on the ship. He beguiled 2 them as well, especially
Ramadhin. Mr Fonseka seemed to draw forth an assurance or a calming quality from the
books he read. [...]
Mr Fonseka would not be a wealthy man. And it would be a spare life 3 he would be
certain to lead as a schoolteacher in some urban location. But he had a serenity that came
with the choice of the life he wanted to live. And this serenity and certainty I have seen
only among those who have the armour of books close by.
Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table, 2011.
1. Colombo : capital of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon).
2. Beguiled : charmed.
3. A spare life : a simple life.
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Sujet 6 | Énoncé
Document B
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Together they focused on the film.
Pembe watched The Kid with wide-open eyes, the look of surprise on her countenance
deepening with each scene. When Chaplin found an abandoned baby in a rubbish bin, and
raised him like his own son, she smiled with appreciation. When the child flung stones at
the neighbours’ windows so that the tramp-disguised as a glazier-could fix them and earn
some money, she chuckled. When social services took the boy away, her eyes welled up
with tears. And, finally, as father and son were reunited, her face lit up with contentment,
and a trace of something that Elias took to be melancholy. So absorbed did she seem in
the film that he felt a twinge of resentment. What a funny thing it was to be jealous of
Charlie Chaplin.
Elias observed her as she unpinned her hair, and then pinned it back. He caught a whiff
of jasmine and rose, a heady, charming mixture. Only minutes before the film came to
an end, he found the nerve to reach out for her fingers, feeling like a teenager on his first
date. To his relief, she didn’t move her hand away. They sat still-two sculptures carved
out of the dark, both scared of making a move that would disrupt the tenderness of the
moment.
When the lights came back on, it took them a few seconds to grow accustomed to real life.
Quickly, he took out a notepad and wrote down the name of another cinema in another
part of the town. ”Next week, same day, same time, will you come?”
”Yes”, she faltered.
Before he’d found a chance to say anything else, Pembe leaped to her feet and headed
towards the exit, running away from him and everything that had taken place between
them, or would have taken place, had they been different people. She held in her palm the
name of the place they were to meet next time, grasping it tightly, as if it were the key to
a magic world, a key she would use right now were it in her power to decide.
And so it began. They started to meet every Friday at the same time, and occasionally on
other afternoons. They frequented the Phoenix more than any other place, but they also
met at several other cinemas, all far-away from their home, all unpopular. [...] In time he
found out more things about her, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that he would complete only
long after she had gone. [...]
Slowly he was beginning to make sense of the situation. This unfathomable, almost enigmatic attraction that he felt for her, a woman so alien to the life he had led, was like a
childhood memory coming back.
Elif Shafak, Honour, 2012.
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Sujet 6 | Énoncé
I. Compréhension du texte
1 Pick out three of Mr Fonseka’s activities during the voyage. Say what they have in
common.
Justify with at least three quotations.
Vous devez relever trois activités entreprises par M. Fonseka pendant le voyage et expliciter le lien entre les trois.
2 Which four adjectives best correspond to Mr Fonseka’s personality? Justify each with
a quotation from the text.
kind – selfish – captivating – pedantic – serene – knowledgeable – boring – self-centred
Il s’agit de déterminer les quatre adjectifs qui correspondent à la personnalité de M. Fonseka. Vous devez citer le texte pour illustrer chaque adjectif.
3 Why does the narrator visit Mr Fonseka? Choose the two statements that are correct
and justify with a quotation for each.
a) They know the same authors.
b) Mr Fonseka is teaching him to read.
c) Mr Fonseka’s stories fascinate him.
d) Mr Fonseka is interested in the narrator’s life.
On vous demande de choisir les deux affirmations qui expliquent les raisons pour lesquelles le narrateur rend visite à M. Fonseka. Chaque affirmation doit être illustrée d’une
citation du texte.
4 Say whether the following statement is right or wrong:
Mr Fonseka’s goal is likely to have a prestigious career.
Justify your answer with two quotations.
Vous devez indiquer si l’affirmation est vraie ou fausse et justifier à l’aide de deux citations. Le sens de l’affirmation est « L’objectif de M. Fonseka est probablement de mener
une carrière prestigieuse. »
5 What do the two characters do together? Why? Give three reasons using your own
words.
On vous demande d’indiquer ce que les deux personnages font ensemble et en donner
trois raisons dans vos propres termes.
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Sujet 6 | Énoncé
6 ”Together they focused on the film.” (l. 1):
Explain briefly why this sentence is not equally true for both characters.
Il s’agit d’expliquer pourquoi cette affirmation n’est pas valable pour les deux personnages. Le sens de l’affirmation est « Tous les deux se focalisaient sur le film. »
7 ”[...] to his relief, she didn’t move her hand away.” (l. 14);
”Pembe leaped to her feet and headed towards the exit running from him [...]” (l. 21):
Explain in a few words the change in the woman’s attitude.
Vous devez expliquer le changement dans l’attitude de la femme. Les deux citations vous
indique qu’au départ la femme ne retirait pas sa main de celle du narrateur, mais qu’ensuite elle se mit brusquement debout et le fuit. Qu’est-ce qui provoque ce changement ?
8 What does Elias like about Pembe? Choose the two statements that are correct and
justify your choice with quotations from the text.
a) She is attractive.
b) She is assertive.
c) She is different from him.
d) She is funny.
9 ”[...] they also met at several other cinemas, all far-away from their homes, all unpopular.” (l. 27):
Why do you think they choose places that are distant from their homes? Answer briefly
in your own words.
On vous demande pourquoi les personnages choisissent des endroits éloignés de leurs
domiciles.
Tous les candidats traiteront la question suivante.
10 What do the characters’ relationships have in common in both documents? Give three
elements.
Vous devez identifier trois points de convergence dans les rapports entre les personnages
des deux documents.
Seuls les candidats des séries S et ES et ceux de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre
de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront la question suivante.
11 Show how in both documents each of the characters has something to offer to the
other(s).
On vous demande de démontrer de quelle manière chacun des personnages dans les deux
documents a quelque chose à offrir à l’autre.
58
Sujet 6 | Énoncé
Seuls les candidats composant au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront
la question suivante.
12 a) In each document what differences or obstacles could keep the characters apart?
b) What do the activities they share allow them to do?
Il s’agit d’identifier les différences ou obstacles qui pourraient écarter les personnages,
puis d’expliciter ce que les activités entreprises ensemble leur permettent de réaliser.
Tous les candidats traiteront la sujet suivant.
1 Pembe writes in her diary about her special relationship with Elias. (150 mots au moins)
Il s’agit de rédiger la page que Pembe écrit dans son journal intime au sujet de son rapport
particulier avec Elias.
Il convient d’adopter un ton confessionnel, en se focalisant sur les sentiments et l’état
d’esprit de cette femme, mais aussi sur l’intérêt qu’elle porte sur le cinéma.
Seuls les candidats des séries ES et S et ceux de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre
de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront le sujet suivant.
2 How can differences between people enrich their relationships? (150 mots au moins)
On vous demande de disserter sur la façon dont les différences entre les gens peuvent
enrichir leurs rapports.
Comme dans tout essai argumentatif, vous veillerez à structurer votre réponse en organisant vos idées et en illustrant vos arguments avec des exemples. Pensez à utiliser des
mots de liaison pour articuler votre discours ainsi que des expressions d’opinion.
Seuls les candidats composant au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront
le sujet suivant.
3 Art brings people together. Discuss. (150 mots au moins)
Il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif. Vous devez exprimer votre idée sur la capacité de l’art
à réunir les gens.
Suivez les mêmes conseils de rédaction que pour le sujet 2.
59
Sujet 6 | Corrigé
I. Compréhension du texte
1 Three of Mr Fonseka’s activities during the voyage are reciting from memory, reading
stories and singing. Their common point is literature, books.
The elements from the text that justify this answer are:
”recite by heart” (l. 2), ”unusual and interesting stories” (l. 5), ”reading to me” (l. 13),
”quoting something” (l. 15), ”he’d sing a song [...] or recite lines from an Irish play” (l. 18).
2 The four adjectives that best correspond to Mr Fonseka’s personality are:
– kind (”he welcomed me” (l. 4));
– captivating (”it was the anonymity of the stories and the poems that went deepest into
me” (l. 13), ”he beguiled them” (l. 20));
– knowledgeable (”he had this wide-ranging knowledge of books” (l. 17), ”he knew passages from all kinds of books” (l. 2));
– serene (”to draw forth an assurance” (l. 21), ”a serenity that came with the choice of
life he wanted to live” (l. 24), ”and this serenity and certainty” (l. 25)).
3 c) Mr Fonseka’s stories fascinate him:
”I’d attempt to add to the bare bones of an adventure Mr Fonseka had left unfinished” (l. 8),
”it was the anonymity of the stories and the poems that went deepest into me” (l. 13).
d) Mr Fonseka is interested in the narrator’s life:
”he made me tell him of our adventures on the ship” (l. 20).
4 This statement is wrong: ”Mr Fonseka would not be a wealthy man”, ”it would be a
spare life”, ”a schoolteacher in some urban location” (l. 23).
5 They go to the cinema together because they enjoy watching films and spending time
together. It enables them to meet without being seen.
6 While Pembe is totally absorbed in the film, Elias seems more interested in watching
her and her reactions.
7 Pembe seems happy to engage in physical contact with Elias until the lights come on.
She clearly does not want to be seen in public with Elias and perhaps she is also shy or
self conscious.
8 a) She is attractive:
”He caught a whiff of jasmine and rose, a heady, charming mixture” (l. 11), ”Elias observed
her as she unpinned her hair and then pinned it back again” (l. 11).
60
Sujet 6 | Corrigé
c) She is different from him:
”This unfathomable, almost enigmatic attraction he felt for her, a woman so alien to the
life he had led” (l. 31).
9 Clearly it was essential for these two people to meet in secret and not to be seen together.
For some reason, their relationship is forbidden.
10 In both documents it is art that brings the characters together. They participate in an
activity together despite clear differences between them.
11 In document A, the teacher enables the child to discover stories and the world of
books, while the child entertains the teacher with the tales of his adventures on the ship.
In document B, Elias introduces Pembe to the world of cinema, while she stimulates his
senses and makes him feel alive.
12 a) In document A, it is the difference in age, the level of education and the choice of
activities that could keep them apart. In document B, it must be a social or racial barrier
that keeps them from seeing each other in public.
b) Their shared activities allow them to overcome their differences (document A) and the
social barriers (document B).
Dans le cadre du corrigé, nous avons choisi de ne traiter que les deux premiers sujets.
1 Dear Diary,
I feel more and more confused about my relationship with Elias, and more and more
guilty about our secret meetings! At first, I was probably more interested in the films he
took me to see than in the man himself, but the more we meet, the more I want to know
about him, and the less I want to leave him at the end of the show.
I’m so scared that somebody who knows us sees us together and that the subsequent
scandal will prevent us from ever meeting up again. I don’t think I could stand that now.
I wish we could just run away together and live on a desert island where the only laws
would be our own laws and not stupid laws that are centuries old and that nobody dares
to question.
Why can’t a man and woman who love each other simply be together?
Love! It’s the first time I’ve used this word, but if I’m honest, that is what I feel today!
2 This question asks us to examine whether difference can be a source of enrichment for
individuals and for society. I would have thought that the tolerance of differences is the
basis of republican and democratic societies.
61
Sujet 6 | Corrigé
The greatness of the human race comes from our ability to share and to build on our
mutual knowledge. Individually, we are weak and rather limited, but together we have an
enormous force and extensive knowledge.
To increase our knowledge, we must constantly make new encounters which can be direct,
in a face to face relationship, or indirect through media including the internet.
We can even go one step further: I would say that in our enrichment both as individuals
and as a civilisation, we can learn from our differences with other life forms. The organisation of an ants’ nest or a bee hive may seem far from human preoccupations, but in fact
scientists have found it most enriching.
In conclusion, it seems to me that learning from differences is an essential step in the
evolution of both individuals and civilisations.
62
Sujet national, septembre 2013, séries ES, L, S
Document A
Never Judge A Book By Its Cover
5
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I stepped off the Marta rail at Five Points Station a little past eight o’clock on a Saturday
evening. I had noticed previously on the train an older woman, perhaps in her mid sixties,
staring at me with a look that suggested she was anything but content with my presence
in the seat across from hers. As we exited the train she continued to make glances in
my direction. Not those glances that you happen to make every now and then just to
check your surroundings, but rather the type of glance you make when you know a dog’s
loose, so you watch him to make sure he does not sneak and attack you. It was obvious
that she was uncomfortable with me walking the same path as her yet in all actuality
her apparent Rightfulness of me made me somewhat uncomfortable as well. I quickened
my pace and eventually passed her with a nod and a smile and continued on my way.
The entire experience was nothing new for me; in fact it has become somewhat of the
norm, however it is something I could never completely get used to. For those who have
never experienced a stereotype, I would be glad to lend my shoes for a day and let them
experience one first hand.
Since the founding of this country, American society has been filled with stereotypes that
label individuals based on physical appearance rather than personality or intellect. It was
said by our forefathers that only men should be able to work and vote because women were
incapable to do so. For nearly three hundred years it was believed that African-Americans
were inferior to Caucasians due to the color of their skin. Here I stand a young AfricanAmerican male in the 21st century, still categorized by a society that knows nothing about
me. I encounter atrocious stares from strangers who cannot seem to see past the baggy
pants and dreadlocks. I am a sixteen-year-old student who will next year graduate with
not only a high school diploma, but with an associates degree as well, yet I am labeled a
criminal by so many due to the apparel I choose to wear. Am I not too a person born with
the inalienable rights of ”Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”? Should I be forced
to compromise with America in order to be accepted in a society that was founded on the
belief of individual free will?
Givonte Latimore, www.helium.com, created on: February 09, 2008, last updated:
February 10, 2008.
63
Sujet 7 | Énoncé
Document B
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30
Alex Denholm was a pleasant enough man who could have been popular with his neighbours if it had not been for his queer streak. Alex had no sense of proportion. Until the
neighbours got to know him they would hurry across to his farm to help him fix his tractor
or his combine, only to find that there was nothing wrong with them; Alex had actually
stopped work in the middle of the wheat-sowing season to go inside to listen to the Music
Lover’s Hour on the radio. And he would come out with his red hair standing up from
the way he rumpled it in his excitement, his reddish-brown eyes glowing like fire, and his
face, which was rugged and ruddy, shining in an absurdly delighted and boyish manner,
to tell them he had just heard the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing Mozart’s E Flat
Symphony.
Opinion about Alex’s wife was divided. Some said she was a heroine for putting up with
him; others that she was a fool for not leaving him.
The neighbours were very amused when they heard that Alex was getting an Italian
prisoner-of-war to work for him.
’That’ll be two of a kind,’ said some.
‘Don’t be too hard on the Ities 1 , said the others.
The Control Centre men were a bit apologetic about the Italian they brought to Denholm’s place. He was a small, obsequious fellow, who looked exactly like a waiter in a
second-rate Italian restaurant.
‘I don’t think he knows anything about farm work,’ said the sergeant-major, ‘but you’ll
have no trouble keeping him in order.’
All the C.C. staff chuckled at this and Mario looked at them nervously, with his big soft
brown eyes sliding from one to the other. Alex gave his prisoner a cheerful smile, as if
he were sure he would discover some good in him. It did not take him very long. The
very first night when he took him in to tea and they were both feeling awkward and
embarrassed because they could understand only a few words of each other’s language,
Alex switched on his radio to his usual programme of classical music. An orchestra was
playing selections from Italian operas. Mario looked and listened with intense interest.
‘Rossini,’ he said.
‘Rossini good,’ said Alex.
‘Good! Good!’ said Mario enthusiastically, and they smiled delightedly at each other. The
orchestra played the first three notes of the next air and Alex shouted, ‘Mascagni!’
Mario looked at him admiringly. ‘Mascagni good!’ he said.
Eric Otto Schlunke, The Man Who Liked Music, 1965.
1. Ities : pejorative term for Italians.
64
Sujet 7 | Énoncé
1 Who is Givonte? (3 items)
Vous devez repérer trois éléments permettant de comprendre l’identité de Givonte (qui
est l’auteur de l’extrait, et est donc représenté par « I » dans le récit).
Read from the beginning to ”on my way” (l. 10).
2 a) What did the older woman do on the train, then on the platform?
b) How did Givonte interpret the older woman’s attitude? What did he believe she thought?
Il s’agit de relever le comportement de la vieille dame d’abord dans le train, puis sur le
quai, et d’analyser comment Givonte interprète son attitude.
3 What accounts for the older woman’s attitude towards him? Answer in a few sentences
and justify with three elements from the text.
Il s’agit d’expliquer l’attitude de la vieille dame en vous fondant sur les indices contenus
dans le texte.
Read from ”The entire experience” (l. 11) to the end.
4 Was this an isolated incident for Givonte? Justify your answer by quoting from the text.
Il convient de trouver le passage dans le texte qui compare cet incident avec d’autres que
Givonte a déjà vécu.
5 What conclusions about America does Givonte draw from his experience? Answer in
a few sentences.
Vous devez résumer, avec vos propres mots, l’analyse que Givonte fait de l’Amérique.
6 Who are...
a) Alex?
b) Mario?
Choose the relevant answers from the list below and copy them out. (Two items for each
character)
a farmer – a mechanic – a music composer – a prisoner of war – a Control Centre man –
a waiter – a music lover
Il s’agit d’associer à chaque personnage deux éléments de la liste.
7 How is Alex regarded by the community and why? Answer in your own words.
Vous devez reprendre le passage qui montre comment Alex est considéré par les gens
autour de lui, et l’analyser avec vos propres mots.
65
Sujet 7 | Énoncé
8 Say whether the following statements are right or wrong. Justify your choice by quoting
from the text.
a) People in the neighbourhood thought Alex and Mario would not get on well.
b) Alex and Mario actually got on well.
Il faut répondre par vrai ou par faux, en justifiant chaque réponse avec des citations du
texte.
« To get on well » signifie bien s’entendre.
9 What do the older woman (document A) and the neighbours (document B) have in
common? Explain in a few sentences.
Il y a quelque chose de similaire entre l’attitude de la vieille dame dans le document A
et celle des voisins dans le document B. Vous devez l’expliciter.
10 How do Alex and Givonte each deal with the way people see them? Explain in a few
sentences.
On vous demande d’analyser comment Alex et Givonte gèrent la manière dont ils sont
considérés par les autres gens.
11 In what way can the title of document A, ”Never Judge a Book by its Cover”, apply
to document B? Explain in a few sentences.
Il s’agit de dire si le titre du document A pourrait s’appliquer au document B.
1 Can one give too much importance to physical appearance? (150 mots au moins)
Le sujet vous invite à disserter sur l’idée que l’on puisse attribuer trop d’importance à
l’apparence physique.
Quelle que soit la position que vous adoptiez, il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif. Ce qui
importe le plus, c’est que vous démontriez votre capacité à argumenter. Vous pouvez fort
bien présenter les deux faces du même argument et annoncer votre position personnelle
dans la conclusion.
liaison pour articuler votre discours :
66
Sujet 7 | Énoncé
2 Six months later, the Control Centre has to decide whether Mario should stay with
Alex and his wife or not. They send the Sergeant-Major to meet Alex’s wife and ask her
questions, imagine their conversation. (150 mots au moins)
Il s’agit d’inventer la conversation entre l’épouse d’Alex et un représentant de l’armée
qui cherche à savoir si Mario doit continuer à rester chez eux ou non.
Vous avez toute liberté en ce qui concerne l’opinion de l’épouse, même si l’extrait suggère
que les deux hommes s’entendent bien.
Vous aurez besoin de formuler des questions : Auxiliaire + sujet + verbe + ?
67
Sujet 7 | Corrigé
1 He is a 16-year-old African American who is about to graduate from high school.
2 a) On the train, she looked at him with a look of discontent. On the platform, she kept
looking at him so as to know what he was doing.
b) Givonte thinks she was afraid of him and that she imagined he was capable of attacking
her.
3 It is clear that the woman feels threatened on account of Givonte’s physical appearance.
(He is wearing baggy pants and dreadlocks.) She keeps looking at him, because she thinks
he is dangerous. At the same time, she has a sense of superiority, and considers herself
’rightful’.
4 It wasn’t an isolated incident. He says: ”The entire experience was nothing new for
me” (l. 11).
5 Givonte thinks that America has always functioned with stereotypes based on physical
appearance. He gives two examples: discrimination against women, and slavery. These
prejudices continue to exist in the 21st century, as Givonte feels people judge him as a
criminal simply because of the clothes he wears and the colour of his skin.
6 a) Alex is a farmer and a music lover.
b) Mario is a prisoner of war and a music lover.
7 Alex’s neighbours can’t understand his obsession with music, as it incites him to abandon his tractor in the middle of the field simply to listen to music on the radio.
8 a) This sentence is false: ”’That’ll be two of a kind,’ said some.” (l. 15)
b) This sentence is true: ”they smiled delightedly at each other.” (l. 31)
9 Both the old woman and Alex’s neighbours are prejudiced. They are quick to judge
people who are not like them in a negative way. They disapprove of anyone who does not
appear to function like them.
10 Givonte clearly suffers from the lack of acceptance and the distrust that people show
him. Alex, on the contrary, seems unaware of the distance between himself and his neighbours and expects them, and later Mario, to share his love of music.
68
Sujet 7 | Corrigé
11 The title ’Never judge a book by its cover’ could be appropriate for the relationship
that develops between Mario and Alex. It would seem they have nothing in common:
they differ in nationality, looks, and professional skills. However, they very soon discover
despite their difficulties to communicate that they share an intense passion for music.
1 How important is physical appearance? Can we give it too much importance? In this
essay, we will see first why physical appearance is important and then when its importance
should be relativized.
From a professional point of view, physical appearance can be very important, especially
if you work in a commercial relationship in the presence of clients. Sales representatives
and shop assistants are supposed to attract clients, even seduce them. If their appearance is
unattractive, their company will lose clients to its rivals. Even on a personal level, physical
appearance plays a major role in the game of seduction: people are generally initially
attracted to their sexual partner by their looks.
However, too much importance is given to physical appearance when it leads to discrimination and prejudice. Thankfully, nothing is more important than a person’s personality.
As a result, all of us and not just Beauty Queens or Mr Universes can hope to find their
soulmate. On a professional level, a person’s skills are also more important than their
physical appearance as well.
2 Sergeant-Major: So, how is Mario doing? Are you happy with his work on the farm?
Alex’s wife: I really think you should ask my husband that question. I’m not out in the
fields, I only see him at the table for meals.
Sergeant-Major: Does that mean that he doesn’t communicate with you outside meals?
Does he keep to himself?
Alex’s wife: No, he spends his evenings and his spare time with my husband–
Sergeant-Major: –working, talking about the farm?
Alex’s wife: No, no. They have a mutual passion–
Sergeant-Major: Football? Nature?
Alex’s wife: No, they are both music lovers. They spend all their waking hours talking
about music, listening to music, singing, whistling...
Sergeant-Major: I didn’t know your husband speaks Italian.
Alex’s wife: He doesn’t! But Mario’s English is getting better and better by the day!
Sergeant-Major: So, are you favourable to Mario staying on at the farm or would you
rather send him somewhere else?
Alex’s wife: He can stay! He’s happy, Alex is happy, so I guess I’m happy too!
69
Sujet national, juin 2013, séries technologiques
Document A
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Childhood experiences often shape the path one takes in life. In Hannah Taylor’s case,
it was not what she experienced herself, but rather something she saw, that altered the
course of her young life. At the age of 5, Hannah, for the first time, saw a homeless man
eating out of a garbage can.
The sight caused her great sadness, so much so that for the next year she found herself
increasingly worried about the plight of the homeless, and constantly asking her family
questions about homelessness.
Seeing how emotionally affected Hannah was, her mother suggested she do something
about it... never imagining what this would lead to.
The next day Hannah asked her first grade teacher if she could speak to the class about
what she had learned about homelessness, and how they might be able to help. In response,
the class had an art sale and bake sale and gave all donations to a local homeless mission.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Soon after, at the age of 6, Hannah created the
Ladybug Foundation, in hopes to help end homelessness. A Winnipeg, Canada native, she
began making ’ladybug jars’ to collect change during Canada’s ”Make Change” month.
It was the first major fundraising campaign for her foundation.
Today at the age of 11, Hannah travels throughout Canada speaking on homelessness
and spreading her message of hope. She has even spoken to the Prime Minister! So far,
Hannah has helped raise over $1 million for Canadian homeless charities.
Beyond fundraising, Hannah strives to restore a dignified humanity to the homeless population by educating the general public. She hopes that people will see them as members
of their community, rather than as threats or as someone to avoid contact with or to ignore.
Yet despite all the work she does for her Ladybug Foundation, Hannah remains a normal
kid and she still enjoys other endeavors, like spending time with her friends. She feels it
is important for others to realize that ’regular’ people can make a difference in the lives
of others.
From www.myhero.com, September 18, 2006.
70
Sujet 8 | Énoncé
Document B
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Connie was a student at a small Catholic academy, St Catherine’s, where the girls wore
uniforms and were forbidden all jewelry except one ring (”simple, all metal”), one watch
(”simple, no jewels”), and two earrings (”simple, all metal, half-inch maximum in size”).
It happened that one of the popular ninth-grade girls at Joey’s own school, Central High,
had come home from a family trip to New York City with a cheap watch, widely admired
at lunch hour. In its chewable-looking yellow band a Canal Street vendor had thermoembedded tiny candy-pink plastic letters spelling out a Pearl Jam lyric, ’DON’T CALL
ME DAUGHTER’, at the girl’s request. Joey had immediately taken the initiative to research the price of a thermo-embedding press. He’d invested four hundred dollars of his
own savings in equipment, had made Connie a sample plastic band (’READY FOR THE
PUSH’, it said) to flash at St. Catherine’s, and then, employing Connie as a courier, had
sold personalized watches to fully a quarter of her schoolmates, at thirty dollars each, before the nuns 1 amended the dress code to forbid watchbands with embedded text. Which,
of course, struck Joey as an outrage.
”It’s not an outrage,” Walter told him 2 . ”You were benefiting from an artificial restraint
of trade. I didn’t notice you complaining about the rules when they were working in your
favor.”
”I made an investment. I took a risk.”
”You were exploiting a loophole, and they closed the loophole. Couldn’t you see that
coming?”
”Well, why didn’t you warn me?”
”I did warn you.”
”You just warned me I could lose money.”
”Well, and you didn’t even lose money. You just didn’t make as much as you hoped.”
”It’s still money I should have had.”
”Joey, making money is not a right. You’re selling junk those girls don’t really need and
some of them probably can’t even afford. That’s why Connie’s school has a dress code–
to be fair to everybody.”
”Right– everybody but me.”
Jonathan Franzen, Freedom, 2010.
1. nuns : female members of a religious order.
2. Walter is Joey’s father.
71
Sujet 8 | Énoncé
Bracelets with thermo-embedded letters
1 Choose and write down the right answer.
Hannah lives in India/ Canada/ the USA/ England. She was five/ six/ eleven/ eighteen
years old when she realized that something had to be done for her family/ her classmates/
homeless people.
Il s’agit de sélectionner un seul élément. Commencez par repérer les éléments présents
dans le texte, puis analysez lequel des éléments permet de compléter chaque phrase en
respectant le sens du document.
2 Write down the following sentences in chronological order.
Hannah toured her country. – Hannah collected money. – Hannah talked to her schoolfriends. – Hannah was shocked. – Hannah set up an association.
Vous devez classer ces phrases dans l’ordre chronologique, soit l’ordre du document.
Analysez le sens de chaque partie du texte en vous servant des différentes propositions
ici pour vous aider, puis recopiez les propositions dans le bon ordre sur votre copie.
3 The following statements are true. Justify by quoting the text.
a) Hannah was not shy.
b) Hannah’s schoolmates supported her.
c) Hannah wants to change people’s opinions.
d) Hannah thinks everybody can do something.
72
Sujet 8 | Énoncé
On vous demande de citer le texte pour prouver que chacune de ces affirmations est
vraie. Cherchez la partie du texte qui illustre chaque affirmation. Identifiez précisément
la phrase ou partie de phrase qui l’illustre au mieux puis reportez la citation sur votre
copie.
4 Write down the right answer and justify by quoting the text.
Joey wanted to:
a) steal money.
b) earn money.
c) donate money.
d) print fake money.
5 Complete each sentence with the right element from the list below.
Joey – the nuns – many St Catherine’s students – Connie – one of Joey’s schoolmates
a) ......... bought a cheap watch.
b) ......... decided to buy a machine to customize watches.
c) ......... wore a watch at school to start the trend.
d) ......... followed the fashion.
e) ......... made the regulations at St Catherine’s stricter.
Vous devez choisir le bon sujet dans la liste pour amorcer chacune des cinq phrases correctement.
Commencez par éliminer tout ce qui est de toute évidence erroné. Testez vos hypothèses
de réponse en cherchant la confirmation dans le texte.
6 Right or wrong? Answer and justify by quoting the text.
a) At St Catherine’s, students could wear whatever they wanted.
b) Joey was a student at St Catherine’s.
c) Joey was revolted by the change in the rules at St Catherine’s.
d) Walter thinks Joey’s product is useless.
Cherchez la partie du texte qui illustre chaque affirmation. (Elles sont dans l’ordre du
texte.) Analysez la phrase du texte pour décider si elle confirme l’affirmation ou non.
Vous allez pouvoir déterminer si l’affirmation est vraie ou fausse : notez votre réponse
(Right ou Wrong) puis recopiez la phrase pour la justifier.
7 Write down the two titles that correspond to both documents A and B.
a) Helping poor people
b) Early experiences
73
Sujet 8 | Énoncé
c) Showing initiative
d) Fashion victims
e) Making profits
Vous devez choisir les deux titres qui conviennent pour les deux documents.
8 Write down the five adjectives that can apply to both Hannah from document A and
Joey from document B.
talented – enterprising – selfless – determined – ungenerous – egocentric – understanding
– precocious – ambitious – obedient
On vous demande de choisir les cinq adjectifs qui peuvent s’appliquer à la fois à Hannah
dans le document A et à Joey dans le document B.
1 You are part of an organization that fights for a good cause. Write an article for the
school newspaper to convince your schoolmates to help you or to join the organization.
(180-250 words)
Il s’agit de rédiger un article pour le journal du lycée afin de convaincre les lycéens de
se joindre à votre organisation qui défend une cause intéressante ou de vous aider en
soutenant cette cause.
Pour un article persuasif, il faut mobiliser les expressions d’opinion :
– to my mind, in my opinion, from my point of view, as far as I’m concerned
Vous pouvez utiliser ces mots de liaison pour articuler votre discours :
– pour marquer une opposition : however, and yet, on the one hand... on the other hand.
2 The students at your school disagree with one of the school’s rules and ask you to
represent them. You go and see the headmaster to try to persuade him/her to change it.
Imagine the conversation. (180-250 words)
Une conversation nécessite l’utilisation de l’anglais oral, soit le recours :
– aux formes contractées (it’s, don’t) ;
– à l’impératif (tell me, don’t worry) ;
– aux formules idiomatiques (What’s the matter?, What’s wrong?, There’s nothing worth
+ V-ing, It’s no use + V-ing).
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Sujet 8 | Corrigé
1 Hannah lives in Canada. She was five years old when she realized that something had
to be done for homeless people.
2 Hannah was shocked, Hannah talked to her schoolfriends, Hannah set up an association, Hannah collected money, Hannah toured her country.
3 a) ”[...] if she could speak to the class” (l. 10).
b) ”In response, the class had an art sale and bake sale” (l. 11).
c) ”[...] by educating the general public” (l. 21).
d) ”She feels it is important for others to realize that regular people can make a difference
in the lives of others” (l. 24).
4 Joey wanted to:
b) earn money.
”[...] had sold personalized watches [...] at 30 dollars each” (l. 11).
”It’s still money I should have had” (l. 25), or ”Joey, making money is not a right” (l. 26).
5 a) One of Joey’s schoolmates.
b) Joey.
c) Connie.
d) Many St Catherine’s students.
e) The nuns.
6 a) Wrong: ”[...] were forbidden all jewelry except...” (l. 2)
b) Wrong: ”Joey’s own school, Central High, [...]” (l. 4)
c) Right: ”Which, of course, struck Joey as an outrage” (l. 13).
d) Right: ”You’re selling junk those girls don’t need” (l. 26).
7 b) Early experiences
c) Showing initiative
8 The five adjectives that can apply to both Hannah from document A and Joey from
document B are:
talented – enterprising – determined – precocious – ambitious.
75
Sujet 8 | Corrigé
1 PROTECT OLD RACEHORSES!
I’m sure you watch horse racing on television from time to time. You must know about
the money that changes hands for such big events as the Arc de Triomphe Grand Prix at
Longchamp every year. A jockey who wins a grand prix becomes famous over night. But
what about the horses? Have you ever asked yourself what the horses become when they
are too old or too slow to win races?
I was never really interested in horses or horse racing, but when I discovered that horses
that do not perform satisfactorily are sent to the butchers, I felt outraged. Thanks to these
horses, lots of people have had a good time and some have even made money. The horses
deserve to live happily in a field with other horses and plenty to eat.
That is why, I want you to join my association ’Protect Old Racehorses!’. You can help
by demonstrating outside race courses, or by finding a field where we can put old race
horses. We can also offer to wash cars to raise money to pay for the vet if necessary.
If like me, you hate injustice and you love animals, join my association today.
2 Student: Hello, Sir. Could I have a word please – in the name of the students of this
school?
Headmaster: I haven’t really got a lot of time, but I can give you two minutes, no more.
What’s it all about?
Student: Well, Sir. It’s this rule about not being allowed to use cell phones in school.
Headmaster: It’s a perfectly good rule, if you ask me and I have no intention of changing
it.
Student: With no disrespect, Sir, we think it was a very good rule when it was first introduced.
Headmaster: But?
Student: But... times have changed, society has evolved. Teenagers today have been using
cell phones since they were small children.
Headmaster: I’m sure you’re exaggerating – nobody buys a cell phone for a baby.
Student: True, but cell phones play an important role in family life today and we believe
it is important that adolescents should learn to use cell phones in an appropriate way.
Headmaster: That’s a reasonable argument.
Student: I thought you would see our point of view! So, we would like cell phones to be
authorised in school and we have made a list of the rules to control their use.
Headmaster: I’m afraid your two minutes are over. If you just leave your list of rules on
my desk, I will give your request consideration. Good day, young man.
Student: Thank you, Sir. Goodbye.
76
Polynésie, juin 2013, séries technologiques
Document A
5
10
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20
In the month of July 1947, having saved about fifty dollars from old veteran benefits, I
was ready to go to the West Coast. My friend Remi Boncœur had written me a letter from
San Francisco, saying I should come. [...] My aunt was all in accord with my trip to the
West; she said it would do me good. [...] Folding back my comfortable home sheets for
the last time one morning, I left with my canvas bag in which a few fundamental things
were packed and took off for the Pacific Ocean with the fifty dollars in my pocket.
I’d been poring over maps of the United States in Paterson for months, even reading
books about pioneers and savoring names like Platte and Cimarron and so on, and on the
road-map was one long red line called Route 6 that led to the tip of Cape Cod clear to
Ely, Nevada, and there dipped down to Los Angeles. I’ll just stay on 6 all the way to Ely,
I said to myself and confidently started. To get to 6 I had to go up to Bear Mountain. [...]
Five scattered rides took me to Bear Mountain Bridge. It began to rain in torrents when
I was left off there. It was mountainous. Route 6 came over the river, wound around a
traffic circle and disappeared into the wilderness. Not only was there no traffic but the
rain came down in buckets and I had no shelter. I had to run under some pines to take
cover; this did no good; I began crying and swearing and socking myself on the head for
being such a damn fool. I was forty miles north of New York; all the way up I’d been
worried about the fact that on this, my big opening day, I was only moving north instead
of the so-longed-for west. Now I was stuck on my northernmost hangup. [...] ’What the
hell am I doing up here?’ I cursed. I cried for Chicago.
Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957.
Document B
5
Suddenly, I found myself in Times Square. I had traveled eight thousand miles across
the American continent and I was back on Times Square; and right in the middle of a
rush hour, too, seeing with my innocent road-eyes the absolute madness and fantastic
hoorair 1 of New York with its millions and millions hustling forever for a buck 2 among
themselves, the mad dream – grabbing, taking, giving, sighing, dying, just so they could
be buried in those awful cemetery cities beyond Long Island City. The high towers of the
land – the other end of the land, the place where Paper America is born. [...] I had no
money to go home in a bus. Paterson is quite a few miles from Times Square. Can you
picture me walking those last miles through the Lincoln Tunnel or over the Washington
1. hoorair : atmosphere of excitement.
2. a buck : one dollar.
77
Sujet 9 | Énoncé
10
15
Bridge and into New Jersey? It was dusk. [...] I had my home to go to, my place to lay my
head down and figure the losses and figure the gain that I knew was in there somewhere
too. I had to panhandle two bits 3 for the bus. I finally hit a Greek minister who was
standing around the corner. He gave me the quarter with a nervous lookaway. I rushed
immediately to the bus.
When I got home I ate everything in the icebox. My aunt got up and looked at me. ’Poor
little Salvatore,’ she said in Italian. ’You’re thin, you’re thin. Where have you been all
this time?’
Jack Kerouac, On the Road, 1957.
1 What are the two extracts about? Choose the correct answer.
a) life in New York City.
b) rural life versus city life.
c) a journey across the United States.
Il s’agit d’identifier la thématique commune à ces deux documents :
2 Which places correspond to these definitions?
a) The place where the narrator lives.
b) The road he chose to follow (document 1).
c) His final destination (document 1).
d) The first stop on his trip (document 1).
e) The final stage of his trip (document 2).
Vous devez donner les noms des lieux qui correspondent aux définitions.
3 Who are the characters in the two texts. Name them when possible. Which of them are
present in both?
On vous demande d’identifier les personnages qui sont présents si possible en les nommant et en indiquant lesquels sont présents dans les deux documents.
4 When does the scene take place in each of the two documents? Give dates and time of
day when possible.
Il s’agit d’expliciter le moment où se déroule l’action pour chacun des documents en
indiquant si possible la date et le moment de la journée.
5 What does the narrator plan to do in each of the two documents?
Vous devez expliciter les intentions du narrateur dans chacun des documents.
3. panhandle two bits : beg for a few coins.
78
Sujet 9 | Énoncé
6 a) What problem does he face on the first day?
Identifiez le problème auquel il doit faire face le premier jour.
b) How does this problem change his feelings? (document 1)
Expliquez comment ce problème influe sur ses sentiments.
7 a) What has the narrator done in the recent past?
Expliquez ce que le narrateur a fait récemment.
Pour parler du passé récent, vous devez utiliser le present perfect (have + participe passé).
b) Why do you think his friend and his aunt encourage him to travel? (document 1)
Expliquez les raisons pour lesquelles son ami et sa tante l’encouragent à voyager.
8 Using elements from both texts explain how his trip affected his perception of cities.
On vous demande d’analyser l’évolution de sa perception des villes entre les deux étapes.
Autrement dit, comment parle-t-il des villes dans le document 1, puis dans le document
2?
1 You are the narrator. You have been on the road for one week now. Write a letter to
your friend Remi Boncœur to tell him about your trip. (80 words)
Il faut utiliser le format d’une lettre personnelle :
– lieu et date en haut à droite (inutile de donner une adresse précise) ;
– salutation d’ouverture : Dear + prénom, Hi + prénom ;
– salutation de clôture : love, will write again soon, take care, will soon be with you.
Faites attention aux formes verbales :
– Le présent perfect (have + participe passé du verbe) pour dire ce qui s’est déjà passé.
– Le futur (will + verbe) pour parler de l’avenir.
– Be + V-ing pour dire ce qu’il est en train de faire.
2 Travelling can change your perception of life. Discuss and illustrate with some
examples. (120 words)
Il s’agit de prendre position par rapport à l’impact que peut avoir un voyage sur notre
perception de la vie. Vous devez donner votre avis et illustrer vos arguments avec des
exemples.
Vous aurez besoin des idées de :
– ’travel’ : travelling, commuting, visiting a new country, staying in a new place ;
– ’perception’ : attitude, vision, conception ;
– ’activities’ : discover new places, meet new people, see new landscapes, hear new
languages.
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Sujet 9 | Corrigé
1 The two extracts are about:
c) a journey across the United States.
2 The following places correspond to each definition:
a) Paterson, New Jersey.
b) Route 6.
c) San Francisco – the West Coast – the Pacific Ocean.
d) Bear Mountain.
e) Times Square – home.
3 The characters are:
the narrator, his aunt, Remi Boncœur and a Greek minister.
The narrator and his aunt are present in both texts.
4 In document 1, the scene takes place one morning in the month of July 1947.
In document 2, it takes place at the end of his trip (8000 miles later) at dusk in the rush
hour.
5 In Document 1, he plans to travel across the United States on Route 6 to the West Coast.
In Document 2, he wants to get home from Times Square, and has to beg for money for
the bus.
6 a) On the first day, he has problems getting rides to Bear Mountain to reach Route 6.
b) The problem makes him lose his confidence. There are no rides and it’s pouring with
rain. He ends up crying and regretting his decision. He is in despair.
7 a) He has been preparing his trip, by studying maps, and reading about pioneers. He
has planned his route along 6.
b) His friend now lives in San Francisco, so if they want to see each other, the narrator will
have to go there. His aunt encourages him to travel saying it will do him good. He seems
to be a bit lost: he is a US veteran.
8 At the beginning of his journey, he is enthusiastic about going to the big cities like
San Francisco and Los Angeles. When he is at Bear Mountain, he wishes he were already
in Chicago.
When he returns to New York City he is overwhelmed by the frenzy, and the thirst for easy
money. He seems to consider it madness to want to spend one’s life within the confines of
the city.
80
Sujet 9 | Corrigé
1
Cape Cod,
14 July
Hi Remi,
Just to let you know how I am getting on. I have been on the road for a week now. It
took me ages to get to Route 6: there were no cars on the road, and it kept on raining and
raining. I realised that I’m not really very well prepared for bad weather.
Now that I’m on Route 6, I’m making good progress. I’ve learnt that the best way to pick
up a ride is to wait for the truckers outside the diners. When they’ve got a good meal
inside, they look forward to talking to someone so that they don’t fall asleep.
Will write to you again soon!
Jack
2 Does travel change your perception of life? I’d say it all depends on the type of travel.
If travel means commuting on a daily base from home to work, I don’t really think it
changes your attitude to life. You just occupy your mind (or sleep) so that time passes
quickly.
On the other hand, if travel means discovering new places and spending time there to
get to know new cultures, then I would say that it can change your vision of life. Indeed,
if we think of famous artists, like Matisse, he was very strongly influenced by his stay in
Marseille, and his art work was totally different afterwards.
I’d say that it’s not the travel in itself that makes people evolve, but rather the experience
of meeting new people, seeing new landscapes, hearing new languages that makes us
reconsider our conception of life.
81
Document A
Why Gated Communities are Becoming a Global Problem
Thoughts and observations on what makes cities great places to live, written by a native
of Vancouver.
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The prevalence of gated communities has steadily risen across the United States since
the 1960s. According to Edward Blakely, author of Fortress America, census figures show
that between 6 and 9 million Americans live behind gates. The appeal of gated communities lies in their promise of safety, privacy, exclusivity, and ultimately sameness and
predictability.
People choose to live in these communities because they want to be around people like
them and have freedom from the uncertainty of the outside world–most gated communities have a school, community centre, pool, and other amenities. You rarely have to leave
the community, except when commuting to work.
However, that promise of safety and sameness is now proving to be pretty empty. In a
recent article on gated communities in The Atlantic Cities, author Sarah Goodyear wrote:
”By fostering suspicion and societal divisions, gated communities can paradoxically compromise safety rather than increase it. And because they cut residents off from the larger
community, they can shrink 1 the notion of civic engagement and allow residents to retreat
from civic responsibility.”
When you retreat into a big home in a gated or exclusively high–income community, you
aren’t exposed to other cultures, people less fortunate than you, artists, senior citizens,
etc. Common knowledge suggests that being exposed to different people and experiences
is how we broaden our horizons. It is how we become inspired to do the little daily things
that make the world a better place–like volunteering, making art or music, and creating
or participating in community projects.
In a gated community, you wouldn’t do any of these things because society’s problems are
no longer your problem and all you need for pleasure is there for you to passively enjoy.
This might be okay on a vacation, but it does not make for an ideal society. People in gated
communities run the risk of being culturally malnourished as they shut out difference and
diversity for a predictable fantasyland that has no connection to reality.
thiscitylife.tumblr.com, Aug. 11th, 2012.
1. to shrink : (here) render less important.
82
Sujet 10 | Énoncé
Document B
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The experience of life in the city comprises the sum total of all encounters, relationships and experiences with other people during the course of the day. Well–being arises
from contacts that are satisfying, and enjoyable, that affirm persons as individuals and as
members of a community. The city must provide occasions and places for such good experiences to occur. Participation in social interactions makes an essential contribution to
personal well–being. Impoverishment in social contact may result in a sense of isolation,
meaninglessness for individuals and in the dissolution of social bonds for the community.
Once we think about cities in terms of this conception, we must consider the nature of
public social life, the conditions both architectural and social, under which it flourishes,
and how the public and private domains interconnect.
The relation of public and private involves the flow of interest and attention from the
private to the public world–to ”what is happening out there”–as well as from the public to
the private world. In the public realm, multiple perspectives and viewpoints prevail that
inform and correct the single one-sided perspective of the private world.
The public realm makes possible the exchange of opinion and information that forms the
basis of civic dialogue and development of consensus.
It is in the public realm that we learn about each other, through observation and participation, and develop a public conscience that pays heed to the foibles and needs of our
fellow citizens. [...]
The public realm facilitates learning about ways of being and relating! We learn how
persons relate within and across generational, social class, and experiential difference, and
become skilled in making inferences about the fate and biography of our fellow beings.
We learn about the humanity and dignity of all persons.
Henry L. Lennard, The Essence of the City, 1991 (available at http://www.livablecities.org).
1 Choose the right definition. A ”gated community” is...
a) a group of houses in a protected area with restricted access.
b) a group of houses in which residents enjoy limited freedom of movement.
c) a group of houses in which rich people live and participate in common projects.
d) a group of houses in which artists come together to create art and music.
2 What are the expectations of the people who want to live in gated communities? Answer and explain using your own words.
Vous devez expliquer en vos propres termes les attentes des gens qui veulent vivre dans
des ’gated communities’.
83
Sujet 10 | Énoncé
3 Explain in your own words why ”gated communities can paradoxically compromise
safety rather than increase it” (l. 12).
Il s’agit d’expliquer en vos propres termes pourquoi paradoxalement les ’gated communities’ peuvent compromettre la sécurité au lieu de l’augmenter.
4 ”This might be okay on a vacation, but it does not make for an ideal society.” (l. 24)
What are the implications of this distinction?
On vous demande d’expliciter pourquoi les ’gated communities’ peuvent convenir pour
les vacances, mais non pas pour une société idéale.
5 Find in the text a synomym for ”public realm” (l. 13).
6 Choose the right sentence to sum up the text.
a) City life restricts social contacts.
b) Limited social contact contributes to citizens’ well-being.
c) People need exchanges with different kinds of people to become full citizens.
d) We learn about ourselves when we live away from the community.
7 Pick out at least 3 elements from the text showing the consequences of living in isolation.
Pick out at least 3 elements from the text showing the consequences of being a full member
of the ”public realm” (l. 13).
Seuls les candidats des séries S et ES et ceux de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre
de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront la question suivante.
8 What are the consequences of isolation as described in both texts? Answer in a few
sentences using your own words and elements from the texts.
Vous devez expliquer en vos propres termes tout en citant des éléments des deux textes
les conséquences de l’isolement.
Seuls les candidats de la série L traiteront la question suivante.
9 The word ”civic” is mentioned in document A (l. 14) and in document B (l. 16)). What
does it imply in terms of individual freedom and social harmony?
Il s’agit d’expliciter le sens du mot ’civic’ et de montrer ce qu’il signifie par rapport à la
liberté individuelle et à l’harmonie sociale.
84
Sujet 10 | Énoncé
Tous les candidats traiteront le sujet suivant.
1 You want to do some volunteer work. Your parents disagree. Imagine your conversation.
Vous devez imaginer une conversation entre vous-même et vos parents dans laquelle vous
essayez de les convaincre de vous laisser faire du bénévolat.
Vous aurez besoin des expressions :
– de désaccord et de désapprobation : we disagree/ we disapprove of ;
– de refus : we won’t let you, you can’t ;
– de recommendation : why don’t you...?, you should, what about + V-ing, if I were you,
I would...
Seuls les candidats de la série L qui ne composent pas au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante
approfondie) traiteront le sujet suivant.
2 Discuss the importance of relating ”within and across [...] social class” (l. 21) (document B).
Il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif sur l’importance d’échanger au sein et au-delà des classes
sociales.
Vous aurez besoin des expressions :
– d’importance : important, essential, vital, crucial / people need to, it’s important (for
people) to, we should ;
– de communication : talk to each other, communicate, mix, mingle, live side by side
(with).
Seuls les candidats de la série L composant au titre de la LVA (Langue vivante approfondie) traiteront l’un des deux sujets suivants.
3 a) Do you think that ”little daily things [...] like volunteering, making art or music, and
creating or participating in community projects” (l. 19) (document A) can make the world
a better place?
b) ”It is in the public realm that we learn about each other, through observation and participation, and develop a public conscience” (l. 17) (document B). Discuss.
Il s’agit chaque fois d’un essai argumentatif. En a), vous devez disserter sur l’idée que les
petites actions de la vie comme oeuvrer en tant que bénévole, faire de l’art ou de la musique ou participer à des projets collectifs puissent contribuer à un meilleur monde. En b),
la dissertation portera sur l’idée que c’est dans le domaine public que nous apprenons les
uns des autres en s’observant et en participant ensemble, et que nous développons une
conscience publique.
Il convient d’organiser vos idées et de structurer votre dissertation en veillant à articuler
les différentes parties au moyen de mots de liaison adaptés.
85
Sujet 10 | Corrigé
1 A ”gated community” is...
a) a group of houses in a protected area with restricted access.
2 People who want to live in gated communities expect safety and sameness.
People are afraid of the ’real world’, so they try to create a feeling of security and exclusivity. Rich people try to stay together and recreate an idealized society, a type of cocoon.
3 People living in gated communities are more and more isolated, and become less and
less involved in public life. At the same time, they become overly suspicious of people
from the ”outside world”, so in fact they feel less in security than before joining the community.
4 Isolating oneself from the rest of the community for a short period of time to enjoy
one’s holidays in a privileged environment has a minimal impact on global social relationships. However, it can become harmful to society when several groupes decide to
isolate themselves permanently from the rest of the public realm.
5 A synomym for ”public realm” is ”public world” (l. 12).
6 The right sentence to sum up the text is:
c) People need exchanges with different kinds of people to become full citizens.
7 The consequences of living in isolation are ”meaninglessness”, the ”dissolution of community bonds” and a ”single one-sided perspective” (l. 7).
The consequences of being a full-member of the public realm are ”multiple perspectives
and viewpoints”, an ”exchange of opinion and information”, and the ”development of
consensus” (l. 15).
8 The consequences of isolation described in document A are: a paradoxical feeling of
insecurity, sameness, no civic engagement, isolation from other cultures, cultural malnourishment, fantasyland, no connection to reality.
The consequences of isolation described in document B are: impoverishment, sense of isolation, meaninglessness, dissolution of social bonds for the community, single one-sided
perspective of the outside world.
Both texts develop the same idea: isolation threatens people’s implication in the public
sphere, increases individualism and narrows their minds.
86
Sujet 10 | Corrigé
9 The word ”civic” implies that the individuals have a role to play in society. Citizens
cannot remain isolated: social harmony is not less valuable than individual freedom. Citizens should participate in the life of the community and contribute to civic dialogue.
1 It’s seven o’clock in the evening and we are sitting down for the evening meal in our
kitchen.
Me: Mum, Dad. I know what I want to do during the holidays!
Mum: Go shopping with your girlfriends, I suppose!
Dad: Or maybe you want to start learning to drive!
Me: No, I want to work!
Mum: Oh, that’s a good idea!
Dad: Yes, then you can help save for your university studies!
Me: Well, not really. I want to do volunteer work!
Mum: What on earth for?
Me: The RSPCA needs help looking after all their animals and it will be excellent experience for me!
Dad: I can understand you wanting to work with animals – you’ve always said that you
would like to be a veterinary assistant, but believe me, all work deserves payment. I won’t
let you work for nothing!
Me: I thought you’d be pleased that I want to contribute to the community by being a
volunteer!
Mum: Volunteering is for the rich, for people who don’t need money to live, because they
already have so much!
Dad: I agree with your Mum, and I disapprove of the RSPCA exploiting young people
like that. They have plenty of money from the government and from private donations –
they should pay you!
Me: Okay, so you’ve said what you feel about volunteer work, but let me remind you that
it’s my life, they’re my holidays and I’ll do what I want! I’m not hungry, I’m going to bed!
Good night!
The next morning, Mum and Dad say that they are proud of me and that they approve of
my idea.
2 According to the author of document B, relating within and across social class is an
essential aspect of a person’s participation in public life. This essay will study to what
extent interaction with other people in the same class and in other classes is important
today.
87
Sujet 10 | Corrigé
To my mind, the notion of social class is out-dated: in the twenty-first century, society
is made up rather of different socio-professional categories than different classes. The
distinction between lower, middle and upper class is no longer valid. What distinguishes
the different levels of society today is undoubtedly their level of wealth. People with a
similar standard of living are more likely to mix and meet at the same social events. For
example, wealthy celebrities will attend the same charity event or congregate at the same
international event such as the Cannes film festival. The homeless interact more easily
with their counterparts, and people with a limited budget will find families with the same
financial constraints on the campsite they choose for their holidays.
In an ideal world, interaction across all the levels of society could perhaps be a reality,
but in today’s world it’s pure utopia. People associate with people who are able to offer
themselves similar experiences, so with people who have a similar standard of living.
However, this in itself is a form of social mixity, as it means meeting people from all
sorts of walks of life. An obvious example is the variety of different professions amongst
members of the same sports club or gym: the common point between them will be their
ability to pay for the membership and their love of sports.
In conclusion, social mixity may be an ideal, but in reality people generally mix with
people who enjoy a similar standard of living. It’s the amount of money in your bank
accounts that dictates the type of people you will meet outside work.
88
Sujet national, septembre 2013, séries technologiques
Document A
Grand Tour of Europe
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25
Young English elites of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries often spent two to four
years traveling around Europe in an effort to broaden their horizons and learn about language, architecture, geography, and culture in an experience known as the Grand Tour.
The Grand Tour began in the sixteenth century and gained popularity during the seventeenth century.
The term Grand Tour was introduced by Richard Lassels in his 1670 book Voyage to Italy.
Additional guidebooks, tour guides, and the tourist industry were developed and grew to
meet the needs of the 20-something male and female travelers and their tutors across the
European continent. The young tourists were wealthy and could afford the multiple years
abroad.
The Grand Tourists were primarily interested in visiting those cities that were considered
the major centers of culture at the time - Paris, Rome, and Venice were not to be missed.
Florence and Naples were also popular destinations. Paris was definitely the most popular
city as French was the most common second language of the British elite, the roads to
Paris were excellent, and Paris was a most impressive city to the English.
From Paris, Tourists would proceed across the Alps or take a boat on the Mediterranean
Sea to Italy. Rome was initially the southernmost point they would travel to. However,
when excavations began of Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748), the two sites became major destinations on the Grand Tour.
While the goal of the Grand Tour was educational, a great deal of time was also spent in
more frivolous pursuits.
Upon their return to England, Tourists were supposedly ready to take on the responsibilities of an aristocrat. The Grand Tour as an institution was ultimately worthwhile for
the Tour has been given credit for a dramatic improvement in British architecture and
culture. The French Revolution in 1789 marked the end of the Grand Tour, and in the
early nineteenth century, railroads totally changed the face of tourism and travel across
the continent.
Matt Rosenberg, About.com.
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Sujet 11 | Énoncé
Document B
You Can’t Pick Up Raindrops
5
10
15
20
25
Bob and I are Peace Corps volunteers in small, not quite a village, Puñal, twenty-five
miles south of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Cibao Valley of the northern Dominican
Republic.
We live on the second floor of the pale lime-green, wooden casa curial or parish house,
next to the small wooden church. There is no electricity, running water or sewer. Rent
is cheap; twenty-five dollars combined, out of ninety-five we each get monthly. You can
buy a lot of rice and beans and Presidente beer with the rest.
The rest of the time, we work on projects: water supplies with water-well hand pumps;
grade school and adult English classes, vegetable gardens, and hog production. We introduce new varieties of cigar wrapper tobacco. The local men learn windmill and pump
repair. Periodically, the US Information Service loans us a movie projector and generator
to show educational and cultural films on the outside wall of the church. What big, festive
crowds we have! We do anything to keep busy and to better the lives of the Puñaleros.
We enjoy life here; so quiet at night, so dark, sky full of dazzling stars. Late into the night,
we often read by kerosene lamp light. An unknown admirer of the Peace Corps recently
contributed 225 literary-quality books shipped in big cardboard boxes. We go through
them, one by one, choosing according to our interests.
Often, after dark, we are out along the poorly paved road running north to Santiago. Here
we gather with the older guys at the small tiendas, to spend some of our money on tiny
cans of sweetened condensed milk, candies or small bottles of red Spanish wine. Along
the road, we squat, knees pulled up to our chests, arms resting on our knees, Dominican
style, sipping wine and watching the rickety cars and trucks trundle past.
It does not sound very exciting, does it? Actually, it is, perhaps, one of the most rewarding
periods of our lives, a chance to withdraw from the rush of modern civilization, and to
understand how others live.
John Charles Miller, You Can’t Pick Up Raindrops, 2012.
1 In the document, find information describing the typical Grand Tourist:
a) nationality;
b) approximate age;
c) social or economic status. (2 elements)
Vous devez repérer les informations demandées dans le texte.
2 Find information about the typical Grand Tour.
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Sujet 11 | Énoncé
a) destinations (2 countries);
b) approximate duration.
Il s’agit de simples repérages.
3 Right or wrong. Justify by quoting the text.
a) Grand Tourists didn’t travel alone.
b) The Grand Tour had a positive impact only on the Grand Tourists themselves.
c The Grand Tour is still practiced today.
N’oubliez pas de citer le texte pour justifier chaque réponse.
4 In the document, pick out information about Bob and the narrator’s situation:
a) occupation;
b) host country;
c) monthly salary.
Il s’agit de simples repérages.
a) Bob and the narrator live in a city.
b) Bob and the narrator live in a house with modern equipment.
c) Bob and the narrator only do intellectual work.
d) Teaching is one of Bob and the narrator’s tasks.
e) In their free time, Bob and the narrator interact with local people.
f) Bob and the narrator get no personal satisfaction from their experience.
6 From the list below, choose:
a) the three main motivations that best apply to the travelers in Document 1.
b) the three main motivations that best apply to the travelers in Document 2.
Justify each motivation by quoting the text.
–
–
–
–
–
–
to increase their knowledge.
to help local people.
to escape city life.
to discover exceptional cities
to discover a different lifestyle.
to prepare themselves for the future.
Il faut choisir les trois motivations qui correspondent le mieux à chaque texte.
91
Sujet 11 | Énoncé
Choose one of the following subjects. (150-180 words)
1 You are in charge of recruiting volunteers for a charitable organization abroad. You
meet a group of potential candidates to explain the job profile (necessary qualities, experience, practical abilities...) to them.
Il s’agit du monologue qui correspond au discours d’un recruteur qui travaille pour un
organisme caritatif à l’étranger.
Formules à connaître :
– Pour exprimer la nécessité : you need to be, you have to be, you should be.
– Pour parler de l’expérience, il faudra utiliser le present perfect (have + participe passé).
– Pour parler de capacité : can + verbe, be able to + verbe, be capable of + V-ing.
2 You have decided to spend a year traveling in foreign countries with a friend. You meet
to discuss the details of your plans. Imagine the conversation.
Vous pouvez donner libre expression à votre imagination pour cette conversation. Cependant, n’oubliez pas que vous parlez de l’avenir.
Constructions à connaître pour exprimer le futur : will + verbe, be + V-ing.
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Sujet 11 | Corrigé
1 a) Nationality of the typical Grand Tourist: English.
b) Approximate age of the typical Grand Tourist: in his twenties.
c) Social or economic status of the typical Grand Tourist: elite and wealthy.
2 a) Destinations: France and Italy.
b) Approximate duration: two to four years.
3 a) True: ”and their tutors” (l. 8).
b) False: ”dramatic improvement in British architecture and culture” (l. 24).
c False: ”The French Revolution in 1789 marked the end of the Grand Tour” (l. 25).
4 a) occupation: Peace Corps volunteers.
b) host country: Dominican Republic.
c) monthly salary: $95.
5 a) False: ”small, not quite a village” (l. 1).
b) False: ”no electricity, running water or sewer” (l. 5).
c) False: ”water supplies [...] vegetable gardens, hog production [...] windmill and pump
repair [...]” (l. 8).
d) True: ”grade school and adult English classes” (l. 9).
e) True: ”gather with the older guys at the small tiendas” (l. 19).
f) False: ”one of the most rewarding periods of our lives” (l. 23).
6 a) The three main motivations that best apply to the travelers in Document 1 are:
– to increase their knowledge;
– to discover exceptional cities;
– to prepare themselves for the future.
b) The three main motivations that best apply to the travelers in Document 2 are:
– to help local people;
– to escape city life;
– to discover a different lifestyle.
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Sujet 11 | Corrigé
1 Hi everyone! Okay so settle down. I’m the recruitment officer for the Peace Corps and
I’m going to explain to you what your job will entail so that you can take time to consider
your application and your suitability for the job.
First and foremost, anyone who wants to work for the Peace Corps has to be motivated
and ready to work in difficult conditions. You have to be particularly hard working and
you should enjoy meeting people from all walks of life.
It’s not necessary to have already traveled abroad. However, you should have at least a
little experience of camping and of hiking in the great outdoors.
We don’t expect you to have any particular qualifications, but you should be adaptable.
And you really need to be practically minded: there will be all sorts of problems, and you
need to find the right solution each time! On a personal level, you need to be independent.
If you can’t cook or you don’t know how to wash your clothes –this job is not for you, as
no one else will do it for you.
Another important point is availability. As we will be giving you two weeks’ training,
we expect you to stick to the job for a minimum of twelve months. Two years would be
even better.
2 A: Okay, so let’s get our heads together over this project. I need to have very clear ideas
to be able to convince my parents to let me go!
B: Me too! It’s crazy, isn’t it? Even if we’re grown-up adults and independent, our parents
reckon they still have a say in what we do. But I guess, it’s normal!
A: Yes. Anyway, we’ll be away for a year, won’t we? Are we going to go all the way round
the world or will we spend a certain length of time in the different countries we go to?
B: I think the quality of our adventures is probably more important than the quantity –or
the distance we cover. So let’s take our time to really appreciate the different lifestyles we
encounter. But the first question is which direction: north, south, east or west?
A: I don’t mind, I’ve never been abroad at all. So any direction will be an adventure for
me! What about you?
B: I really fancy heading east. I don’t know the Orient at all, and if you think about it, it’s
the cradle of civilisation. It’s where it all began. That’s the place to start!
A: That’s fine with me! Shall we book the plane tickets now?
B: Plane tickets? That’s not my idea of travel. I thought we would be walking or at the
best hitchhiking!
A: Oh!
94
Liban, mai 2014, séries ES, L, S
Document A
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
He sat up and noticed socks folded neatly on the rug like broken feet. Then he heard
murmurs from another room. As he stared at the socks, the immediate past came into
focus: the hospital escape, the freezing run, finally Reverend Locke and his wife. So he
was back in the real world when Locke came in and asked how three hours of sleep felt.
”Good. I feel fine,” said Frank.
Locke showed him to the bathroom and placed shaving kit and hairbrush on the sink’s
ledge. Shod and cleaned up, he rummaged in his pants pockets to see if the orderlies had
missed anything, a quarter, a dime, but his CIB medal 1 was the only thing they had left
him. The money Lily had given him, of course, was gone as well. Frank sat down at the
enamel-topped table and ate a breakfast of oatmeal and over-buttered toast. In the center
of the table lay eight one-dollar bills and a wash of coins. It could have been a poker pot,
except it was surely far more hard-won: dimes slipped from small coin purses; nickels
reluctantly given up by children who had other (sweeter) plans for them; the dollar bills
representing the generosity of a whole family.
”Seventeen dollars,” said Locke. ”That’s more than enough for a bus ticket to Portland
and then on to somewhere near Chicago. Still it sure won’t get you to Georgia, but when
you get to Portland, here’s what you do.”
He instructed Frank to get in touch with a Reverend Jessie Maynard, pastor of a Baptist
church, and that he would call ahead and tell him to look out for another one.
”Another one?”
”Well, you’re not the first by a long shot. An integrated army is integrated misery. You
all go fight, come back, they treat you like dogs. Change that. They treat dogs better.”
Frank stared at him, but didn’t say anything. The army hadn’t treated him so bad. It wasn’t
their fault he went ape every now and then. As a matter of fact the discharge doctors had
been thoughtful and kind, telling him the craziness would leave in time. They knew all
about it, but assured him it would pass. Just stay away from alcohol, they said. Which he
didn’t. Couldn’t. Until he met Lily.
Locke handed Frank a flap torn from an envelope with Maynard’s address and told him
that Maynard had a big congregation and could offer more help than his own small flock.
Jean had packed six sandwiches, some cheese, some bologna, and three oranges into a
grocery bag. She handed it to him along with a watch cap. Frank put on the cap, thanked
her and, peering into the bag, asked, ”How long a trip is it?”
”Don’t matter,” said Locke. ”You’ll be grateful for every bite since you won’t be able
to sit down at any bus stop counter. Listen here, you from Georgia and you been in a
desegregated army and maybe you think up North is way different from down South.
1. Combat Infantryman Badge : a United States army military award.
95
Sujet 12 | Énoncé
40
45
Don’t believe it and don’t count on it. Custom is just as real as law and can be just as
dangerous. Come on, now. I’ll drive you.”
Frank stood at the door, while the Reverend retrieved his coat and car keys.
”Good-bye, Mrs. Locke. 1 do thank you.”
”Stay safe, son,” she answered, patting his shoulder.
At the ticket window, Locke converted the coins into paper money and bought Frank’s
ticket. Before joining the line at the Greyhound door, Frank noticed a police car cruising
by. He knelt as though buckling his galoshes. When the danger passed he stood, then
turned to Reverend Locke and held out his hand. As the men shook hands they held each
other’s eyes, saying nothing and everything, as though ”good bye” meant what it once
did: God be with you.
Toni Morrison, Home, 2012.
Document B
Big Bill Broonzy - Just A Dream (1939)
5
10
15
It was a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind
It was a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind
Now, and when I woke up, baby, not a thing there could I find
I dreamed I went out with an angel, and had a good time
I dreamed I was satisfied, and nothin’ to worry my mind
But that was just a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind,
Now, and when I woke up, baby, not an angel could I find
I dreamed I caught the horses, and caught the number too
I dreamed I won so much money, I didn’t know what to do
But that was just a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind,
Now, and when I woke up, baby, not a penny there could I find
Dreamed I was in the White House, sittin’ in the president’s chair
I dreamed he’s shaking my hand, and he said ”Bill, I’m so glad you’re here”
But that was just a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind
Now, and when I woke up, baby, not a chair there could I find
I dreamed I got married, and started me a family
I dreamed I had ten children, and they all looked just like me
But that was just a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind
Now, and when I woke up, baby, not a child there looked like mine
http://www.lyricstime.com/big-bill-broonzy-just-a-dream-lyrics.html.
96
Sujet 12 | Énoncé
1 a) In which country does the scene take place?
b) Justify your answer with two quotes.
Il s’agit de repérer dans quel pays se passe la scène et de justifier votre réponse en relevant
deux citations du texte.
2 a) How many characters are present in the passage? Give their name and occupation.
Vous devez identifier les personnages qui sont présents dans la scène en les nommant et
en indiquant leur profession.
b) How are they related to each other?
On vous demande d’expliciter le lien (familial ou professionnel) entre les personnages.
c) Which one is the main character?
Il s’agit d’identifier le personnage principal.
3 How many characters are just mentioned? Give their name and say how they are related
to the characters present in the text.
Vous devez identifier les personnages qui sont simplement mentionnés en les nommant
et en indiquant leur lien de parenté avec les personnages qui sont présents.
4 Focus on the main character.
a) From the beginning to ”a whole family” (l. 14): what can you say about the main character’s recent past?
Vous devez lire le début de l’extrait et montrer ce que vous avez compris au sujet du
passé récent du personnage central.
b) Referring to the whole text, give details about the protagonist’s job situation. Illustrate
your answer with two elements from the text.
Il s’agit d’énumérer les détails concernant la situation professionnelle du personnage
principal en citant deux éléments du texte pour illustrer votre réponse.
c) What health problems does the main character have?
On vous demande de repérer les problèmes de santé du personnage central.
5 a) What is the next city the main character plans to go to?
Il s’agit d’identifier la prochaine ville dans laquelle le personnage principal compte se
rendre.
b) Who is the main character going to meet there?
c) What is the main character’s final destination? (State? North or South?)
97
Sujet 12 | Énoncé
Les candidats de la série L LV1 langue vivante approfondie anglais traiteront la question 6
(ils ne traiteront pas la question 7).
6 ”Listen here, you from Georgia and you been in a desegregated army and maybe you
think up North is way different from down South. Don’t believe it and don’t count on it.”
(l. 34)
Comment on this quotation. What social and political situation is referred to here?
What do you deduce about the main character? (50 words)
Les candidats des séries ES, S et L LV1 obligatoire seule traiteront la question 7 (ils ne
traiteront pas la question 6).
Vous devez montrer que vous comprenez les références culturelles dans cette citation.
Que savez-vous de la ségrégation aux États-Unis, et de la distinction entre le nord et le
sud ? Où se situe l’état de Géorgie et que représente cet état pour le personnage principal ?
Pour finir, que cherche Locke à faire comprendre à son invité ?
7 ”’Stay safe, son,’ she answered, patting his shoulder.” (l. 40)
What does this character mean by these words? (40 words)
Il s’agit d’expliciter le sens des paroles de Mme Locke. De quoi, cet homme doit-il se
protéger ? Pourquoi ? Qui est-il ? Et où va-t-il ?
8 What sort of text is this?
9 Who does the pronoun ”I” refer to? (Name?)
10 Find a dominant theme for the following groups of lines (1 theme = 1 word or expression). All themes must be different.
a) Lines 4 to 7:
b) Lines 8 to 11:
c) Lines 12 to 15:
d) Lines 16 to 19:
On vous demande d’identifier le thème dominant pour chaque partie du texte.
11 The main character in each document is facing two different worlds/ realities:
– past and present in document A,
– dream and reality in document B.
Explain, in your own words, the difference between past and present in document A and
between dream and reality in document B. Justify your answer with one quote from each
text. (40 words excluding quotes)
98
Sujet 12 | Énoncé
Les candidats des séries ES, S et L LV1 obligatoire seule traiteront au choix l’un des deux
sujets suivants (250 mots, +/- 15 mots)
Les candidats noteront le nombre de mots employés.
1 Document A: ”He instructed Frank to get in touch with a Reverend Jessie Maynard,
pastor of a Baptist church, and that he would call ahead and tell him to look out for another
one” (l. 18).
That evening, Reverend Locke phones Reverend Jessie Maynard. Write the scene including their telephone conversation.
Il s’agit d’imaginer la conversation téléphonique entre Locke et un autre pasteur à qui
Locke annonce l’arrivée de Frank en lui demandant de prévenir un de leurs collègues
pour la prochaine étape de son périple.
Une conversation nécessite l’utilisation de l’anglais oral : formes contractées (it’s/ don’t),
impératif (make sure/ don’t forget) et formules idiomatiques :
– What’s up?/ Is everything okay? ;
– It’s worth + V-ing.
Les candidats de la série L LV1 langue vivante approfondie anglais traiteront le sujet
suivant. (350 mots, +/-15 mots)
Les candidats noteront le nombre de mots employés.
2 To what extent do you think it is important to make one’s dreams come true?
Vous devez dire dans quelle mesure vous pensez qu’il est important de réaliser ses rêves.
Pour un essai argumentatif, il faut mobiliser les expressions d’opinion : to my mind/ in
my opinion/from my point of view/as far as I’m concerned...
Pour articuler votre discours, vous aurez recours aux mots de liaison :
– en renforcement : indeed/moreover/what’s more ;
– pour marquer une opposition : however/and yet.
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Sujet 12 | Corrigé
1 a) The scene takes place in the United States of America.
b) The following elements justify this fact: ”dimes”, ”nickels”, ”dollars”, ”Chicago”,
”Portland”, ”Georgia”, ”CIB medal”.
2 a) Three characters are present: Frank, an ex-soldier, Reverend Locke and Jean Locke.
b) Jean is Reverend Locke’s wife. The Lockes are unrelated to Frank.
c) Frank is the main character.
3 Two characters are just mentioned. Lily must be Frank’s sweetheart. Reverend Jessie
Maynard is a colleague of Locke’s.
4 a) Frank has just escaped from hospital with the Lockes’ help.
b) He was a soldier in the desegregated American army, but has just been discharged. I
quote ’the discharge doctors had been thoughtful’ and ’you been in a desegregated army’.
c) He has moments of craziness and had also been alcoholic.
5 a) Frank is heading for Portland.
b) He will meet Reverend Jessie Maynard there.
c) His final destination is Georgia in the South.
6 The story is set in post-segregation America. Frank is Afro-American and he comes
from Georgia which used to be a segregated state. He has served in a desegregated army,
so he has become used to fair treatment and imagines that he will no longer be a victim of
discrimination especially in the slave-free North.
7 She wishes him a safe passage, reaching his destination without coming to any harm.
8 These lines are the lyrics to a song written by Big Bill Broonzy in 1939.
9 ”I” could be the singer Big Bill Broonzy, or maybe any Afro-American during the
segregation period.
10 a) Lines 4 to 7: love.
b) Lines 8 to 11: betting.
c) Lines 12 to 15: politics.
d) Lines 16 to 19: family.
11 When Frank was in the US Army, he did not suffer from discrimination or persecution
on account of his colour. Now that he has left the army, he is a likely target for racism
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Sujet 12 | Corrigé
wherever he is in the USA. He is a victim of other people’s prejudice. In contrast, the
persona in the song laments his lack of success in life, but no one else seems to be to
blame for his failures. He seems to be his own worse enemy.
1 When he got back home from the Greyhound bus station, Reverend Locke immediately
dialled through to his colleague in Portland.
Maynard: Portland 251.
Locke: Jessie, it’s Locke here. I need your help!
Maynard: That’s no surprise to me. You only ever phone when you need something!
Locke: Too true, I know. But it works both ways, doesn’t it!
Maynard: Ok, so let’s not waste any more time. What’s up?
Locke: I’ve just put a young colored guy on the Greyhound up to Portland.
Maynard: Has he done something wrong?
Locke: No, no, he’s clean. But he’s just out of the desegregated army and doesn’t realise
how unsegregated our towns still are! He needs guidance.
Maynard: What exactly do you want me to do?
Locke: Frank –that’s his name– needs to get back home to Georgia as soon as possible
to help him recover his mental stability. He needs money and contacts along the way to
protect him from racists.
Maynard: So, you want me to pay his ticket for the next part of his journey and give him
the name of the pastor at his next destination.
Locke: That’s exactly it, Jessie. I knew you’d be understanding!
Maynard: But knowing you Locke, you didn’t just pay his fare and give him my name,
did you?
Locke: No, Jean and I helped him escape from hospital, where he was being mistreated.
And you know Jean, well, she just made sure he had plenty to eat as well so that he doesn’t
get hungry on the journey.
Maynard: I’ll get the wife to do the same, don’t you worry!
Locke: Thanks Jessie, I’ll repay it as soon as I can. Speak to you soon!
Maynard: And you, bye!
2 Big Bill Broonzy’s song about all his dreams that never come true presents a deeply
pessimistic vision of dreams. In this essay we will look at how important it is for people
to make their dreams come true.
If we take the example of Big Bill Broonzy, we can easily argue that it is essential for
dreams to be fulfilled at least to some extent, otherwise people will no longer believe
in them, and risk not even wanting to dream in the future. In other words, people need
to dream in order to project themselves, to make plans and to aspire to self-fulfilment.
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Sujet 12 | Corrigé
It’s rather like the National Lottery: if no one ever wins, people will eventually give up
playing. Where there are dreams, there is hope, and where there is hope, people are willing
to devote time and energy so that their dreams come true.
On the other hand, it is quite possible that what matters is not so much the realisation
of our dreams but the fact of dreaming. Indeed, it can be frequently noted that when someone’s dream is fulfilled, instead of reaching a state of pure contentment, they generally
transfer their desire to something else: they are never fully satisfied, as they actually gain
pleasure from being in a constant state of waiting for a dream to come true. If this is the
case, perhaps it does not really matter if the dream never comes true, although life will
inevitably be less monotonous if our dreams are allowed to change and evolve as time
goes by.
Personally, I don’t believe that we can really make our dreams come true. I think we
can try hard to make them happen, but there are often many external factors that we are
unable to control that play an essential role as well as an element of chance. I would say
that if we are able to control dreams, they are not really dreams, but simply stages in our
lives.
102
Polynésie, juin 2013, séries ES, L, S
Document A
How we choose to journey reflects and shapes the way we think
5
10
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20
25
30
SLUMPING into the cramped confines of my seat, recovering my composure after a
frantic, protracted check-in that made me mislay my wallet, almost miss my flight, and
become ¤100 poorer, the result of my experiment in travel seemed obvious: boats and
trains beat the pains of planes any day.
But the real problem with air travel is not the carbon footprint, the hassle of security
checks, the tedium of the boarding gate [...], [or] the soulless sprawl of the hire car lot
[...]. The deeper issue is that how we travel reflects and shapes the way we think, and we
have become a society of airheads.
I started thinking about this because of a recurring desire to recreate an annual childhood
journey by ferry and overnight train to visit our family in northern Italy. Was it just nostalgia pulling me, or is something of real value lost at 30,000ft? I decided to go to Italy
the old way and return the new, to see how the experiences really compared.
The passenger terminal at Dover docks did not provide the most promising start, having
all the charm of a 1970s coach station. But once on deck, with the white cliffs fading
into the distance, I had a real sense of a proper trip starting, something that the palmsweat-inducing jolt of take-off doesn’t provide. The sedate passage of the ship, the gradual
emergence of the French coast, and the disembarkation in the open air, with a real town in
clear sight, provided a sense of the continuities between places. In contrast, planes simply
transport you from one anonymous, homogenous edgeland to another, between airports
virtually identical in their black and yellow signage and multinational franchises. It’s the
difference between travel – a movement between places in which the journey is part of the
experience – and transit, the utilitarian linking of here and there, in which the destination
becomes all that matters and the transfer simply something to put up with. [...]
Consumer culture has made us too accustomed to getting only what we want, no more
and no less. [...] It is a contemporary malaise to avoid things that require effort but are
rewarding in favour of gains in convenience that come at the price of blandness and loss
of variety. [...]
It might be objected that ”slow travel” is just an indulgence of the time and cash-rich.
But you actually gain holiday time when travelling is an integral part of the experience,
because you lose none to mere transit. [...] And yet despite all I’ve written, I admit I
have another trip coming up and, guess what, I’m flying. I’m just another airhead, led by
apparent ease and convenience away from what is more profoundly rewarding.
From The Guardian, September 30, 2012, Julian Baggini.
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Sujet 13 | Énoncé
Document B
5
10
Occasionally he would look up to see if he knew where he was but saw only the darkness
and himself reflected from it. The streetlights of small towns showed more and more
snow on the roads the further north he got. To stretch he went to the toilet and noticed
the faces as he passed between the seats. Like animals being transported. On his way
back he saw a completely different set of faces but he knew they looked the same. He
hated train journeys, seeing so many people, so many houses. It made him realize he
was part of things whether he liked it or not. Seeing so many unknown people through
their back windows, standing outside shops, walking the streets, moronically waving from
level-crossings–they grew amorphous and repulsive. They were going about their static
lives while he had a sense of being on the move. And yet he knew he was not. At some
stage any one of those people might travel past his flat on a train and see him in the act
of pulling his curtains. The thought depressed him so much that he could no longer read.
He leaned his head against the window and, although he had his eyes closed, he did not
sleep.
Bernard Mac Laverty, ”Life Drawing”, in A time to Dance, 1982.
1 Who do the following pronouns refer to?
a) ”I” (l. 9) (”I started thinking...”);
b) ”Us”/”We” (l. 24) (”made us/ what we want...”);
c) ”You” (l. 29) (”You actually gain...”).
On vous demande d’identifier à qui renvoient les pronoms ici. Il n’y a aucun nom propre
dans le texte. Les personnes ciblées par les pronoms sont soit l’auteur lui-même, soit les
lecteurs, soit les gens en général, dont l’auteur.
Analysez le rôle du pronom dans le texte en prenant en compte le sens de la phrase. Choisissez entre les trois propositions : the writer, the readers, people in general including
the writer.
2 Focus on the first three paragraphs. Which means of transportation are mentioned?
What does the author think of each of them?
Vous devez repérer les moyens de transport mentionnés dans les trois premiers paragraphes et expliquer ce qu’en pense l’auteur chaque fois.
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Sujet 13 | Énoncé
3 The journalist mentions his ”experiment in travel” when visiting his family.
a) What did he do?
b) Why did he make this choice?
Il s’agit d’analyser l’expérience du journaliste par rapport au voyage.
4 Focus on the fourth paragraph up to ”... between places” (l. 21). Justify your answers.
a) What part of the journey is referred to?
b) What are the author’s impressions?
On vous demande d’utiliser des éléments du texte pour justifier vos réponses.
5 Focus on the passage starting down to the end. The journalist gives two definitions of
going from one place to another.
a) What are they?
Cherchez dans la deuxième partie du texte les deux définitions données par le journaliste
pour la notion de déplacement d’un endroit à un autre.
b) Explain the two different concepts.
Expliquez les deux concepts.
6 What do the following pronouns refer to?
a) ”He” (l. 1) (”Occasionally he would look up to see if he knew where he was but saw
only the darkness and himself reflected from it.”);
b) ”They” (l. 4) (”On his way back he saw a completely different set of faces but he knew
they looked the same.”);
c) ”They” (l. 9) (”They were going about their static lives while he had a sense of being
on the move.”).
On vous demande d’identifier à qui renvoient les pronoms ici. Les pronoms ciblent soit
des personnes, soit des objets.
7 What is your interpretation of ”[...] he had a sense of being on the move. And yet he
knew he was not” (l. 10)?
Il s’agit d’interpréter la citation ci-dessus. Que signifie-t-elle ?
8 Describe the character’s state of mind at the beginning of the passage and then at the
end.
Vous devez comparer l’état d’esprit du personnage au début et à la fin de l’extrait.
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Sujet 13 | Énoncé
9 Find three elements in document 1 and two elements in document 2 showing that travelling is not always a pleasure.
On vous demande de repérer trois éléments dans les documents A et B. Les éléments du
document B montrent que voyager n’est pas toujours une partie de plaisir.
1 How we travel ”reflects and shapes the way we think”. Discuss.
Il s’agit de prendre position par rapport à la citation du texte et d’exprimer son propre
point de vue. Le choix du moyen de transport reflète-t-il et façonne-t-il notre mode de
pensée ? Quelle que soit la position que vous adoptiez, il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif.
Vous pouvez fort bien, présenter les deux faces du même argument et annoncer votre
position personnelle dans la conclusion.
Vous aurez besoin aussi de synonymes de :
– ’reflect’ : indicate, show, demonstrate ;
– ’shape’ : model ;
– ’the way we think’ : our concept of life, our attitude to life, our vision of life, our
philosophy of life.
2 Old ways and/or new ways of travelling: which would you favour and why?
Vous aurez besoin d’expressions de goût :
– like, love, enjoy, appreciate + V-ing ;
– dislike, hate, loathe, detest + V-ing.
ou d’expressions de préférence :
– prefer X to Y ;
– would prefer to + verbe than + verbe ;
– I’d rather + verbe than + verbe.
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Sujet 13 | Corrigé
1 a) ”I”: the journalist.
b) ”us/we”: people today.
c) ”you”: the reader/ people in general.
2 Air travel: the check-in is time consuming, and leg space on board is limited. When
you travel by air, you don’t really appreciate the fact of travelling.
Ferry (boat) and trains: these two means of transport are less stressful than air travel, and
more appropriate for appreciating the fact of travelling.
3 a) The journalist travelled from the UK to Italy by ferry and train, then took a plane for
the return journey.
b) He wanted to compare the two journeys to see if his hypothesis about the difference
between the two was right.
4 a) This part refers to the crossing by ferry from Dover to France. I quote ”The sedate
passage of the ship, the gradual emergence of the French coast, and the disembarkation in
the open air”.
b) The journalist was really aware of moving from one place to another: he was able to
see the English coast disappear in the distance as the French coast grew closer.
5 a) The two different means of going from one place to another are travel and transit.
b) Whereas the journey in itself is part of the pleasure of travel, ’transit’ is simply a suspension in time between two places with no enriching experience to be gained from it.
6 a) ”he”: the character who is travelling on the train.
b) ”they”: the faces he remarks as he returns to his seat.
c) ”they”: the unknown people outside the train.
7 The character is under the impression that the people outside the train are motionless
– as they are caught at a single moment, and that on the contrary, he is moving. However,
in fact he remains motionless in his seat on the train, while the people outside go about
their business. The train is moving, but not him.
8 At the beginning of the passage, the character tries to decipher what he can see outside
the window to work out where exactly he is on his journey. He is curious. At the end of
the passage, he has given up trying to follow the train’s progress and has closed his eyes,
as he finds it depressing to think that just as he looks into people’s homes as the train goes
by, people do the same going past his flat on the train.
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Sujet 13 | Corrigé
9 The elements that show that travelling is not always a pleasure are:
In text 1 - the cramped confines of my seat; the hassle of security checks, the tedium of
the boarding gate.
In text 2 - Like animals being transported; He hated train journeys; seeing so many people;
so many houses.
1 The writer in the first text suggests that the way people travel both indicates and influences their concept of life. This may well be true of people who lead a similar lifestyle
to the writer, but I do not believe that it is possible to make such a sweeping generalisation.
Indeed, children have no say in the way they travel, as they are dependent on their parents,
and yet their concept of life is not necessarily modelled on that of their parents.
Moreover, for most people today, the choice of transport is determined by economic criteria. In general, travellers don’t mind sacrificing some of their comfort and time to save
money for more worthwhile parts of their journey. At the same time, businessmen and
women are dictated by their companies as to how they should travel: the latter try to save
both money and time!
It seems to me that it is more the purpose of the journey than the traveller’s vision of life
that determines the means of travel. A tourist may very well travel by plane to Greece,
take a boat to one of the Greek islands and then climb a mountain on the back of a donkey.
There is more pragmatism than philosophy of life in these choices.
That being said the choice of a personal vehicle may reflect a person’s attitude to life, as
long as money does not condition this choice. Someone who chooses to drive an electric
car around the city can be thought of as being ecological, although he is probably less ecological than the commuter who cannot afford an electric car, but who makes a conscious
decision to hire a bike to ride to work!
2 Personally, I am something of a traditionalist and somewhat nostalgic. Like the writer
in text 2, I enjoy the actual act of travelling and dislike embarking on a place and arriving
at a new destination just a few hours later. It’s really important for me to appreciate the
notion of distance: so I prefer a car or train journey to flying.
I’m also very keen on trying more old-fashioned means of transport such as the tramway or
even the horse and carriage. There’s much more pomp and circumstance when the Queen
of England rides through London in a horse-drawn carriage than in a Rolls Royce.
If I try to be more analytical, I would say that I prefer the forms of transport that play on
all my senses –I love feeling the rhythm of the train, seeing the landscape pass by, hearing
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Sujet 13 | Corrigé
the shunting and smelling the coal of the steam locomotive.
Yes, I’m romantic, but at the same time I’m practical. When it comes to daily travel, I
prefer the means of transport that gives me the most independence, and saves time. So I
would prefer to travel by car than be tied down by the train schedule.
That being said, when a new form of transport is introduced, I’m always ready to try it,
as long as I don’t feel that I’m risking my life. I particularly enjoy all the different means
of transport available in Switzerland for climbing the Alps. My favourite is undoubtedly
the Jungfraubahn that takes you to the top of the Jungfrau with a halt halfway up so that
you can peer out of the Eiger Wall. It’s exhilarating!
109
Sujet national, septembre 2013, séries technologiques
Document A
The Story of Beth Brooke
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15
20
To move forward, we must first stop and take stock of what is working. Every year I help
edit the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women and every year the No. 1 question
I get is: What do the most successful women in the world have in common?
First, they want it. They’ve built their success through sheer will and determination. Yes,
they have the skills, and yes, they put the time in. But they also have the desire to do
something great.
Let me tell you about a normal little girl who grew up in Indiana named Beth Brooke.
When she was 13, she was diagnosed with a degenerative hip disease and was told by
doctors she may never walk again. Before going into surgery she made a promise to
herself: that she would walk again - no, she would run - and she hoped to become one of
the best athletes the world had seen.
Not only did she walk, she went on to play several varsity sports at her high school, earned
multiple MVP 1 . awards and graduated as the class valedictorian 2 . In college, she played
Division I basketball.
Beth brought that same determination to her career. And today she is a global vice chair
of Ernst & Young, one of the biggest accounting firms in the world. She made up her
mind, and she didn’t quit.
So, it’s important to really want it - whatever that means for you: a new client, a promotion,
a revenue goal - but equally, if not more, important to stand up and go after it. That takes
courage.
The women who really go for it are some of the most courageous people I’ve ever met.
Whatever fear they might have of hearing ”no” - whatever fear they might have of hearing
”yes”, which can bring a whole host of intimidating expectations - they barrel through it.
You see, it’s not that they’re fearless. No one is. It’s that they face their fears. Every day.
Jenna Goudreau, www.forbes.com, August 22, 2012.
1. MVP : Most Valuable Player.
2. valedictorian : best student.
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Sujet 14 | Énoncé
Document B
Secrets from the Vinyl Café
5
10
15
20
25
30
Carl worked with his father on the weekends, and every summer after grade nine. Everyone assumed that when he finished school Carl would work with his father full-time.
It was his English teacher who brought up university. The teacher showed up at Carl’s
home one night and had a hushed conversation with his parents. Carl was sent upstairs.
And so Carl was to be the first of his family to go to university, the first to have the
privilege of an education.
But as the deadline for applying to universities loomed, Carl found himself adrift in uncertainties.
He didn’t know what he wanted from life. He didn’t know what school he should go to or
what he wanted to learn. Now that a world of possibilities was open to him, the questions
seemed to grow - one from another. Flipping through a university calendar one day, he
came across these words in the descriptions of the philosophy courses: Philosophy is not
a theory, but an activity, Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Carl was delighted by the notion that philosophy, questioning the world and its meaning,
was an activity - something that involved energy and work.
This is what he wanted to do. He wanted to read great books of literature, he wanted to
expose himself to the thoughts of writers and philosophers - he wanted time to think, to
wrestle with the questions that had been plaguing him.
When he told his mother and father, they were appalled. His father had no time for riddles
that had no answers.
”You have wasted too much time already in that high school of yours,” said Carl’s father.
”Reading poetry and God knows what - that isn’t work. Work is work.”
His mother was clear too. Hard work was the thing that counted. ”God helps those who
help themselves.”
School was for children. It was time to choose a profession. All this philosophic stuff was
just fooling around.
Ludwig Wittgenstein had studied mechanical engineering for his first three years at university. Carl enrolled in engineering - civil engineering. The workload was very heavy, but
he enjoyed it. There was always something to read. Something to think about. Gradually,
like newspapers left out in the sun too long, all his questions faded away.
Stuart McLean, Secrets From the Vinyl Café, 2006.
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Sujet 14 | Énoncé
1 Who do the following pronouns refer to?
a) ”I” (l. 1);
b) ”they” (l. 4);
c) ”she” (l. 8);
d) ”they” (l. 22).
2 Write down equivalent words or expressions in the text for the following words.
a) tenacity;
b) the wish;
c) decided;
d) didn’t abandon;
e) brave.
Il faut rechercher des synonymes dans le texte, en faisant attention à la nature du mot
(nom ou verbe) et à son sens. Peut-on les interchanger dans le texte ?
3 Right or wrong? Answer and justify with quotations from the text.
a) She was a teenager when she learned she could become disabled.
b) Beth Brooke considered her doctors’ predictions inevitable.
c) Beth Brooke became a champion.
4 Find the sentence showing that Carl’s parents didn’t study after school.
Il s’agit de citer la phrase qui montre que les parents de Carl n’ont pas fait d’études
supérieures.
5 Write down the following sentences in chronological order.
Carl’s father didn’t agree with Carl’s first choice.
Carl was interested in studying philosophy.
Everybody but his English teacher thought Carl would never go to university.
Carl eventually went to university and he liked it.
Carl stopped asking himself questions.
Vous devez remettre les phrases dans l’ordre chronologique (en les numérotant).
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Sujet 14 | Énoncé
7 Quote one sentence from each text to justify the following statements.
a) Beth and Carl both had a project.
b) Beth showed self-confidence and fighting spirit whereas Carl was indecisive.
c) Beth and Carl both made satisfactory choices in their careers.
Pour chaque affirmation, il faut trouver une citation par texte qui la justifie.
8 Choose the right title for both documents.
a) Conforming to others’ expectations
b) Getting over major obstacles
c) Changing your destiny
Quel titre correspond le mieux aux deux documents ?
1 You have decided what job you want to do. Your parents disagree. You try and convince
them to let you do what you want. Write the conversation. (180-250 words)
Cette conversation doit ressembler à une dispute.
Les formules à connaître :
–
–
–
–
pour exprimer le désaccord : I don’t agree, I disagree ;
pour exprimer le refus : I won’t + verbe, I refuse to + verbe ;
pour exprimer l’attente : expect + complément to + verbe ;
pour exprimer le désir : want + complément to + verbe.
2 Do you think everything studied at school should be practical and directly useful in
your future life? (180-250 words)
Le plan à suivre pour ce genre d’essai argumentatif est le suivant :
–
–
–
–
Introduction : reformulation du sujet ;
1er paragraphe : les arguments « pour » ;
2e paragraphe : les arguments « contre » ;
Conclusion : votre avis personnel.
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Sujet 14 | Corrigé
1 a) ”I” refers to Jenna Goudreau/ the author.
b) ”they” refers to the most successful women in the world.
c) ”she” refers to Beth Brooke.
d) ”they” refers to the women who really go for it.
2 a) tenacity: determination;
b) the wish: the desire;
c) decided: made up her mind;
d) didn’t abandon: didn’t quit;
e) brave: courageous.
3 a) True: ”When she was 13, she was diagnosed” (l. 8).
b) False: ”she made a promise to herself that she would walk again” (l. 9).
c) True: she ”earned multiple MVP awards” (l. 12).
4 Carl was to be the first of his family to go to university.
5 1. Everybody but his English teacher thought Carl would never go to university.
2. Carl was interested in studying philosophy.
3. Carl’s father didn’t agree with Carl’s first choice.
4. Carl eventually went to university and he liked it.
5. Carl stopped asking himself questions.
7 a) Beth and Carl both had a project: ”she hoped to become one of the best athletes the
world had seen” (l. 10) and ”he wanted to expose himself to the thoughts of writers and
philosophers” (l. 16).
b) Beth showed self-confidence and fighting spirit whereas Carl was indecisive: ”Beth
brought that same determination to her career” (l. 15) and ”he didn’t know what he wanted
from life” (l. 9).
c) Beth and Carl both made satisfactory choices in their careers: ”today she is a global vice
chair of Ernst&Young, one of the biggest accounting firms in the world” (l. 15) and ”the
workload was very heavy, but he enjoyed it” (l. 28).
8 The right title for both documents would be:
c) Changing your destiny
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Sujet 14 | Corrigé
1 Pupil: Mum, Dad, we had a careers advisory meeting at school today. It was really
interesting.
Dad: Oh yes, why’s that?
Pupil: It was all about doing what we really want to do and not what people expect us to
do!
Mum: But that’s not got anything to do with you, has it? We all know that you want to be
a doctor!
Pupil: See –that’s what I was trying to say. You want me to be a doctor. But you’re not at
all interested in what I want.
Dad: I’d have said that’s beside the point. We’re the ones who have been saving every
penny, depriving ourselves of holidays and entertainment, to finance your studies. It’s
only normal that we should have our say in the matter, isn’t it?
Pupil: Except that I never asked you to make any special effort for me. I’m ready to pay
my way–
Mum: And what exactly is this career that you hope to pursue instead of being a doctor?
Pupil: I’d like to be a professional opera singer!
Dad: You must be joking! Over my dead body! Get out of this house before I throw you
out!
Mum: You’d better go, dear! Go and stay with Granma and Grandad. I’ll call you back,
when your Dad’s got over this. You’ve got to understand, it’s a terrific shock for him!
2 Why do we go to school? Is it simply to prepare us for our future lives or is there
something more to it? In the first part of this essay, I will explain how school helps us
become fully integrated as citizens of the world, and in the second part, I will suggest
other dimensions to school.
If we didn’t go to school, we would probably never learn how to read and write or how
to calculate. We would know nothing of the history of the world, or even of the universe
either. School also enables us to develop social skills, and to learn the importance of respecting rules and the laws of society. It helps us develop the knowledge and skills we need
for our future jobs or for our future studies.
However, I am not convinced that everything we learn at school must necessarily be practical and directly useful in our future lives. We often study subjects that are actually probably more important for the intellectual gymnastics that they encourage us to develop
than for the actual content. How many of us actually apply what we learnt in Latin or in
Maths in our everyday lives?
In any case, how can we know before we get there, what will be useful in our future lives?
I would say ’the more we know, the better’ whatever the precise subject matter or content.
115
Document A
Thor actress teams with Marvel on new contest to connect girls with the most
successful women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
5
10
5
To celebrate the new Thor sequel coming out in November 2013, Marvel and Natalie
Portman have partnered on a fantastic initiative/contest designed to inspire young girls to
consider future careers in science. Titled the ”Ultimate Mentor Adventure”, the project
aims to ”empower girls ages 14 and up in grades 9-12 to embark on a journey that will
allow them to explore their potential in the world of STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.” Portman, who plays astrophysicist Jane Foster in the Thor
films, says in a short video that she loves science. ”Today, I’m here to tell you about a
life-changing opportunity for girls like you. Marvel has created a program that will give
you a chance to explore science, meet amazing scientists and mentors, and even get some
time in front of the camera yourself.” Entries will be accepted through Oct. 20.
Jump here to learn more and apply!
TO ENTER:
STEP 1: Download, Complete, and Submit Your Form.
STEP 2: Go On Your Own Hometown Mentor Adventure!
Interview a successful woman working in a STEM field in your hometown. This is your
chance to go out into the real world and ask successful women in STEM fields about what
they do, how they got where they are today, and how you might follow in their footsteps.
STEP 3: Create a Video About Yourself.
Next, create a 5-minutes, unedited video of yourself so that we can learn a little about
you! You may use a Smartphone, computer, tablet, or a camera to make your video. Tell
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Sujet 15 | Énoncé
10
15
20
us about your interview. Whom did you meet? What does she do? How is her career
related to STEM? What inspired you?
STEP 4: Upload your video.
Finalists of MARVEL’s THOR: The Dark World: ULTIMATE MENTOR ADVENTURE will be notified by Thursday, October 24, 2013. Each winner and one legal guardian will travel to Los Angeles, California on or about Sunday, November 3, 2013 and will
return home on or about Saturday, November 9, 2013 (the ”Trip”). All winners must be
available to travel to Los Angeles during this period and must be available to participate
in the premiere screening of the MARVEL’s THOR: The Dark World ULTIMATE
MENTOR ADVENTURE documentary short at 4:20 PM on November 8, 2013.
Questions? Click Here.
Adapted from: http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/ and
http://dep.disney.go.com, Wed, Oct 02 2013 at 12:42 PM.
Document B
Brian Cox says TV shows inspire a new generation of children to study science
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Presenter cites BBC series as a big factor in the popularity of biology and physics.
He conquered the pop charts with 1990s band D:Ream, explained the intricacies of gravity
to a confused nation and even appeared in a magazine list of the sexiest men alive. Now
Professor Brian Cox, one of the BBC’s star turns, has laid claim to a new achievement:
inspiring a generation of children to take up biology, chemistry and physics in school.
In an interview in the Observer Magazine, Cox –who has been a ubiquitous presence on
the BBC in recent years– says he believes there can be little doubt that science on television has been a factor in an upward trend in the number of children taking up the subjects
at GCSE and A-levels 1 . Cox said he believed that the series of science programmes, including his Wonders of the Solar System, aired during the BBC’s year of science in 2010,
had had a major impact.
In 2012, there was a 36.1% increase in the number of students doing GCSE science exams,
compared with the previous year. Biology and chemistry were two of the three A-level
subjects, including ICT 2 , where attainment rates at A*/A 3 rose in 2012. Cox, 45, who is
currently filming a new show about man’s growing understanding of the universe, said:
”It’s kind of obvious when you think about it. A public service broadcaster in my view is
part of the education system, as it does change behaviour.”
”I think the year of science did that. There has been an upswing in the number of students
applying to university to do scientific subjects. It’s difficult to say why, as there are many
factors. It’s important to say that. But one of the factors is the popularity of science on
television.”
1. GCSE and A-levels : secondary school exams in the United Kingdom.
2. ICT : Information and Communication Technology.
3. A*/A : the best possible marks/grades for exams.
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Sujet 15 | Énoncé
The presenter and academic, a graduate of Manchester University who is regarded by
many as the BBC’s successor to David Attenborough, said the success of the programmes
in 2010 had also made it easier than ever to pitch science to channel controllers.
By Daniel Boffey (Policy Editor), in The Observer, 05.05.13.
Questions on document A and document B
1 Choose the right answer.
Both documents are about :
a) girls choosing scientific studies.
b) famous people promoting science.
c) criticising the entertainment industry.
2 Match each element with the corresponding definition from the following list. Some
definitions will not be used.
a scientist in a film – a media corporation – a competition – a film – a science laboratory
– an actress – a film director
a) Thor;
b) Ultimate Mentor Adventure;
c) Natalie Portman;
d) Jane Foster.
Il s’agit d’associer chaque élément de a) à d) à une des définitions dans la liste.
3 The people who enter the competition:
a) Who are they? Pick out the three necessary conditions to enter the competition.
b) What do they have to do? Complete the following summary with words from docu-
ment A (one blank = one word).
To participate, the applicants must:
– fill in and send a ......... on-line ;
– make a ......... which should contain information about the ......... they did with a famous
......... who works in the domain of ......... .
Les deux parties de la question portent sur les participants à la compétition. En a), vous
devez lister les trois conditions qu’il faut remplir pour participer. En b), il faut compléter
les blancs pour expliquer ce que les candidats doivent faire (chaque blanc correspond à
un mot).
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Sujet 15 | Énoncé
4 What is the prize of the competition? (2 elements)
Vous devez donner les deux éléments qui constituent le prix attribué au vainqueur.
5 Copy the following table onto your paper and complete it.
Brian Cox
Name
Age
Place of study
Jobs in three different domains
6 Match and write out the appropriate dates with the sentences in the list below.
1990s
British pupils got better results in science exams.
2010
Brian Cox and his group of musicians had a hit.
2010
More pupils took science degrees.
2012
Brian Cox’s first show about our universe was broadcast.
2012
The national TV channel dedicated this year to science.
On vous demande d’associer chaque date à la phrase qui y correspond.
7 Pick out one sentence in the text for each statement showing that
a) According to Brian Cox, TV has an obligation to help people to learn.
b) Brian Cox thinks there will be more science on TV in the future.
Vous devez citer une phrase du texte pour illustrer chaque affirmation.
8 Complete the sentence by using one of the following adjectives.
complicated – useful – unprofitable – elitist
As a conclusion, we can say that science programmes are ......... .
Il faut compléter la phrase avec l’adjectif le plus approprié.
9 The following sentences are right. Justify by quoting the text.
a) Natalie Portman thinks her action can transform girls’destinies (document A).
b) Brian Cox thinks the media can transform the way people think and react (document B).
Vous devez citer une phrase du texte pour illustrer chaque affirmation.
119
Sujet 15 | Énoncé
Tous les candidats traiteront au choix un des deux sujets suivants.
1 Write about a television programme that you find particularly inspiring. Choose any
domain: arts, sports, travel, science, technology, cooking, etc. (150 mots minimum)
Il s’agit de décrire une émission de télévision que vous appréciez particulièrement.
2 Here are the profiles of three successful scientists. You have interviewed one of them.
Write out the interview. (150 mots minimum)
Name
R. Rodriguez
G. Knopf
E. Sky
Job
Aerospace Engineer
Professor of Biomedical
Science
App developer for
smartphones
Address
Phoenix, Arizona
Eagle, Idaho
Franklin, Georgia
Other information
took a trip to Space
Center in Houston at the
age of 11; 2 years at
International Space
University in
Strasbourg; fluent in
French & Japanese.
High school dropout but
ultimately got a PhD in
physical chemistry;
active in research in
stem cell biology,
diabetes, and blood
vessel disease.
writes articles about
video games for
computer magazines
and science fiction
novels.
Il s’agit d’imaginer l’entretien que vous menez avec un des personnages dans le tableau
en vous aidant des informations données. Il faut le présenter sous forme de dialogue.
Vous posez les questions et l’interviewé y répond.
N’oubliez pas l’ordre des mots dans les questions : auxiliaire + sujet + verbe.
120
Sujet 15 | Corrigé
1 Both documents are about :
b) famous people promoting science.
2 a) Thor is a film.
b) Ultimate Mentor Adventure is a competition.
c) Natalie Portman is an actress.
d) Jane Foster is a scientist in a film.
3 a) To enter the competition, you have to be a girl, age 14 and up, in grades 9 to 12.
b) To participate, the applicants must:
– fill in and send a form on-line ;
– make a video which should contain information about the interview they did with a
famous woman who works in the domain of STEM/ science/ technology.
4 The prizes of the competition are a trip to Los Angeles and the chance to participate in
the premiere screening of Thor.
5
Name
Brian Cox
Age
45
Place of study
Manchester University
Jobs in three different domains
musician/band member; professor/academic; TV
presenter
6
1990s
Brian Cox and his group of musicians had a hit.
2010
The national TV channel dedicated this year to science.
2010
Brian Cox’s first show about our universe was broadcast.
2012
More pupils took science degrees.
2012
British pupils got better results in science exams.
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Sujet 15 | Corrigé
7 a) According to Brian Cox, TV has an obligation to help people to learn.
I quote: ”a public service broadcaster in my view is part of the education system.” (l. 16)
b) Brian Cox thinks there will be more science on TV in the future.
I quote: ”easier than ever to pitch science to channel controllers.” (l. 24)
8 As a conclusion, we can say that science programmes are useful.
9 a) Natalie Portman thinks her action can transform girls’destinies (document A).
I quote: ”I’m here to tell you about a life-changing opportunity for girls like you.” (l. 7)
b) Brian Cox thinks the media can transform the way people think and react (document B).
I quote: ”the series of science programmes [...] had had a major impact” (l. 9), ”it does
change behaviour.” (l. 17)
1 My favourite TV programme is Top Chef. When the programme first started, I wasn’t
really interested, as I didn’t find cookery very inspiring. (Yes, you’ve guessed. I don’t do
the cooking at home! At least, I didn’t before I started watching this programme.)
The concept behind Top Chef is similar to a great many other reality shows: every week,
the participants have a new challenge, and at the end of the programme a jury announces
which participants must leave the programme, so that in the end, the number of participants
is just two for the grand finale.
Like other reality shows, you get to know the personality of the different participants and
you start to indulge in analyzing their skills and rating their chances to reach the final stage.
At the same time, you learn all about cooking and the different techniques that make it
possible to create fantastic dishes even at home.
As I said, before I started watching Top Chef, I never even considered cooking. Now, I
have competitions with my Mum to see who can produce the best meals –it’s great fun!
2 Me: Hi! Thank you for agreeing to do this interview with me. To start with, can you
introduce yourself.
Rodriguez: Thank you for wanting to talk to me! My name is Roberto Rodriguez, and I’m
an Aerospace Engineer.
Me: Are you Mexican? Your name sounds Spanish!
Rodriguez: No, I’m American. I come from Phoenix Arizona.
Me: Did you always want to work in the space industry?
Rodriguez: When I was really little, I wanted to be a firefighter like all little boys, but
when I was 11, I went on a school trip to the Space Center at Houston, and that really
inspired me to want to work in that domain.
Me: So have you done all your training in the United States?
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Sujet 15 | Corrigé
Rodriguez: No, funnily enough, I got to do a two year university course in Strasbourg at
the International Space University.
Me: So, can you speak French then?
Rodriguez: Yes, I can in fact. I speak both fluent French and Japanese!
Me: Wow! I’m impressed!
123
Polynésie, juin 2013, séries ES, L, S
Document A
A robot with a reassuring touch
5
10
15
20
BOSTON – If you grab the hand of a two-armed robot named Baxter, it will turn its head
and a pair of cartoon eyes – displayed on a tablet-size computer-screen ”face” – will peer
at you with interest.
The sensation that Baxter conveys is not creepy, but benign, perhaps even disarmingly
friendly. And that is intentional.
Baxter, the first product of Rethink Robotics, an ambitious start-up company in a revived
manufacturing district here, is a significant bet that robots in the future will work directly
with humans in the workplace.
That is a marked shift from today’s machines, which are kept safely isolated from humans,
either inside glass-cages or behind laser-controlled ”light curtains”, because they move
with Terminator-like speed and accuracy and could flatten any human they encountered.
By contrast, Baxter, which comes encased in plastic and has a nine-foot ”wingspan”, is
relatively slow and imprecise in the way it moves. And it has an elaborate array of safety
mechanisms and sensors to protect the human workers it assists.
Here in a brick factory that was once one of the first electrified manufacturing sites in New
England, Rodney A. Brooks, the legendary roboticist who is Rethink’s founder, proves
its safety by placing his head in the path of Baxter’s arm while it moves objects on an
assembly line.[...]
The $22,000 robot that Rethink will begin selling in October is the clearest evidence yet
that robotics is more than a laboratory curiosity or a tool only for large companies with
vast amounts of capital. The company is betting it can broaden the market for robots by
selling an inexpensive machine that can collaborate with human workers, the way the
computer industry took off in the 1980s when the prices of PCs fell sharply and people
without programming experience could start using them right out of the box.
John Markoff, The New York Times, September 18, 2012.
Document B
Alter our DNA or robots will take over, warns Hawking
Stephen Hawking, the acclaimed scientist and writer, reignited the debate over genetic
engineering yesterday by recommending that humans change their DNA through genetic modification to keep ahead of advances in computer technology and stop intelligent
machines from ’taking over the world’.
124
Sujet 16 | Énoncé
5
10
He made the remarks in an interview with the German magazine Focus. Because technology is advancing so quickly, Hawking said, ’computers double their performance every
month’. Humans, in contrast, are developing much more slowly, and so must change their
DNA make-up or be left behind. ’The danger is real,’ he said, ’that this [computer] intelligence will develop and take over the world.’ [...]
He also advocated cyber-technology – direct links between human brains and computers.
’We must develop as quickly as possible technologies that make possible a direct connection between brain and computer, so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence
rather than opposing it.’
Nick Paton Walsh, The Observer, Sunday 2, September 2001.
1 Read the two texts and find the following information.
Document A
a) Type:
b) Author:
c) Source:
d) Is it informative or fictional?
e) Subject:
Document B
a) Type:
b) Author:
c) Source:
d) Is it informative or fictional?
e) Subject:
Il s’agit de repérer les informations suivantes pour chacun des deux textes :
a) Nature du support
b) Auteur
c) Source
d) Est-ce informatif ou fictif ?
e) Quel est le sujet ?
2 Who or what do the following names refer to?
a) Baxter:
b) Rethink:
c) Rodney Brooks:
125
Sujet 16 | Énoncé
d) Stephen Hawking:
e) John Markoff:
f) Nick Walsh:
On vous demande de spécifier à quoi ou à qui renvoie chaque nom propre. Repérez les
noms propres dans le texte et analysez l’information autour de ce nom propre pour identifier ce qu’il qualifie.
3 a) Choose six adjectives characterizing Baxter. Justify by quoting from the text.
ambitious – benign – creepy – dangerous – fast – friendly-looking – imprecise – inexpensive – safe – slow
Vous devez identifier les six adjectifs qui caractérisent Baxter et justifier votre réponse
en citant le texte.
b) Are the statements right or wrong? Justify with a quote from – or a reference to – the
text:
1. Rethink Robotics is an American company.
2. Rethink Robotics began selling the Baxter robots in the 1980s.
3. The company has created a robot that is dangerous for humans.
4. Robots today do not work in direct contact with humans.
5. The price of a Baxter robot will remain high.
Pour chaque affirmation, il s’agit de dire si elle est vraie ou fausse et de citer le texte pour
le prouver.
c) In a few words, compare Terminator-like robots and Baxter.
Vous devez comparer les robots qui ressemblent à Terminator et Baxter.
4 a) How does Hawking feel about ”intelligent machines”?
On vous demande de repérer les sentiments de Hawking à l’égard des « intelligent machines ».
b) What solutions does he suggest? What would be the objective of each solution?
Vous devez identifier les solutions proposées par Hawking en analysant le but chaque
fois.
126
Sujet 16 | Énoncé
Seuls les candidats de la série L traiteront la question suivante.
5 Compare and contrast how the two texts present and analyse the issue of machine
intelligence. (80-100 words)
Il s’agit de comparer et de contraster la manière dont les deux textes présentent et analysent la question de l’intelligence des machines.
Pour exprimer le contraste, vous pourrez mobiliser les expressions suivantes :
– on the contrary, on the other hand + sujet + verbe conjugué ;
– whereas, while + sujet + verbe conjugué.
Les candidats de la série L traiteront les deux sujets.
Les candidats des séries S et ES traiteront un sujet au choix.
1 How do you feel about the rise of intelligent machines? Do you think they are dangerous? Discuss and illustrate your point using precise examples.
Il s’agit de prendre position par rapport à l’idée que les machines intelligentes puissent
saisir le pouvoir et d’exprimer son propre point de vue. Sont-elles dangereuses ?
Vous aurez besoin des idées de :
– ’take over’ : take control, overrun, invade, outdo ;
– ’perfection’ : (to) perfect, develop, design, create ;
– ’danger’ : dangerous, harmful, nightmare scenario ; safe, safety, security, harmless.
2 Imagine living with a robot in your home. Write about a typical day in the company of
your robot.
On vous demande d’imaginer une journée typique dans votre vie accompagné de votre
propre robot.
Pour parler des robots : robotized household.
Pour parler des tâches domestiques : (to) put away, wash, press, tidy away.
Pour parler des activités de la journée : (to) wake up, take breakfast, brush my teeth, go
to school, follow classes, exercise.
127
Sujet 16 | Corrigé
1 Document A
a) Type: newspaper article.
b) Author: John Markoff.
c) Source: The New York Times.
d) It is informative.
e) Subject: a two-armed robot named Baxter.
Document B
a) Type: newspaper article.
b) Author: Nick Paton Walsh.
c) Source: The Observer.
d) It is informative.
e) Subject: a warning that robots are capable of taking over humans (if we don’t change
our DNA).
2 a) Baxter: the robot designed by Rethink.
b) Rethink: a start-up company specialised in robotics.
c) Rodney Brooks: the founder of Rethink, and legendary roboticist.
d) Stephen Hawking: the acclaimed scientist and writer.
e) John Markoff: a journalist for the New York Times.
f) Nick Paton Walsh: a journalist for the Observer.
Question on document A
3 a) Baxter is:
– benign and friendly-looking: ”The sensation that Baxter conveys is not creepy, but benign, perhaps even disarmingly friendly.” (l. 4);
– imprecise and slow: ”Baxter [...] is relatively slow and imprecise in the way it moves.”
(l. 12);
– safe: ”It has an elaborate array of safety mechanisms...” (l. 13);
– inexpensive: ”an inexpensive machine” (l. 22).
b)
1. Right: ”in New England” (l. 15).
2. Wrong: ”The $22,000 robot that Rethink will begin selling in October” (l. 19).
3. Wrong: ”And it has an elaborate array of safety mechanisms and sensors to protect
the human workers it assists” (l. 13).
128
Sujet 16 | Corrigé
4. Right: ”today’s machines, which are kept safely isolated from humans...” (l. 9).
5. Wrong: ”The company is betting it can broaden the market for robots by selling an
inexpensive machine” (l. 21).
c) Terminator-like robots are fast and accurate, whereas Baxter is slow and imprecise.
Unlike Terminator-like robots, Baxter is not dangerous for human beings.
4 a) Hawking thinks that computers are evolving so fast that they will end up being superior to human beings. He considers this to be a real threat.
b) He proposes two solutions. Firstly, that human beings change their DNA to match the
evolution in computers. Secondly, that scientists exploit the direct link that can be established between a computer and the human brain, in order to create better humans through
cyber-technology enhancement.
5 Text A presents machine intelligence as being a form of progress that will be useful for
man. On the contrary, text B is very alarmist and suggests that unless human beings modify their DNA or their brain function, they will be overtaken by intelligent machines. The
journalist in text A underlines the dangers of existing robots, which are incapable of working alongside humans. He is optimistic, saying that the evolution proposed by Rethink
will ensure that robots are both human-friendly and relatively inexpensive. Hawking, on
the other hand, is pessimistic and suggests that the only solution is for mankind to integrate
machine intelligence into the human brain thanks to the development of cyber-technology.
1 In text B, Stephen Hawking is more than alarmist: he predicts that the human race
will be overrun by intelligent machines, unless we ’perfect’ our own brain. I find such a
nightmare scenario exaggerated.
Maybe the scene described in text A is true: that robots today are kept inside glass cages or
controlled by laser to stop them interacting with humans. However, inventors like Rodney
Brooks are careful enough to keep their prototypes under lock and key until they are safe
enough to use in ordinary conditions.
Up till now, it seems to me that the only time technology has been used against man,
was in the case of the atom bomb. However, this bomb could have been used as a simple
deterrent as it was intended. Man’s enemy in this case was not technology but man himself.
It is true that there are more and more tales in fiction or on the big screen of machines
rebelling and taking control of human society. They are of course totally fictional, but play
129
Sujet 16 | Corrigé
their role in making society aware of the potential danger. At the end of the day, Rodney Brooks’ invention is a concrete example of a human-friendly machine. Nonetheless,
Hawking’s cry of danger deserves to be heard as he is a great and well-known scientist
2 I live in the first fully robotized household. My father Rodney Brooks has spent all his
free time designing robots for the family. We each have our own. This is how a typical
day goes by for me in the company of my robot.
While I’m asleep, Fred (that’s the name of my robot) puts away whatever toys, games
or clothes that I left out before I went to bed. The clothes are washed and pressed and
returned to my wardrobe before I wake up. I don’t like alarm bells, so Fred wakes me up
with some light music that gradually gets louder, until I react.
Breakfast is taken in the family room with each of our robots serving us. Fred prepares my
school tablet by putting all the work I will be using during the day on the tactile screen. He
accompanies me to the bathroom while I brush my teeth and tells me off if I stop brushing
before the three minutes are up.
Our robots don’t accompany the kids to school, as Dad wants us to have a ’normal’ existence, but while I am at school, Fred follows the classes and prepares multimedia dossiers
on the subjects so that I can revise in a more dynamic way when I get back home. I could
use Fred to cheat, but Dad has insisted on the moral issue: Fred is here to help us succeed,
not to help us take advantage of other people.
After school, Fred becomes my personal coach and sets me through a tough exercise regime. Dad has realised that if we become too dependent on our robots, our physical and
intellectual mass will gradually disappear. So we are constantly exercising our minds and
our bodies.
I sometimes wish that we lived in a normal household and that only my Mum and Dad
told me to get some exercise or to use my brain!
130
Document A
5
10
15
20
Parents, teachers, family and friends will all be interested in things a gapper is getting up
to on their gap year 1 and a blog is a great way to keep them up to speed.
Just as travellers have traditionally kept a diary or journal while away a blog can act as a
great reminder in years to come of all the events and activities undertaken.
The great thing about a blog is that photos can be added in easily and it is searchable, so
specific details can be found in the future for reference purposes.
Parents love to read blogs in order to see what their children have been doing and anyone
who has supported the gap year participant in their planning can have a look too.
Blogging about a gap year can also provide fringe benefits such as providing formal evidence of the type of activities carried out while a gapper is abroad.
Directing potential employers and universities to a blog is a good way of showing that
an applicant achieved a lot in their gap year. It also shows that the gapper can express
themselves and evaluate themselves on their experiences.
With internet cafés dotted all over the globe keeping a blog has never been easier and
there are a number of providers on the web which offer blog hosting.
This means that the gap year participant does not have to be a technical whizz, but can
drop their text and photos into a preformed template.
A blog is likely to attract the attention of other travellers too and can help a gapper to
make plans. It is a great way to canvas opinion and get advice from others who have been
to the same place.
1. gap year : time out to do something different, usually between high school and university.
131
Sujet 17 | Énoncé
From: http://www.yearoutgroup.com.
Document B
5
10
15
20
Some of my contemporaries did VSO 2 , departing to Africa, where they taught schoolkids
and built mud walls; I wasn’t so high-minded. Also, back then you somehow assumed that
a decent degree would ensure a decent job, sooner or later. ”Ti-yi-yime is on my side, yes
it is”, I used to yodel, duetting with Mick Jagger as I gyrated alone in my student room. So,
leaving others to train as doctors and lawyers and sit the civil-service exams, I took myself
off to the States and roamed around for six months. I waited on tables, painted fences, did
gardening, and delivered cars across several states. In those years before mobile phones,
email and Skype, travellers depended on the rudimentary communications system known
as the postcard. Other methods –the long-distance phone call, the telegram– were marked
”For Emergency Use Only”. So my parents waved me off into the unknown, and their
news bulletins about me would have been restricted to ”Yes, he’s arrived safely”, and
”Last time we heard he was in Oregon”, and ”We expect him back in a few weeks”. I’m
not saying this was necessarily better, let alone more character-forming; just that in my
case it probably helped not to have my parents a button’s touch away, spilling out anxieties
and long-range weather forecasts, warning me against floods, epidemics and psychos who
preyed on backpackers.
In a true emergency –presence required at a mother’s deathbed– I imagine the Foreign
Office would have contacted the Embassy in Washington, who would have informed the
American authorities, who would have asked police forces across the country to look out
for a cheerful, sunburnt Englishman who was a little more self-assured than he had been
on his arrival in the country. Nowadays all it takes is a text message.
Adapted from Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending, 2011.
2. Voluntary Service Overseas : volunteers working abroad to fight poverty in developing countries.
132
Sujet 17 | Énoncé
1 Choose the two most important themes that are found in both texts.
teaching – computers – communication – music – photography – travelling – jobs
2 Choose the right definition of a ”gapper” (l. 1).
a) A person who works for a travel agency.
b) Someone who helps people plan their gap year.
c) A person who takes a break from his/her studies.
d) An unemployed worker who is looking for a job abroad.
3 Fill in the gaps with one of the following elements. Write down the sentences on your
paper.
Potential employers – The blogger’s parents and friends – Bloggers themselves – Other
travellers
a) ......... can find out what the blogger is doing or has been doing.
b) ......... can document their trip.
c) ......... can see if the gapper has used their year productively.
d) ......... can get ideas or advice for their own trip.
Document A is...
a) a press article.
b) an advert.
c) a film review.
5 Copy the sentence onto your paper and fill in the blanks.
The narrator is ......... (nationality). He travelled to ......... (country). He stayed there for
......... (duration).
Il faut recopier les phrases en complétant chaque blanc avec l’élément indiqué entre parenthèses.
6 Choose the best answer.
a) The narrator writes about events:
– in the future.
– a few decades ago.
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Sujet 17 | Énoncé
– a century ago.
– in the 19th century.
b) The narrator goes abroad:
–
–
–
–
to have time off on his own.
for humanitarian reasons.
for better job opportunities.
to get a university degree.
c) The narrator’s parents expected:
–
–
–
–
regular long-distance phone calls.
detailed news bulletins.
occasional postcards.
daily e-mails.
7 Pick out words in both texts to answer the following questions.
a) How did travellers keep a record of their experience and communicate in the past? (5 elements)
b) How do travellers keep a record of their experience and communicate today? (5 elements)
Il s’agit de repérer cinq exemples des moyens utilisés par les voyageurs pour garder une
trace de leur expérience ou pour communiquer autrefois – en a) – et de nos jours – en b).
8 For each of the following statements, say if it is true for only document A, only document B, or for both documents.
Justify for each document by quoting the text.
a) Not giving parents real-time information may be a good thing.
b) Modern devices have made communication simpler.
c) Travellers’ parents get real-time information about their children.
Travellers and their parents can get in touch quickly but only if it is urgent.
Pour chaque affirmation, vous devez décider si elle est vraie pour l’un des documents ou
bien pour les deux et justifier votre réponse en citant le(s) document(s).
134
Sujet 17 | Énoncé
Imagine you are one of the following young people. Complete the summary of your experience abroad published on the website YearOutGroup.com. (150 words minimum)
Teaching and
Photography in
India
Wildlife
Conservation
Research in South
Africa
Become a Ski
Instructor as Part
of a Gap Year
Art History in New
York City
K. Anderson
M. Thornley
R. Castle
N. Black
I volunteered in
India, working with
villagers and
children. I really
enjoyed... [Read
mor...]
At the wildlife
conservation center I
experienced
amazing encounters
with Africa’s famous
animals. It was...
[Read more...]
I spent a winter
season in western
Canada training to
become a ski
instructor. The
experience was...
[Read more...]
I loved spending
days studying
paintings and
sculptures in the
Metropolitan
Museum of Art. In
New York City,
everything is...
[Read more...]
Il s’agit d’imaginer le résumé que pourrait écrire un des personnages présentés dans le
tableau, en vous aidant de la thématique de son projet. Vous devez reprendre le début du
résumé qui figure dans le tableau et continuer dans le même style.
135
Sujet 17 | Corrigé
1 The two most important themes that are found in both texts are communication and
travelling.
2 A ”gapper” is...
c) a person who takes a break from his/her studies.
3 a) The blogger’s parents and friends can find out what the blogger is doing or has
been doing.
b) Bloggers themselves can document their trip.
c) Potential employers can see if the gapper has used their year productively.
d) Other travellers can get ideas or advice for their own trip.
4 Document A is...
a) a press article.
5 The narrator is English/ British. He travelled to the United States. He stayed there for
six months.
6 a) The narrator writes about events a few decades ago.
b) The narrator goes abroad to have time off on his own.
c) The narrator’s parents expected occasional postcards.
7 a) In the past, travellers kept a record of their experience and communicated with postcards, phone calls, telegrams, diaries and journals.
b) Today, travellers keep a record of their experience and communicate with blogs, text
messages, mobile phones, emails and Skype.
8 a) Not giving parents real-time information may be a good thing.
Only document B: ”it probably helped me not to have my parents a button’s touch away.”
(l. 14)
b) Modern devices have made communication simpler.
Both documents: ”a blog is a great way to keep them up to speed” (l. 2) (document A),
”Nowadays, all it takes is a text message.” (l. 21) (document B).
c) Travellers’ parents get real-time information about their children.
136
Sujet 17 | Corrigé
Only document A: ”Parents love to read blogs in order to see what their children have
been doing” (l. 7).
d) Travellers and their parents can get in touch quickly but only if it is urgent.
Only document B: ”Other methods –the long-distance phone call, the telegram– were
marked ’For Emergency Use Only’.” (l. 9)
Wildlife Conservation Research in South Africa, M. Thornley
At the wildlife conservation center I experienced amazing encounters with Africa’s famous animals. It was the experience of a life time, something that I will remember for the
rest of my life. Here are some of my best memories!
I arrived at the conservation center late at night and Joe, the Director, took me straight to
my room to get a good night’s sleep. The next morning, I was awoken by a warm blast
of air against my face and something tickling my nose. I opened my eyes and there was a
chimpanzee just in front of my face! It was Cheetah, the center’s mascot who had come
to wake me.
Only a few days later, I was filling water cans for the animals when I observed the most
peculiar phenomenon. It started to rain intermittently, but only on and around me, as if
there was just one cloud in the sky that was targeting me. I looked up to check, but the sky
was clear blue, with not a single cloud in sight. Suddenly, I heard Joe laughing his head
off behind me. I had been showered with water by Jumbo, our baby elephant, who had
been emptying the water cans as quickly as I was filling them!
137
Document A
Sci-Fi: Future Atomic City (1942)
138
Sujet 18 | Énoncé
5
10
15
This painting by Frank R. Paul of a city of the future is pretty typical of sci-fi predictions.
The city is a massive pile of steel, plastic and glass put together in a way that not only has
no past, but actively rejects it. It is a place of heroic technology with skyscrapers the size
of whole districts, roof-top aerodromes, wide pedestrian boulevards, and metal roadways
strangely devoid of traffic. There are even urban space launch pads where giant rockets
are winched upright before blasting off to the heavens.
The iconic image of the future is the city. Think about it. In how many films have directors established the fact that we’re in the future by conjuring up some landscape of
incredible buildings with air cars whizzing about like semi-regulated gnats. Metropolis,
Bladerunner, Just Imagine, Things to Come, and any number of Star Trek instalments.
That’s because a city’s skyline tells you so much about the culture that built it. New York
looks different from London because New York is different from London. Skyscrapers
suit New York. They tell you about New Yorkers and the de facto capital of the United
States.
This was the reason why Stanley Kubrick decided against setting on Earth any scenes
from his film 2001: a Space Odyssey. He felt it was impossible for him to predict what a
city on Earth would look like in 2001.
From www.davidszondy.com.
Document B
Detroit’s bleak landscape is slowly changing due to the efforts of urban farmers and community gardeners determined to grow their city’s revival.
5
10
15
Once America’s most productive manufacturing city, Detroit was home to a thriving automotive and music industry, with almost 2 million residents and a robust economy.
A dramatic decline began in the mid-1960s as factories began closing their doors for overseas opportunities. The City eventually suffered near-collapse as residents left in droves to
find work elsewhere. The exodus is well-documented, as entire communities decamped,
parts of the city were literally abandoned and buildings were demolished or left neglected,
with blocks of houses torn down or left for ruin.
For residents that stayed, lack of employment, crumbling school systems, and the sheer
size of the city (which could fit all of Manhattan, Boston, and San Francisco inside and
still have room leftover) meant that many folks were living in a ”food desert”, where
grocery stores were often more than 30 miles from their homes. All around, nature was
taking over decrepit buildings on its own, but not providing any source of nutrition for
Detroit’s shrinking population.
About 15 years ago, green-minded citizens throughout Detroit began to reclaim these
vacant lots, clearing out the debris and creating gardens to provide both food and beauty to
neighborhoods throughout the City. Their work has led to a growing community of urban
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Sujet 18 | Énoncé
20
25
food activists, providing fresh food where there was none, local opportunities where there
were few, and productive green space where there were bleak, empty lots.
Today, over 1,300 community gardens have sprouted throughout Detroit, and with the
support of non-profits like The Greening of Detroit, there is a growing network for urban
farming. The renewal of urban Detroit begins with its residents and hometown visionaries
who see the chance for change from within. As with the ”growth” in local food and urban
agriculture, similarly an eclectic new scene in music, cuisine, art, performance, design,
and even tech have sprung forth. Some who seek to be a part of something interesting are
actually returning to the city or relocating to it for the first time.
Joe Gardener, www.growingagreenerworld.com, September 1, 2012.
1 Write the correct answer.
Frank R. Paul was:
a) the man who painted ’Sci-Fi : Future City’.
b) the author of this document.
c) the writer of sci-fi novels.
d) the director of sci-fi films.
Repérez d’abord son nom dans le texte, puis analysez la manière dont on en parle.
2 Focus on the passage from ”This painting by Frank R. Paul” (l. 1) to ”like semiregulated gnats” (l. 9) and write your answers.
a) Pick out four names of materials.
b) Pick out three adjectives relating to dimensions.
c) Pick out two methods of transport which allow you to fly.
Dans la première partie du texte, vous devez repérer 4 noms de matériaux, 3 adjectifs en
rapport avec les dimensions et 2 moyens de transports aériens.
a) The author is surprised that there aren’t more cars in ’Sci-Fi: Future City’.
b) Most science-fiction movie makers choose urban areas as a setting.
c) The action for ’2001: a Space Odyssey’ takes place on our planet.
Repérez la phrase du texte qui parle de la même chose que l’affirmation, analysez le sens
de la phrase pour décider si l’affirmation est vraie ou fausse, puis notez la réponse (Right
ou Wrong) et recopiez la citation.
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Sujet 18 | Énoncé
4 Match each idea from the following list with the corresponding passage.
Transforming the city together – Leaving the city because of unemployment – A prosperous city – Coming back to an attractive city – Disastrous consequences on people’s daily
lives
a) First paragraph
b) Second paragraph
c) Third paragraph
d) Fourth paragraph
e) Fifth paragraph
Il s’agit d’apparier l’idée dans la liste à la partie du texte correspondante. Analysez le
sens de chaque partie pour décider quelle idée lui correspond.
5 Pick out four expressions describing Detroit’s buildings between the mid-60s and the
mid-90s.
On vous demande de repérer quatre expressions utilisées pour décrire les constructions
à Détroit entre le milieu des années 60 et le milieu des années 90.
6 Write down the correct answer.
a) ”[...] many folks were living in a food desert” means:
–
–
–
–
shops where you could buy food were far away.
shops where you could buy food were too expensive.
shops where you could buy food didn’t have enough staff.
the food on offer in the shops wasn’t varied enough.
b) The main objective of the association ’The Greening of Detroit’ is:
–
–
–
–
to repaint the city’s buildings in green.
to encourage people to recycle meticulously.
to encourage the development of renewable energies.
to encourage people to cultivate gardens in the city.
Vous devez choisir la bonne réponse pour compléter chacune des phrases.
7 Complete the following sentence with 2 adjectives from the list.
old – real – fictional – safe – prestigious – smelly
The city described in document 1 is ......... whereas the city described in document 2 is
......... .
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Sujet 18 | Énoncé
8 Here is a list of expressions :
enterprising – futuristic – urban recovery – technological development – celebration of
the past – more efficient robots
a) Pick out 2 expressions which qualify document A.
b) Pick out 2 expressions which qualify document B.
Choose one of the following subjects. (150 - 180 words)
1 A building in your neighbourhood is going to be transformed. The population is asked
to send suggestions to the local authorities. Write out the project that you and other young
people are going to send.
Formules à connaître pour exprimer les suggestions :
Why not, What about + V-ing ; We could + verbe, It would be a good idea to + verbe ;
We suggest + V-ing.
2 You live in 2050. Describe your environment and explain what you like and what you
don’t like.
Formules à connaître pour exprimer le goût :
like, love, adore, appreciate + V-ing ;
dislike, hate, detest, loathe, can’t stand + V-ing.
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Sujet 18 | Corrigé
1 Frank R. Paul was the man who painted ”Sci-Fi : Future City” (answer a).
2 a) steel, plastic, glass, metal
b) massive, wide, giant
c) rockets, air cars
3 a) Right: ”metal roadways strangely devoid of traffic” (l. 4).
b) Right: ”In how many films have directors established the fact that we’re in the future
by conjuring up some landscape of incredible buildings” (l. 7).
c) Wrong: ”Stanley Kubrick decided against setting on Earth any scenes from his film
2001: a Space Odyssey” (l. 15).
4 a) First paragraph: a prosperous city.
b) Second paragraph: leaving the city because of unemployment.
c) Third paragraph: disastrous consequences on people’s daily lives.
d) Fourth paragraph: transforming the city together.
e) Fifth paragraph: coming back to an attractive city.
5 The following expressions describe Detroit’s buildings between the mid-60s and the
mid-90s:
”parts of the city were literally abandoned” - ”buildings were demolished or left neglected”
- ”with blocks of houses torn down” - ”or left for ruin” (l. 6).
6 ”[...] many folks were living in a food desert” means shops where you could buy food
were far away (answer a).
The main objective of the association ’The Greening of Detroit’ is to encourage people to
cultivate gardens in the city (answer d).
7 The city described in document 1 is fictional whereas the city described in document
2 is real.
8 a) Document 1: futuristic, technological development.
b) Document 2: enterprising, urban recovery.
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Sujet 18 | Corrigé
1 Proposition of Topsham Youth Club for the Transformation of the old supermarket,
15 High Street, Topsham.
The young people of Topsham have nowhere to meet after school. The old supermarket in
the town centre has been replaced by a large shopping centre outside town. The building
of the old supermarket is in very good condition, but nobody wants to use it for a store.
We have had a meeting at our Youth Club, and have a suggestion to make.
Indeed, the supermarket would make an ideal meeting place for the different associations
which the young people of Topsham belong to. There is sufficient room to offer a sports
hall for ball games like tennis, badminton, table tennis, volley ball...
At the same time, it is possible to create smaller modules for the different associations –
the Youth Club, the Chess Club, the Video Game Club...
Of course, we are not in a position to pay for the use of the building. However, we will
take good care of it and renovate it regularly.
2 Life in 2050 is rather boring. At the end of the 20th century, there were a large number
of historical buildings which gave every town its individual charm. Today, only modern
buildings exist, and they are all very similar. They are all made of glass and steel. Every
room is the same size and shape.
The streets are all straight and cross each other at right angles. There are green areas with
identical plastic trees on every corner. Loudspeakers play relaxation music. We can hear
birds singing, but in fact there are no more birds. I really dislike this artificial environment.
However, I do appreciate the fact that every town has the same leisure facilities, so we do
not have to travel. If you want to ski, you go to your local ski dome. If you want to surf
the waves, you go to your local surf marina.
Even if it is aesthetically disappointing, the choice of identical ecological and economical
infrastructures in every town and city has given local authorities the possibility to offer
the same facilities to everyone everywhere for nothing.
144
Document A
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30
From the first day he could walk Simon had always wanted to outdistance his rivals. The
Americans would have described him as ’an achiever’, while many of his contemporaries
thought of him as pushy, or even arrogant, according to their aptitude for jealousy. During
his last term at Lancing Simon was passed over for head of school and he still found
himself unable to forgive the headmaster his lack of foresight. Later that year, some weeks
after he had completed his S-levels 1 and been interviewed by Magdalen 2 , a circular letter
informed him that he would not be offered a place at Oxford; it was a decision Simon was
unwilling to accept.
In the same mail Durham University offered him a scholarship, which he rejected by
return of post.
”Future Prime Ministers aren’t educated at Durham,” he informed his mother.
”How about Cambridge?” she enquired continuing to wipe the dishes.
”No political tradition,” replied Simon.
”But if there is no chance of being offered a place at Oxford, surely –
”That’s not what I said, Mother,” replied the young man. ”I shall be an undergraduate at
Oxford by the first day of term.” After eighteen years of forty-yard goals Mrs Kerslake
had learned to stop asking her son.
”How will you manage that?”
Some fourteen days before the start of the Michaelmas 3 Term at Oxford Simon booked
himself into a small guest house just off the Iffley Road. On a trestle table in the corner of
lodgings he intended to make permanent he wrote out a list of all the colleges, then divided
them into five columns, planning to visit three each morning and three each afternoon until
his question had been answered positively by a resident Tutor for Admissions: ”Have you
accepted any freshmen for this year who are now unable to take up their places?”
It was on the fourth afternoon, just as doubt was beginning to set in and Simon was
wondering if after all he would have to travel to Cambridge the following week, that he
received the first affirmative reply.
The Tutor for Admissions at Worcester College 4 removed the glasses from the end of his
nose and stared at the tall young man with a mop of dark hair falling over his forehead.
Alan Brown was the twenty-second don Kerslake had visited in four days.
”Yes”, he replied. ”It so happens that a young man from Nottingham High School, who
had been offered a place here, was tragically killed in a motor cycle accident last month.”
1. S-levels : an exam similar to A-levels for students hoping to get into the most prestigious universities.
2. Magdalen College : a college that is part of Oxford University.
3. Michaelmas Term : name given to first term at Oxford University.
4. Worcester College : a college that is part of Oxford University.
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Sujet 19 | Énoncé
35
40
”What course – what subject was he going to read?” Simon’s words were unusually faltering. He prayed it wasn’t Chemistry, Anthropology or Classics. Allan Brown flicked
through a rotary index on his desk, obviously enjoying the little cross-examination. He
peered at the card in front of him. ”History,” he announced.
Simon’s heartbeat reached 120. ”I just missed a place at Magdalen to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics,” he said. ”Would you consider me for the vacancy?”
The older man was unable to hide a smile. He had never in twenty-four years come across
such a request. [...]
Mrs Kerslake was not surprised when her son went on to be President of the Oxford
Union. After all, she teased, wasn’t it just another stepping stone on the path to Prime
Minister?
Jeffrey Archer, First Among Equals, 1984.
Document B
What happened to me?
5
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20
The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and
going bald happened. I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never realized
I was doing it.
Yet here was Morrie talking with the wonder of our college years, as if I’d simply been
on a long vacation.
”Have you found someone to share your heart with?” he asked.
”Are you giving to your community?”
”Are you at peace with yourself?”
”Are you trying to be as human as you can be?”
I squirmed, wanting to show I had been grappling deeply with such questions. What happened to me? I once promised myself I would never work for money, that I would join
the Peace Corps, that I would live in beautiful, inspirational places.
Instead, I had been in Detroit for ten years now, at the same workplace, using the same
bank, visiting the same barber. I was thirty-seven, more efficient than in college, tied to
computers and modems and cell phones. I wrote articles about rich athletes who, for the
most part, could not care less about rich people like me. I was no longer young for my
peer group, nor did I walk around in gray sweatshirts with unlit cigarettes in my mouth.
I did not have long discussions over egg salad sandwiches about the meaning of life.
My days were full, yet I remained, much of the time, unsatisfied.
What happened to me?
”Coach,” I said suddenly, remembering the nick-name. Morrie beamed. ”That’s me. I’m
still your coach.”
Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie, 1997.
146
Sujet 19 | Énoncé
Read from ”From the first day [...]” (l. 1) to ”How will you manage that?” (l. 18).
1 Which statement best corresponds to the situation here?
a) Simon has just finished high school. His dream is to go either to Cambridge University
or to Oxford University.
b) Simon is a university student at Oxford. He has rejected an offer from Durham University as his only dream was to go to Oxford.
c) Simon is at high school. He is determined to go to Oxford University and so he rejects
offers from all other universities.
Il s’agit de sélectionner l’affirmation qui correspond le mieux à la situation dans la première partie du document.
2 Explain what determines his choice of university? Justify with a quote.
Vous devez expliquer ce qui détermine son choix d’université et justifier votre réponse
en citant le texte.
Read from ”Some fourteen days” (l. 19) to the end.
3 Copy out the text and fill in the blanks (one blank = one word).
Simon is in ......... (name of the city). He intends to visit all the ......... to see if they have a
......... for him. He intends to visit six every day until he is ......... .
On vous demande de recopier le court paragraphe en complétant chaque pointillé.
4 Which adjective best describes Simon as he goes about his visits? Give two quotations
to justify your choice.
hesitant – determined – confused – impatient
Il s’agit de sélectionner l’adjectif qui correspond le mieux à l’attitude de Simon pendant
ses visites. Vous devez citer deux phrases du texte pour justifier votre réponse.
5 Does he succeed in getting a place at university? Justify with an element from the text.
Vous devez dire si Simon réussit ou non à obtenir une place à l’université en citant le
texte pour justifier votre réponse.
6 Who are the characters present in the extract and how do they know each other?
Il s’agit d’identifier les personnages présents dans l’extrait et d’expliquer comment ils se
connaissent.
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Sujet 19 | Énoncé
7 The passage refers to two periods in the narrator’s life. Which ones?
On vous demande d’identifier les deux périodes de la vie du narrateur dont il est question
dans l’extrait.
8 Are the following statements right or wrong? Quote from the text to justify.
a) The narrator earns a lot of money.
b) The two characters haven’t seen each other for quite a long time.
c) As a student the narrator had a lot of ideals.
d) The visit makes him realize he is content with his current life.
9 ”What happened to me?” (l. 20) What did happen to him? Explain in a few sentences
what he has just realized.
Il s’agit d’expliciter ce dont il vient de se rendre compte par rapport à ce qui lui est arrivé.
10 What do we realize about the narrator’s state of mind when meeting his friend?
On vous demande d’analyser ce que l’on peut déduire de l’état d’esprit du narrateur lors
de cette rencontre avec son ami.
11 a) In your opinion what is the theme common to both documents?
absence of ambition – failure – success in life – pride
b) Explain your choice of answer in a few sentences.
Vous devez sélectionnez le thème qui vous semble commun aux deux documents et justifier votre choix en quelques phrases.
Tous les candidats devront traiter les deux sujets suivants.
1 a) After meeting Alan Brown, Simon writes to his mother in order to keep her informed.
Write his letter. (150 mots)
Vous devez rédiger la lettre que Simon adresse à sa mère pour la tenir informée après sa
rencontre avec Alan Brown.
Pour une lettre personnelle, il convient de respecter certaines règles :
–
–
–
–
indiquez l’adresse (à Oxford) et la date en haut à droite ;
commencez par la salutation Dear Mum, Hi Mum ;
terminez avec la salutation love suivie de la signature de Simon ;
la langue peut être assez familière.
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Sujet 19 | Énoncé
b) Simon has decided to run for President of the University’s Student Union. Write his first
campaign speech. (150 mots)
Simon se présente aux élections du Président du Syndicat des étudiants de l’Université.
Vous devez rédiger son premier discours pour la campagne d’élection.
Pour un discours de campagne, vous cherchez à convaincre :
–
–
–
–
impliquez votre auditoire (you, students at Oxford, members of the Union) ;
utilisez des arguments et des anecdotes ;
utilisez des superlatifs ;
recourez à la rhétorique (pensez à I have a Dream de M.L. King).
2 a) Is it possible to reconcile your dreams with a professional life? (150 mots)
b) ”I once promised myself I would never work for money,” (document B).
How easy is it to stick to such a decision? (150 mots)
Dans les deux cas, vous devez prendre position.
Les deux sujets sont assez proches. Quel que soit votre choix de sujet et la position que
vous adoptiez, il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif. Ce qui importe le plus, c’est que vous
démontriez votre capacité à argumenter. Vous pouvez fort bien présenter les deux faces
du même argument et annoncer votre position personnelle dans la conclusion.
Pour un essai argumentatif, il faut mobiliser les expressions d’opinion : to my mind, in
my opinion, from my point of view, as far as I’m concerned...
Pour articuler votre discours, vous aurez recours aux mots de liaison :
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Sujet 19 | Corrigé
1 Simon is at high school. He is determined to go to Oxford University and so he rejects
offers from all other universities.
2 He wants to become Prime Minister. So he is determined to get to Oxford University as
it is according to him the best courses he could follow to fulfill his dream: ”Future Prime
Ministers aren’t educated at Durham”, ”How about Cambridge?”, ”No political tradition”
(l. 11).
3 Simon is in Oxford. He intends to visit all the colleges to see if they have a place for
him. He intends to visit six everyday until he is accepted in/ taken.
4 Simon is determined:
”[...] until his question had been answered positively by a resident Tutor for Admissions”
(l. 22). ”On a trestle table in the corner of the lodgings he intended to make permanent
[...]” (l. 20). ”Alan Brown was the twenty-second don Kerslake had visited in four days”
(l. 30).
5 Yes he does. Quote: ”Mrs Kerslake was not surprised when her son went on to be
President of the Oxford Union” (l. 41).
6 Morrie and the narrator are present.
The two characters used to be close friends when they were at university/ during their
college years.
7 The two periods of time covered by the extract are the past and the present day. The
past period refers to the university years, when the narrator was a student with Morrie,
still dreaming about what he would become later. The present day corresponds to the day
of the meeting with Morrie whom he has not seen for a long time. He is 37 years old,
working as a journalist specialised in sport events maybe.
8 Right or Wrong?
a) Right: ”I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck” (l. 2), ”rich people like me” (l. 16).
b) Right:”[...] Morrie, talking of our college years, as if I’d simply been on a long vacation”
(l. 4).
c) Right: ”I once promised myself I would never work for money that I would join the
Peace Cops, that I would live in beautiful, inspirational places” (l. 11).
d) Wrong: ”[...] I never realized I was doing it” (l. 2), ”What happened to me?” (l. 20), ”[...]
I remained [...] unsatisfied” (l. 19).
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Sujet 19 | Corrigé
9 He realizes that he abandoned all his dreams, that he has become what he disliked most
when he was a young adult. He has given up his dreams for a comfortable, materialistic
life which leaves him unsatisfied and frustrated.
10 Before meeting his friend, it had never dawned on him to consider the choices he made
and the meaning of his life. As he is talking to Morrie and trying to find answers to his
simple but embarrassing questions, he realizes what he has become. This conversation is
a revelation, comes as a shock for him. As he is talking, he is thinking and grows confused
and disturbed.
11 The common theme to both documents is success in life.
Document A: the narrator’s idea of being successful is to become Prime Minister, thus his
determination to be accepted in Oxford University (which he manages to achieve at the
end of the extract).
Document B: the narrator leads a successful life as far as money, job and social position
are concerned, but not quite if personal fulfilment is taken into account.
1 a)
Oxford, 12th August
Dear Mum,
Just a quick note to let you know how I am getting on.
I’ve been really busy since I arrived four days ago. I’ve seen twenty-two dons, and with a
bit of luck, I should receive confirmation that Worcester College is going to take me.
I’ve just met the Don, Alan Brown and he explained to me that some poor guy from
Nottingham High School was supposed to read history there, but he died in a car accident
a few weeks ago. So there’s a vacancy in history. I know it’s not exactly what I planned to
read at Magdalen College, but I can choose politics, philosophy and economics as options,
so I will still get to study what I wanted.
Mr Brown is presenting my dossier to his colleagues this evening and will give me a formal
response tomorrow. I do hope it’s affirmative. I couldn’t bear not to come to Oxford, after
trying so hard this week.
I’ll phone you as soon as I know for sure.
Love,
Simon
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Sujet 19 | Corrigé
b) Fellow Students, I stand before you, in all humility, in all modesty, but with a great
sense of commitment. I do not intend to tell you how wonderful I am, for that is not how
I view the role of President. On the contrary, to prove you how good a President I can be,
I intend to tell you how important it is for this Student Union to be correctly represented,
so that the wonderful people that you are, can enjoy the best conditions possible to pursue
your studies here in Oxford.
The Student Union represents the students in all the different meetings concerning university life. The President must be someone who is selfless, accessible, open-minded and
a good communicator. It is important for all of you to feel that the person who represents
your interests is really interested in defending you. That person is me!
2 a) Can people fulfil their dreams and occupy a professional position at the same time?
I would say that it all depends on the degree of compatibility between a person’s dreams
and their professional occupation. Quite often, children choose their first choice of profession in relation to their dreams: we all remember classmates who wanted to be fighter
pilots or firemen, doctors or teachers. Some children will go on to fulfil these childhood
dreams, but for others the dreams evolve and change.
Not everybody has dreams about their professional career. Some people are quite content
to occupy an unexciting, but satisfying job in order to earn enough money to fulfil their
dreams outside the sphere of work. In this case, their dream may be to travel to a particular
place, or to buy luxury products or to offer themselves lessons in a professional racing car
or such like.
In conclusion, dreams and professional life can go hand in hand, but it is by no means a
generality, nor a necessity. It’s a matter of personal choice.
b) Is it possible to work without any financial incentive? In other words, to work simply
for pleasure or another motive or to serve other people. Is it possible to only accept work
that enables you to fulfil other more noble ambitions?
The problem is that we live in a capitalist society, in which the system of exchange is based
on money. We need money to pay for accommodation, food and clothes. People receive
money in return for work.
On the other hand, I think it is quite possible, if one’s basic necessities are satisfied, to
refuse work that is inconsistent with one’s personal values. For example, a sales representative could refuse to sell a product that he knows is addictive. A scientist could refuse to
develop a technique that could be used against humanity.
To conclude, everyone needs to earn a minimum salary to guarantee the basic necessities.
But beyond that minimum salary, it is possible to work for other values than money.
152
Inde, avril 2014, séries technologiques
Document A
Pupils under pressure to buy brands
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Children who cannot afford to buy the latest brands and fashions face bullying and ridicule
by their peers 1 , teachers warned yesterday.
Research from the teaching union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, says children are under heavy pressure to buy certain brands and products to fit in with their peer
group.
Almost half of the teachers questioned in the research said young people who cannot
afford the fashionable items owned by their friends have been isolated or bullied as a
result. The research also warned of a ”significant” rise in the influence of advertising and
marketing on children.
Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary said: ”Children feel under immense pressure to
look right and having the key brands is part of that”. [...]
”Advertising and marketing have made our society increasingly image-conscious and our
children are suffering the consequences. Schools and colleges should be places where all
children feel equal, but it is virtually impossible for schools to protect their pupils from
the harsher aspects of these commercial influences” Dr Bousted said.
The poll found more than eight in 10 teachers (85 % of those questioned) believe possession of fashionable goods is important to their pupils, with 93 % saying brands are the
top influence on what children buy, followed by friends and logos.
Almost all of the teachers questioned said they believe advertising directly targets children
and young people.
Andy Cranham, a teacher at City of Bristol College said: ’The need to belong in groups
is paramount 2 to young learners and exclusion is something they see as the end of the
world”.
Natasha Gilbert, www.theguardian.com, Monday 11, August 2008.
1. their peers : the other pupils at school.
2. paramount : very important.
153
Sujet 20 | Énoncé
Document B
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Dopamine is one of the most addictive substances known to man - and purchasing decisions are driven in some part by its seductive effects.
When you see that shiny digital camera, or those flashy diamond earrings, for example,
dopamine subtly flushes 3 your brain with pleasure, then wham 4 , before you know it,
you’ve signed the credit card receipt (researchers generally agree that it takes as little as
2.5 seconds to make a purchasing 5 decision).
A few minutes later, as you exit the store, bag in hand, the euphoric feelings caused by
the dopamine recede 6 , and all of a sudden you wonder whether you’ll really ever use that
damn camera or wear those earrings. Sound familiar?
Surely we’ve all heard the term ”retail 7 therapy”. And as we all know, whether our vice
is shoes, CDs, or electronics, shopping can be addictive. If nothing else, shopping [...] has
become an enormous part of what we do in our spare time. But does it actually make us
happier?
All scientific indicators point to yes - at least in the very short term. And that dose of happiness can be attributed to dopamine, the brain’s flush of reward, pleasure and well-being.
When we first decide to buy something, the brain cells that release dopamine secrete a
burst of good feeling, and this dopamine rush fuels our instinct to keep shopping even
when our rational minds tell us we’ve had enough.
As Professor David Laibson, an economist at Harvard University, puts it, ”Our emotional
brain wants to max out the credit card, even though our logical brain knows we should
save 8 for retirement”.
Martin Lindstrom, Buy.ology, 2008.
a) What sort of pupils are ridiculed?
– intellectuals;
– fashion victims;
– pupils who don’t have the money to buy brands.
3. flushes your brain with pleasure : brings pleasure to your brain.
4. wham : bang.
5. to purchase : to buy.
6. to recede : to diminish.
7. retail : shopping.
8. to save : to save money.
154
Sujet 20 | Énoncé
b) Who identified this phenomenon as a problem?
– teachers;
– a group of pupils;
– Natasha Gilbert.
2 True or false? Justify your answers by quoting from the text.
a) Schools can protect all pupils from marketing.
b) Most schoolchildren want to be like everybody else.
3 a) According to the journalist, what factors incite pupils to buy certain products ? (give
2 different elements).
Il s’agit d’identifier les deux facteurs qui incitent les élèves à acheter certains produits.
b) What are the consequences for the pupils who don’t conform?
Vous devez expliquer les conséquences encourues par les élèves non-conformistes.
Dopamine...
a) makes us want to buy more.
b) makes us want to buy less.
c) makes us depressed.
5 True or false? Justify your answers by quoting from the text.
a) It takes shoppers a long time to make up their minds.
b) Shoppers soon regret their purchasing decisions.
c) Some shoppers can’t help buying.
d) Buying has become a hobby for many people.
e) The pleasure derived from buying is long-lasting.
f) Buying causes a conflict between our heart and our head.
6 Who or what do the following words refer to?
a) ”its” (l. 2);
b) ”you” (l. 7);
c) ”it” (l. 12);
d) ”we” (l. 16).
7 What subject do the two texts have in common? Choose the right answer.
a) victimisation;
b) drug addiction;
155
Sujet 20 | Énoncé
c) factors influencing purchases;
d) clothes.
8 Which sentence best describes the differences between the two texts?
a) One is about social influences, the other is about biological factors.
b) One is about school, the other is about drug addiction.
c) One is about the role of teachers, the other is about shopping therapy.
Choose one of the two following subjects. (about 200 words)
1 Imagine a conversation between two pupils. One wants to convince the other that he/she
gives too much importance to other people’s opinions. Write the conversation.
Vous devez imaginer les arguments avancés par un élève pour convaincre son ou sa camarade qu’il faut prêter moins attention à ce que pensent les autres personnes. Il sera
judicieux d’imaginer une situation particulière : un(e) élève qui ne va pas bien parce
qu’il ne peut acheter les mêmes marques que ses camarades de classe.
Ces structures et ces expressions d’opinion peuvent vous être utiles :
– you should (not) + verbe ;
– don’t + verbe ;
– what is important is...
– in my opinion ;
– if you ask me.
2 What influences our shopping choices?
Il s’agit de disserter sur les différentes facteurs qui influencent nos choix d’achat. Le plus
simple est de réfléchir en termes de situations et de personnes différentes – un lycéen, une
mère de famille, un jeune célibataire en début de vie active, un couple de jeunes retraités,
etc.
liaison pour articuler votre discours suivants :
156
Sujet 20 | Corrigé
1 a) The pupils who are ridiculed are the ones who don’t have the money to buy brands.
b) Teachers identified this phenomenon as a problem.
2 a) False: ”it is virtually impossible for schools to protect their pupils from the harsher
aspects of these commercial influences.” (l. 14)
b) True: ”The need to belong in groups is paramount to young learners.” (l. 21)
3 a) According to the journalist, the factors which incite pupils to buy certain products
are brands (advertising) and friends (peer groups).
b) Pupils who don’t conform have to face isolation, bullying and ridicule.
4 Dopamine...
a) makes us want to buy more.
5 a) False: ”before you know it” (l. 4), ”it takes as little as 2.5 seconds to make a purchasing decision” (l. 5).
b) True: ”the euphoric feelings [...] recede” (l. 7), ”you wonder whether you’ll really ever
use that damn camera” (l. 8).
c) True: ”shopping can be addictive” (l. 11).
d) True: ”shopping has become an enormous part of what we do in our spare time” (l. 11).
e) False: ”in the very short term” (l. 14).
f) True: ”our emotional brain wants to max out the credit card, even though our logical
brain knows we should save for retirement” (l. 19).
6 a) ”its” refers to dopamine.
b) ”you” refers to the reader, people in general.
c) ”it” refers to shopping.
d) ”we” refers to everyone, people in general.
7 The subject that the two texts have in common is:
c) factors influencing purchases.
8 The sentence that best describes the differences between the two texts is:
a) One is about social influences, the other is about biological factors.
157
Sujet 20 | Corrigé
1 Pete: Hi Jenny! What’s wrong? You don’t look very happy!
Jenny: All my friends are going shopping after school, and I’m supposed to be going with
them, but my Mum won’t give me any money.
Pete: So what? You don’t have to actually buy something to enjoy shopping, do you? You
can try on everything like your friends, and decide you don’t like anything. I don’t see the
problem!
Jenny: But you don’t understand! We’re all supposed to buy the same jeans to show that
we are in the same crowd!
Pete: And is it the end of the world if you don’t have the same jeans?
Jenny: But they won’t like me any more if I don’t dress like them!
Pete: Listen to yourself, Jenny! Is that what friendship is all about?
Jenny: No, I suppose not.
Pete: What is important is your personality, not the clothes you wear! You should convince
your friends to consider your shopping expedition as a game. It’s being together that is
important, that’s all!
Jenny: I suppose so. But what if they reject me?
Pete: If they reject you because you haven’t got the same jeans, then they are really stupid.
They don’t deserve to be your friends, do they?
Jenny: Pete, you’re my best friend! You certainly know how to make me feel better! Thank
you! You’re the best!
2 Everybody shops. Some people enjoy shopping and consider it a leisure activity. Other
people consider shopping as a chore. But what influences people’s choices when they
shop? To answer this question, we are going to examine the needs and desires of two
different categories of people to see if they are similar or not.
Teenagers generally do not have to shop for basic necessities like food and cleaning products, as their parents do it for the family. As a consequence, when teenagers shop, they
can concentrate on what they would like. Some teenagers don’t have a lot of money and
so choose objects that they really need –like a new pair of shoes. Other teenagers have
quite a lot of pocket money and may choose articles of clothing or gadgets simply for the
pleasure of buying them. The more money they have, the more freedom teenagers have in
their choices. They are inevitably influenced by brands and by advertising.
In some context, shopping is less of a pleasure than an obligation. Someone has to buy
all the food and cleaning material to run the household and feed the family. Of course,
there are sometimes special occasions to buy larger items like furniture or even a new car.
In these cases, the choice is often shared by all the members of the family. And again,
advertising has a powerful influence, but also friends and neighbours.
158
Sujet 20 | Corrigé
In conclusion, advertising and peer pressure are obvious influences on shopping. However,
the buyer’s financial situation, needs, and personal taste are also extremely important.
159
Amérique du Nord, mai 2014, séries ES, L, S
Document A
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
There was a murmuring of ascent from the people on his table. The old impresario took
off his glasses and polished them.
Picasso was in full flow, his voice deep and resonant.
”My party wants to nurture this talent, to promote it. I don’t want young men to suffer in
cold rooms for their art, I want fullness and passion, an end to hunger.”
At that word, ”hunger”, I felt everyone in the cafe catch their breath. Was the richest artist
in history going to help us, was he going to buy us some coffee or perhaps even a simple
meal?
The wine was obviously a good one; the young girl sitting next to Picasso whispered
in the master’s ear, I could smell her perfume from where I was sitting, as I was very
close; it was the scent of wealth and happiness. The meal went on for many hours and I
produced many sketches as I listened to Picasso talk about his hardships and his new life
in Socialism. Soon the girls were fidgeting, as they had sat for a long time listening and
laughing, and the old impresario polished his glasses a hundredth time.
Picasso snapped his fingers and asked Benoit for the bill. Soon the restaurateur did the
maths, writing everything down on a yellow sheet of paper and approached the table. But
just as he reached Picasso he put the bill in his pocket and slid a blank sheet of paper
beneath the artist’s nose.
”What’s this?” asked Picasso.
”Well, Master, perhaps if... perhaps if you were to draw a quick picture...?”
The artist gazed at him with a thin smile.
”What, instead of paying?”
”Certainly sir, if you wouldn’t mind...”
I felt tense, excited. Was this the moment I’d see the great artist at work?
Picasso glanced around the table with a childish smile and started scribbling something
on the paper. Everyone was looking. Benoit perched at his shoulder, his left eye twitching,
excited.
”There!” said Picasso with a flourish, handing the restaurateur the sketch. ”Will this do?”
”Monsieur Picasso! How wonderful!”
There was a murmur of appreciation around the table and every customer in the cafe
wanted to see this spontaneous creation. Benoit sidled away, admiring the sketch. Then he
stopped. He turned, then hesitated as his customer threw back some more wine, stroking
the lady’s arm.
The restaurateur came back to the table, his eye twitching faster than ever.
”Sir,” he murmured, awkward.
Picasso went on chatting and drinking.
”Sir” said Benoit, a little louder. ”This is marvelous, but would maître mind signing it?”
160
Sujet 21 | Énoncé
40
Picasso put his glass down.
”Excuse me?”
”Just a signature, to prove it’s you.”
The artist gave a thin smile.
”I’m buying the meal,” he said. ”Not the whole restaurant.”
Peter Flynn, Picasso on the Beach and Other Stories, 2013.
Document B
What determines the commercial value of art?
5
10
The reason that many people continue to be astonished or enraged when they hear that a
particular work of art has been sold for a large sum of money is that they believe art serves
no necessary function. It is neither utilitarian, nor does it seem to be linked to any essential
activity. You cannot live in it, drive it, eat, drink, or wear it. Even Plato considered the
value of art to be dubious because it was mimesis, an imitation of reality.
If you gave most people $25 million and the choice to spend it on a six-bedroom house
with spectacular views of Aspen 1 or a painting by Mark Rothko of two misty, dark-red
rectangles, the overwhelming majority would choose the house. We understand the notion
of paying for size and location in real estate, but most of us have no criteria (or confidence
in the criteria) to judge the price for a work of art. We pay for things that can be lived in,
driven, consumed, and worn; and we believe in an empirical ability to judge their relative
quality and commercial value. No matter how luxurious, such things also sustain 2 the
basic human functions of shelter, food, clothing, and transport.
Michael Findlay, The Value of Art: Money, Power, Beauty, 2012.
Questions on Document A
1 Introduce the three following main characters as they are presented in the text by giving
as many details as possible.
the narrator – Picasso – Benoit
On vous demande de donner le maximum de détails sur l’identité de chacun des personnages cités.
2 Identify the main action in the document. (30 words)
3 Focus on the passage from the beginning to ”a hundredth time” (l. 14).
1. Aspen : a famous ski resort in the U.S.A.
2. sustain : ensure, support.
161
Sujet 21 | Énoncé
a) Find out the two main differences between the narrator and Picasso.
b) Pick out at least two quotations to justify these differences.
Vous devez indiquer les deux différences principales entre le narrateur et Picasso en justifiant votre réponse au moyen de deux citations.
4 Focus on the passage from ”Picasso snapped his fingers” (l. 15) to ”the lady’s arm”
(l. 33).
a) Explain in your own words Benoit’s intentions.
b) Describe Picasso’s and the other characters’ reactions to his intentions. (50 words)
Il s’agit d’expliciter dans un premier temps les intentions de Benoit, et ensuite de décrire
la réaction de Picasso et des autres personnages.
5 Focus on the passage from ”The restaurateur came back” (l. 34) to the end.
a) Say what Benoit’s final request is.
b) What are the explicit and implicit reasons for it? (40 words)
On vous demande d’expliciter dans un premier temps la dernière volonté de Benoit, et
ensuite d’expliquer les raisons explicites et implicites qui motivent cette volonté.
6 Last line: ”’I’m buying the meal,’ he said. ’Not the whole restaurant.’”
Explain Picasso’s answer and comment on it.
Il s’agit d’expliquer ce que Picasso dit, pourquoi il le dit, et de commenter ses propos.
Questions on Document B
7 a) Say what the main topic of the document is.
b) Explain in your own words the opinion most people have about art.
Après avoir identifié le thème principal du document, on vous invite à expliciter ce que
la plupart des gens pensent de l’art, selon l’auteur du document.
8 ”It is neither utilitarian, nor does it seem to be linked to any essential activity.” (l. 3)
a) Find examples in the text which illustrate this quote.
b) Explain in your own words why people have such a vision about art. (30 words)
Il s’agit de trouver des exemples dans le texte pour illustrer la citation et ensuite expliquer
en vos propres termes pourquoi les gens ont une telle vision de l’art.
Questions on Documents A and B
9 What are the common points and differences between the two documents as far as art
and money are concerned? Justify with quotes from the texts (50 words)
Vous devez déterminer les points communs et les différences entre les deux documents
en ce qui concerne l’art et l’argent.
162
Sujet 21 | Énoncé
Les candidats de la série L LV2 obligatoire seule traiteront la question 10 (ils ne traiteront
pas la question 11).
10 Document A focuses on the link between art and food. Pick out details showing it and
conclude on the vision of art expressed in this extract. (50 words)
Il s’agit de prélever des détails dans le document A par rapport au lien entre l’art et la
nourriture. Vous devez les analyser pour déterminer la vision de l’art présentée dans le
document.
Les candidats de la série L LV2 langue vivante approfondie anglais traiteront la question 11 (ils ne traiteront pas la question 10).
11 Document B: ”No matter how luxurious, such things also sustain the basic functions
of shelter, food, clothing and transport.” (l. 12)
Explain in your own words how this quotation applies to both documents (70 words)
On vous demande d’expliquer en vos propres termes comment cette citation s’applique
aux deux documents. La signification de la citation : « Quel que soit leur degré de luxe, de
tels biens satisfont aussi les besoins fondamentaux de l’homme en matière de logement,
de nourriture, d’habillement et de transport. »
Les candidats de la série L LV2 obligatoire seule traiteront un des deux sujets ci-dessous.
(200 mots, +/-15 mots)
1 Document A: ”...I want fullness and passion, an end to hunger.” (l. 5)
Is a work of art necessarily a question of money? Discuss and illustrate by giving
examples.
Il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif au sujet du lien entre l’art et l’argent : on vous demande
s’ils sont étroitement liés ou non, et d’illustrer votre argumentation avec des exemples.
Pensez aux expressions utiles :
– pour articuler vos arguments : on the one hand/ on the other hand, although, even if
(même si) ;
– pour énumérer les arguments : firstly, secondly,... lastly/ finally, first and foremost...
last but not least.
2 Imagine the entry of the narrator’s diary after meeting Picasso. Focus on his reactions,
emotions and future aspirations as an artist.
Vous devez rédiger l’entrée dans le journal intime du narrateur à l’issue de sa rencontre
avec Picasso, en relatant ses réactions, émotions et futures aspirations en tant qu’artiste.
Pour exprimer ses réactions : amazing, inspiring, fabulous, charismatic.
Pour exprimer ses émotions : amazed, impressed, surprised.
163
Sujet 21 | Énoncé
Pour exprimer ses futures aspirations : I wish I could..., I would really like to..., I hope I
will...
Les candidats de la série L LV2 langue vivante approfondie anglais traiteront le sujet
ci-dessous. (300 mots, +/-15 mots)
3 Discuss the question asked in this picture.
Les candidats des séries ES/ S traiteront un des deux sujets ci-dessous.
(200 mots, +/-15 mots)
4 Can everything have a price? Discuss and illustrate by giving examples.
Il s’agit d’un essai argumentatif au sujet de la valeur des choses de la vie : est-ce que cela
se chiffre forcément en termes d’argent ? Vous devez illustrer vos arguments avec des
exemples.
5 Picasso and the narrator (document A) meet again the day after in the street and start
discussing about art. Imagine the scene including their conversation.
On vous demande d’imaginer la rencontre entre Picasso et le narrateur dans la rue le
lendemain. La conversation devra porter sur l’art.
164
Sujet 21 | Corrigé
Questions on Document A
1 The narrator is a young artist very admirative of Picasso, who is in the same restaurant
as him.
Picasso is a world-famous artist who enjoys the good things of life (wine, food and women).
Benoit is the restaurant-owner, who is aware of Picasso’s celebrity.
2 At the end of the meal, when Picasso asks for the bill, the restaurant-owner invites him
to draw a picture instead of paying the bill.
3 a) The narrator is young and not very rich. He listens to Picasso who is much older and
very wealthy.
b) The following quotations justify these differences: ”The old impresario” (l. 1), ”Was
the richest artist in history going to help us, was he going to buy us a coffee or perhaps a
simple meal?” (l. 6), ”I listened to Picasso” (l. 12).
4 a) Benoit would like to own a picture drawn by the artist instead of payment for the
meal.
b) Picasso is willing to humour the restaurant owner with a quick sketch. The other customers are admirative of the artist’s creativity and skill.
5 a) Benoit asks Picasso to sign the sketch.
b) The presence of Picasso’s signature on the drawing would prove that he is the artist.
This would give the sketch far greater value.
6 Picasso refuses to sign his drawing, as he is aware of the value of his works of art
and does not want the restaurant-owner to sell it. He doesn’t want his work to become a
commercial object.
Questions on Document B
7 a) The main topic is the commercial value of art.
b) Most people consider that art does not play an essential role in life.
8 a) Quotes which illustrate the uselessness of art are: ”You cannot live in it, drive it, eat,
drink, or wear it” (l. 4) and ”We pay for things that can be lived in, driven, consumed, and
worn” (l. 10).
b) We live in a consumer society and people tend to value objects according to the degree
of importance of the role they play in our everyday lives.
Questions on Documents A and B
9 Both documents deal with the commercial value of art. However, in document A, Pi165
Sujet 21 | Corrigé
casso’s refusal to sign his picture amounts to a refusal to transform his work of art into
a commercial object. In document B, the author underlines most people’s surprise at the
amount of money collectors are willing to pay for art. Both documents demonstrate that
artists can make a fortune with their art: ”the richest artist in history” (l. 6) (document A),
”$25 million [...] spend it on [...] a painting by Mark Rothko” (l. 6) (document B).
10 As an active member of the Socialist party, Picasso believes that society should be
more supportive to artists, so that even the least successful artists no longer suffer from
hunger. This seems to imply that food nourishes the artist, and that it is not only vital to
the organism, but also to art. The fact that Picasso agrees to exchange a work of art for his
food suggests that they are on the same level. Just as the artist creates an original work of
art, the restaurateur concocts a meal for his customers.
Indeed, art nourishes the soul and mind. Art is food for thought, emotion and imagination.
Food nurishes the artist, and the artist nourishes mankind’s cultural needs.
11 The affirmation means that even items of luxury are appreciated more for their use
in everyday life and for the money they represent than for any possible artistic value. In
document A, this idea is demonstrated by Benoit’s desire to obtain Picasso’s signature on
his drawing, as the signature would automatically increase its value. In document B, the
fact that most people would prefer to buy bricks and mortar than a work of art is another
example.
1 Picasso’s defence of artists in document A underlines the fact that only the most successful artists are able to make a living of their art, and that most artists lead a life of
poverty hoping for the stroke of genius that will able them to rise above mediocrity. In
this essay, we will examine whether art is necessarily a question of money or not.
On the one hand, it seems obvious that initially art has nothing to do with money at all.
Art is a form of creation. An artist follows his inspiration to produce a work of art that no
doubt evokes a deep personal meaning for him. Of course, certain art forms require costly
materials, such as precious metals or rare pigments, which means that there is a financial
limitation to what an artist can produce without a patron. However, the true artist, in my
opinion, is able to produce a work of art with even the cheapest of materials: art is in the
inspiration and not in the materials used. So, money is by no means essential to art.
On the other hand, an artist’s work only really attains the status of art if it obtains public
recognition. As everything in our consumer society is assessed in financial terms, the
artist’s admirers will value his art by attributing a price. The restaurant owner’s reaction
in document A is a case in point: if Picasso’s drawing is not authenticated by his signature,
he considers it will be less valuable than the signed drawing, and yet the artistic value is
166
Sujet 21 | Corrigé
identical.
In conclusion, it is public recognition that enables art to exist, and as our capitalist society
values money above everything else, art is necessarily a question of money, otherwise it
exists only in the eyes of the artist.
2
Saturday, 20th June
I had the surprise of my life this evening. As a reward for my hard work this week, I went
out to eat, and who should be eating at the next table of my local restaurant? None other
than the one and only Pablo Picasso.
He was surrounded by beautiful women and the wine flowed freely. I was fascinated.
It was terrific to be able to observe the great artist from such a close distance. I was so
impressed I didn’t even finish what I was eating. He’s such a charismatic man, as well as
being a great artist!
The restaurant owner clearly recognised him as the great Picasso, as he asked him to draw
something for him instead of paying the bill. I was surprised at Picasso’s reaction: I didn’t
expect him to comply at all. But then, I did recognise his famous temperament when he
refused to sign the drawing.
Seeing Picasso so close at hand has made me think more seriously about my choice of
profession. I would really like to become a great artist like him. I wish I could speak to
him to ask him for some advice. I hope we will meet again very soon!
In any case, I’m now more convinced than ever that art is the right direction for me. I drew
a whole series of sketches while I was watching Picasso’s party, and I’m quite pleased with
the result! Who knows? Perhaps I could make some money and my name by putting my
sketches on the market!
167

but - Jeunes Profs

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