Bac+blanc+terminale+a1+a2+anglais (1)

Sujet 1, Inde, avril 2013, séries ES, S, L, LV1
Mythes et héros
› Document A
The scene is set in the fifties. Samantha, Mira’s friend, has a money problem. Mira has offered to
help her.
’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.’5
’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.’10
’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.’15
’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 ?’20
’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 heard25
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.
9

Anglais LV1/LV2 Le sujet
› Document B
The scene is set in the late sixties.
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.5
I was to excel and become extraordinary. I must have a proper career in science or engineering or
economics. She allowed herself the world-oyster 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 a10
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 green15
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 certain20
to get in.
Ian McEwan, Sweet Tooth, 2011.
I. Compréhension de l’écrit
› Questions on document A
1 How are the four main characters related ?
2 (From the beginning to ’Oh, come off it,
Mira.’) Does Norm agree with Mira’s sugges-
tion to help Samantha ? Explain in your own
words (about 40 words).
3 (From ’That’s easy for you to say. That mo-
ney comes out of my hide.’ to ’He was going
out to a meeting that evening.’)
Contrast Mira’s and Norm’s views on money.
Find at least two of the arguments used by each
of them (about 70 words).
4 Describe Mira’s feelings at the end of the
text (about 30 words).
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 pres-
tigious universities.
10

Sujet 1 – Le sujet
› Questions on document B
5 What did the narrator’s mother want her to
do ?
6 a) ”I was in danger of wasting my life”. Ex-
plain the mother’s attitude about the narrator’s
future. Give at least two reasons to justify your
answer (about 30 words).
b) Did the narrator agree with her mother ?
(Find a sentence in the first paragraph to jus-
tify your answer.)
7 ”Then she enlisted my father” What does
this sentence reveal about the father’s attitude
concerning his wife’s plans ?
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).
› 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 mo-
ther in document B.
b) Mira in document A and the narrator in do-
cument B.
II. Expression écrite
Le candidat choisira le sujet 1 ou le sujet 2.
1 Le candidat traitera les deux suiets (a + b)
a) Imagine the conversation between Mira and Samantha after the scene described in document A.
b) Would you say that the mother in document B is too ambitious for her daughter ?
2 In document B, we are told that ”Cambridge was anxious to be seen to be ’opening its gates
to the modern egalitarian world.’” Generally speaking, do you think that our modern world has
become egalitarian concerning equality between men and women ?
11

Anglais LV1/LV2 Le sujet Pas à pas
1
® Comprendre la question
”How are... related ?” nous demande d’établir
le lien de parenté ou de hiérarchie profession-
nelle entre les personnages.
® Mobiliser ses connaissances
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 for-
cément explicité dans le texte. Vous en aurez
besoin pour rédiger la réponse. N’oubliez pas
le génitif (apostrophe « s ») qui s’utilise en an-
glais pour exprimer la notion d’appartenance
avec des personnes. Exemple : Joe’s mother.
® Procéder par étapes
Établir la relation qui existe entre les quatre
personnages, en recherchant leurs noms et/ ou
prénoms et en repérant les passages où ils s’in-
terpellent ou bien où ils parlent des autres per-
sonnages pour analyser comment ils les iden-
tifient. Le lien de parenté peut être implicite,
auquel cas il faut le déduire à partir des infor-
mations repérées.
Rédigez votre réponse en indiquant clairement
chaque personnage et son lien avec au moins
un des autres personnages.
2
Il s’agit d’une question fermée : la réponse est
« oui » ou « non ». Cependant, vous devez ex-
pliquer votre réponse avec vos propres mots et
en rédigeant au moins 4 lignes. Cela veut dire
qu’il faudra rechercher des indications sur les
motivations du personnage dans les douze pre-
mières lignes du document.
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 + Su-
jet + Verbe ; because of / on account of
+ Complément
1. Identifier si Norm est d’accord ou pas.
2. Recherchez ses motifs et reformulez-
les.
3. Rédigez votre réponse à la question en
indiquant d’abord la position de Norm
et ensuite la ou les raisons.
4. Vérifiez que vous avez rédigé au moins
4 lignes : si ce n’est pas le cas, vous
avez peut-être omis un élément impor-
tant. Relisez le passage pour vérifier que
rien ne vous a échappé.
3
Il s’agit de trouver au moins 2 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 d’accord au
sujet de l’argent. Il faut faire attention : la ré-
ponse doit précisément porter sur le passage
mentionné. Il faudra rédiger environ 7 lignes.
Pour répondre, il faudra exprimer :
12

Sujet 1 – Le sujet Pas à pas
– le contraste : whereas/ while + Su-
jet + Verbe ; contrary to/ unlike + Complé-
ment
– les verbes d’opinion : think, consider, say,
argue...
1. Utilisez deux couleurs différentes pour
surligner les arguments des deux per-
sonnages dans le passage.
2. Choisissez les deux arguments les plus
porteurs pour chaque personnage et
reformulez-les.
3. Rédigez votre réponse en utilisant des
expressions de contraste pour associer
les arguments de l’un et de l’autre.
4
Il s’agit de décrire les sentiments de Mira à la
fin du texte en 3 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’adjec-
tifs (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...
1. Repérez le passage précis qui parle de
Mira à la fin du texte.
2. Identifiez ses actions, et déduisez pour
chacune, le sentiment qu’elle traduit.
3. Rédigez votre réponse en utilisant des
expressions d’intensité de telle sorte que
vous associez un sentiment à chaque
action principale (formulée avec vos
propres mots).
5
La question porte sur une information simple
sans nécessité d’écrire une longue réponse :
que voulait la mère de la narratrice que celle-
ci fasse ?
Cette question vous apporte aussi une confir-
mation de la situation : le narrateur est de sexe
féminin et cette personne parle de sa mère.
Lorsque la question n’invite pas un développe-
ment 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.
Ne pas oublier que la structure avec ’want’ est
particulière en anglais : want + Complément
+ to + Verbe.
1. Repérez le passage dans le texte où on
apprend ce que la mère désire pour sa
fille.
2. Vérifiez que vous avez bien compris en
vous assurant que la suite du texte est en
cohérence avec votre hypothèse.
3. Rédigez votre réponse en faisant bien at-
tention à la forme verbale (prétérit) et à
la structure particulière de want. Veillez
aussi à opérer les changements de pro-
nom ou adjectif personnels si besoin.
13

6
Il y a deux parties à la question : a) et b).
La question a) part d’une citation du texte qu’il
faudrait développer : on vous demande d’ex-
pliquer 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 rai-
sons dans le texte et de rédiger une réponse sur
3 lignes.
La question b) vous demande de citer une
phrase du premier paragraphe dans laquelle le
narrateur exprime sa réaction et de l’expliquer.
Comme on vous demande d’expliquer, il faut
reformuler les idées du texte. Cela peut se faire
à l’aide de :
Synonymes :
– (to) waste = (to) spoil, (to) ruin ;
– (to) excel = (to) do brilliantly, (to) achieve
excellence
Constructions de phrases différentes :
– le comparatif (more + Adjectif long/ adjectif
court -er + than) pour comparer la narratrice
avec sa sœur.
– la notion d’attente (she expected her daugh-
ter 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.
1. Pour la question a), repérez précisément
ce que la mère entend par ”wasting my
life”, puis recherchez deux arguments
qu’elle avance pour soutenir son propos.
Rédigez votre réponse à la question a) en
reformulant soigneusement les idées.
2. Pour la question b), repérez la réaction
de la narratrice dans le passage. Réflé-
chissez au sens de cette réaction : s’agit-
il d’une expression d’accord, de désac-
cord ou bien d’autre chose ? Rédigez
votre réponse, sans oublier la citation.
7
Cette question porte sur l’implication derrière
la phrase citée. L’implicite est véhiculé par la
phrase elle-même, mais aussi par son articula-
tion avec ce qui précède. Deux mots sont im-
portants ici Then et enlisted.
Comment faire quand vous êtes gêné par le sens
d’un mot tel que enlisted ? Intéressez-vous à la
dérivation du mot. Ici, on trouve le préfixe en-
que l’on rencontre aussi fréquemment en an-
glais (engage, enjoy...) qu’en français (enjoli-
ver, 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 pour-
rait convenir.
1. Recherchez ce que l’on sait de l’atti-
tude du père à l’égard des projets de sa
femme dans le premier paragraphe. Y
trouve-t-on la raison ?
2. Explicitez le sens de la phrase citée
en intégrant ce que vous a trouvé dans
la première étape. Que nous indique la
phrase citée sur l’attitude du père ? Que
peut-on en déduire ?
14

3. Rédigez votre réponse. (Si vous voulez
partir de la question, il faudra commen-
cer ”This question reveals that + Sujet
+ Verbe”.)
8
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 certi-
tude et les trois raisons avec vos propres mots
en 4 lignes.
Pour reformuler les idées du texte, vous aurez
besoin de/d’ :
Synonymes :
– anxious = keen, enthusiastic
– egalitarian = equal, fair
– girl = female, woman
Adverbes d’énumération : firstly/ secondly/
thirdly/ finally
1. Repérez le passage dans le deuxième pa-
ragraphe où le père formule ces certi-
tudes quant à l’obtention d’une place à
l’université. Identifiez les trois raisons.
2. Vous aurez peut-être besoin de réfléchir
au sens de ”an all-male subject ”. Il faut
chercher des indices dans le reste du
texte pour vous aider à comprendre : à
quel endroit parle-t-on des matières que
l’on peut étudier à Cambridge ? Y parle-
t-on des hommes (male) ou bien de l’an-
tonyme (women) ? Quelle matière doit-
elle étudier ? Quelle place occupent les
hommes ? Les réponses à ces questions
vous permettront de comprendre.
3. Rédigez votre réponse en utilisant les
adverbes d’énumération pour la structu-
rer. Évitez de rester trop près du texte :
vous devez reformuler.
9
On vous demande de comparer les person-
nages féminins par rapport au degré d’in-
fluence qu’elles peuvent exercer sur leur situa-
tion actuelle ou future. Il s’agit dans un premier
temps de Mira et la mère du narrateur dans le
document B (question a)) et ensuite de Mira et
la narratrice (question b)). Vous devez rédiger
5 lignes par question.
Pour répondre à une telle question, vous avez
besoin d’exprimer :
La comparaison :
– le comparatif (more + Adjectif long/ Adjec-
tif 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.
1. Relisez les deux documents pour ana-
lyser le degré d’influence qu’exercent
chacun des personnages féminins sur
leur situation actuelle ou future. Listez
vos idées par personnage.
15

2. Comparez vos résultats pour Mira avec
les deux personnages. Décidez chaque
fois s’il s’agit d’une similitude ou d’une
différence.
3. Rédigez votre réponse à chaque ques-
tion en mettant en relief les conver-
gences et les divergences chaque fois.
1
a)
Il s’agit de rédiger une conversation entre Mira
et sa copine Samantha (à qui elle a demandé à
son mari de prêter de l’argent).
® Mobilisez vos connaissances
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 every-
thing 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/ says/ considers/ reckons... et assu-
rer Samantha de sa solidarité : You know.../
Please don’t think...
1. Réfléchissez à la situation de la ren-
contre (où ? quand ?) et aux grandes
lignes de la conversation.
2. Écrivez une phrase d’introduction pour
exposer la situation, puis rédigez la
conversation au brouillon.
3. Contrôlez la précision linguistique de
votre brouillon (grammaire, lexique)
puis recopiez-le au propre.
b)
Il s’agit de prendre position par rapport à l’atti-
tude 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 gé-
nérale 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 fort bien, présenter les deux faces
du même argument et annoncer votre position
personnelle dans la conclusion.
® Mobilisez vos connaissances
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
Les mots de liaison pour articuler votre dis-
cours :
– en renforcement : indeed/ moreover/ what’s
more
– pour marquer une opposition : however/ and
yet
16

1. Préparez vos idées : des arguments pour et
contre.
2. Rédigez votre réponse en respectant la struc-
ture d’un essai argumentatif :
– introduction (reformulation du sujet)
– 1er
paragraphe = « thèse » (Exemple : la
mère a raison parce que...)
– 2e
paragraphe = « antithèse » (Exemple : la
mère a tort parce que...)
– conclusion (rappel du sujet et votre avis per-
sonnel circonstancié)
3. Contrôlez la qualité de votre anglais.
2
Il s’agit d’exprimer votre point de vue sur
l’égalité des sexes au xxi e
siècle dans un es-
sai argumentatif. Cette égalité est-elle réelle-
ment 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 conclu-
sion, vous pouvez exprimer un point de vue
plus personnel : par exemple, expliquer pour-
quoi pour vous l’égalité des sexes n’est pas une
bonne chose.
Les expressions d’opinion :
– to my mind/ in my opinion/ from my point of
view/ as far as I’m concerned
cours :
more
yet/ on the one hand... on the other hand...
Des expressions pour contextualiser vos argu-
ments :
– expressions de lieu : on a world scale/ in the
western world/ in the southern hemisphere/
in Third World countries
– expressions temporelles : over the course of
history/ in prehistoric times/ during the In-
dustrial Revolution/ during the First World
War/ in the past = before/ more recently/ in
the present = nowadays/ in the future
– in theory/ in practice, in reality
1. Préparez vos idées : des arguments pour et
contre.
2. Rédigez votre réponse en respectant la struc-
– introduction (reformulation du sujet)
– 1er
paragraphe = « thèse » (Exemple : l’éga-
lité 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 per-
sonnel circonstancié)
3. Contrôlez la qualité de votre anglais.
17

Anglais LV1/LV2 Le corrigé
1 Norm and Mira are husband and wife. Sa-
mantha 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 Saman-
tha financially, Norm refuses to do so. He rea-
sons 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 res-
ponsible 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 concen-
trate 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 mathe-
matics.
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 opi-
nion, however she has difficulty understanding
the logic behind her mother’s arguments : I
didn’t follow the logic of this, but I said no-
thing.
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 accep-
tance at Cambridge. He enumerates three rea-
sons.
Firstly, the narrator has a grammar school edu-
cation, so she is an ideal candidate.
Secondly, she is a woman and Cambridge
wants to be seen as practising sexual equality.
Finally, in choosing a subject such as mathe-
matics 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’ in-
terests to the best of their abilities.
In both households, the husbands are the sole
breadwinners. However, the degree of in-
fluence in the decision making is not the same.
Indeed, the narrator’s mother takes a very ac-
tive 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
18

Sujet 1 – Le corrigé
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 mem-
ber of the family is trying to make the right de-
cision 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 fo-
cuses on her parents’ comments. One major
difference is that Mira is trying to defend a
friend’s interests, while the object of the discus-
sion 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 contribu-
tion to running the house is no better than a domestic’s. I have no say in how he uses his money !
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 daugh-
ter’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
19

superiority of males has always meant that they played the role of protector of women. The situa-
tion 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 develop-
ment 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. On a world scale, there are still countries such as India or China, where parents
are disappointed if their new-born baby is a girl. Sad to say, some go as far as infanticide to solve
the ”problem”. In the western world, society encourages parents to treat their children the same
way, whether they are boys or girls, and yet we often hear stories of parents continuing to produce
children until they finally have their first son. 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.
They no longer come home, put on their slippers and watch TV while their wife cooks a meal
and looks after the children. As most women also work outside the home, the husband shares the
chores and taking care of the children. More and more men actually volunteer to take time off
work when the baby is little to let their wife return to work.
In conclusion, I would say that apart from the discrimination that still exists in the professional
world, men and women are more egalitarian today than ever before. In modern society, it’s not so
much a matter of one sex being able to do the same as the other, but rather a matter of sharing
and accepting inevitable differences.
20

Sujet 2, Sujet inédit, toutes séries, LV1
Espaces et échanges
› Document A
Father Flood was tall ; his accent was a mixture of Irish and American. Nothing he said could
convince Eilis’s mother that she had known him or his family. His mother, he said, had been a
Rochford.
”I don’t think I knew her,” her mother said. ”The only Rochford we knew was old Hatchethead.”
Father Flood looked at her solemnly. ”Hatchethead was my uncle,” he said.5
”Was he ?” her mother asked. Eilis saw how close she was to nervous laughter.
”But of course we didn’t call him that,” Father Flood said. ”His real name was Seamus.”
”Well, he was very nice,” her mother said. ”Weren’t we awful to call him that ?”
Rose poured more tea as Eilis quietly left the room, afraid that if she stayed she would be unable
to disguise an urge to begin laughing.10
When she returned she realized that Father Flood had heard about her job at Miss Kelly’s, had
found out about her pay and had expressed shock at how low it was. He inquired about her quali-
fications.
”In the United States,” he said, ”there would be plenty of work for someone like you and with
good pay.”15
”She thought of going to England,” her mother said, ”but the boys said to wait, that it wasn’t the
best time there, and she might only get factory work.”
”In Brooklyn, where my parish 1
is, there would be office work for someone who was hard-
working and educated and honest.”
”It’s very far away, though,” her mother said. ”That’s the only thing.”20
”Parts of Brooklyn,” Father Flood replied, ”are just like Ireland. They’re full of Irish.”
He crossed his legs and sipped his tea from the china cup and said nothing for a while. The silence
that descended made it clear to Eilis what the others were thinking. She looked across at her
mother, who deliberately, it seemed to her, did not return her glance, but kept her gaze fixed on
the floor. Rose, normally so good at moving the conversation along if they had a visitor, also said25
nothing. She twisted her ring and then her bracelet.
”It would be a great opportunity, especially if you were young,” Father Flood said finally.
”It might be very dangerous,” her mother said, her eyes still fixed on the floor.
”Not in my parish,” Father Flood said. ”It’s full of lovely people. A lot of life centres round the
parish, even more than in Ireland. And there’s work for anyone who’s willing to work.”30
Eilis felt like a child when the doctor would come to the house, her mother listening with cowed
respect.
Colm Toibin, Brooklyn, 2009, sujet national, juin 2011, séries ES, S, LV1.
1. parish : name given to the Christian community attached to a church.
21

› Document B
But the best of all the stories were, naturally, the ones told by my mother’s father, since after all
he was the only one of my relatives who’d made the remarkable trip to America and has been
old enough at the time to have anything to remember about it. How was the trip to America, you
want to know ? my grandfather would repeat, chuckling softly, when I interviewed him about his
life. I couldn’t tell you, because I was in the toilet throwing up the whole time ! But of course this5
self-deprecating joke, meant to suggest that there was no story to tell, was part of the story of his
coming to America, a story, as I knew, that had many chapters. In no particular order, I remember,
now, these stories : the one about he and his sister, my glum Aunt Sylvia, whom he always called
Susha, and whose name appears on the passenger manifest, now available online through the Ellis
Island database, as Sosi Jäger, had traveled ”for weeks” to get from Lwow to Rotterdam ”where10
the boat was waiting,” he would say, and being a child with little knowledge of the world, I would
be impressed, back then, to think that such a big boat would wait for these two young people from
Bolechow, a false impression that my grandfather did little to correct ; and then how, after the long
trip on the train, from Lwow to Warsaw, then Warsaw through Germany to the Netherlands, they
almost missed the boat, because the girls had such long hair.15
Because the girls had such long hair ? ! I would exclaim.
Yes, because the girls had such long hair ! he would go on. And then he would tell me how, be-
fore boarding the big boat that took him and my perennially disappointed aunt to America, all the
steerage 2
passengers had to be inspected for lice, and because the girls, including my twenty-two-
year-old great-aunt Sylvia, had such long hair in those days, these preboarding examinations took20
a very long time, and at a certain point my grandfather (who today, I suspect, we would describe
as suffering from severe anxiety, although in those days people just said he was ”meticulous”)
panicked.
So what did you do ? I would ask, on cue 3
. And he would say, so I yelled Fire ! Fire ! and in all
the confusion, I took your aunt Susha’s hand and we ran up the gangplank and got on the boat !25
And that’s how we came to America.
Daniel Mendelsohn, The Lost, 2006, sujet national, juin 2010, séries L, S, LV2.
1 Name the characters who are present.
2 What character is mentioned at the begin-
ning of the document, what was his real name
and what’s his relationship with Father Flood ?
3 Where do the three women live ? In what
country ? (justify by quoting the text)
4 What is the main topic of the conversation ?
5 a) What is Eilis’s present situation ?
b) What had she intended to do before Father
Flood’s visit ?
2. steerage : third-class.
3. on cue : at exactly the moment you expect or that is appropriate.
22

c) Why didn’t she carry out her plans ? Give 2
reasons.
6 Why was Eilis close to nervous laughter and
what did she do to prevent it ?
7 a) How does Father Flood earn his living ?
b) What is the reason for Father Flood’s visit to
Eilis’s house ?
c) What suggestions did he make as far as her
future is concerned ? Give his arguments.
8 ”Eilis felt like a child when the doctor would
come to the house, her mother listening with
cowed respect.”
What does this sentence suggest about the out-
come of the meeting with Father Flood ?
9 ”the remarkable trip”
a) Where from ?
b) Where to ?
c) What for ?
d) What means of transport ?
10 a) How many characters made that ”remar-
kable trip” ?
b) How were they related to each other ?
11 a) Why was the girls’ ”long hair” a pro-
blem ? (50 words)
b) How was it solved ? (40 words)
The narrator’s comments on the story of this
”remarkable trip”
12 How is the narrator related to the main cha-
racters ?
13 Why is the phrase ”Because the girls
had such long hair”, repeated several times ?
(40-50 words)
› Question on A and B
14 List 2 similarities and 2 differences bet-
ween the two documents.
Vous devez traiter les deux sujets.
1 Imagine the conversation between Eilis and her mother before she leaves to go abroad.
(150 mots)
2 What kind of stories appeal to your imagination ? Explain why. (150 mots)
23

1
On vous demande d’identifier les personnages
présents (et non pas simplement mentionnés).
Vous savez identifier les personnages grâce aux
noms propres. Pour repérer leur présence dans
la scène du récit, il faut pouvoir repérer des
verbes d’action ou de discours.
Exemples de verbes d’action : leave, return,
cross, look...
Exemples de verbes de discours : say, reply...
1. Identifiez les noms propres et classez-
les : personnages, ou lieu.
2. Recherchez des verbes d’action ou de
discours pour identifier les personnages
présents.
2
On vous précise qu’un personnage de sexe
masculin est mentionné au début du passage.
On vous demande d’identifier son vrai nom (ce
qui implique qu’il doit avoir un surnom) et son
lien de parenté avec Father Flood.
Pensez aux pronoms et aux adjectifs personnels
pour ne pas faire d’erreur.
– Personnage de sexe masculin → he, his
– Personnage de sexe féminin → she, her
N’oubliez pas que le nom peut comporter un
prénom et un nom de famille.
Pensez aux différents liens de parenté qui
peuvent exister entre deux hommes :
– Des liens étroits : brother, father
– Des liens plus éloignés : grandfather, cou-
sin, uncle
1. Passez en revue les noms propres au dé-
but du paragraphe que vous n’avez pas
retenus pour la question 1 : éliminez ce-
lui qui désigne une femme.
2. Analysez les noms restants : vous devez
pouvoir identifier un nom de famille, un
prénom et un surnom.
3. Repérez le lien de famille entre les deux
hommes.
4. Rédigez votre réponse en faisant atten-
tion à la formulation (le génitif pour le
lien de famille).
3
On vous demande d’identifier le pays dans le-
quel les trois femmes résident et de citer le
texte pour justifier votre réponse. (Vérifiez que
vous avez mentionné ces trois femmes en ques-
tion 1.)
Assurez-vous que vous savez classer les noms
des lieux entre le pays et la ville. Savez-vous
dans quel pays la ville de Brooklyn se situe ?
Attention : ce n’est pas parce qu’un personnage
parle d’un lieu qu’il y réside.
1. Reprenez les noms de lieu que vous avez
déjà identifiés pour la question 1. Véri-
fiez que vous n’en avez pas oubliés.
2. Pour chaque lieu, identifiez qui en parle
pour en déduire leur degré de proximité
avec ce lieu.
3. Procédez par élimination et par croise-
ment des informations si besoin.
24

4. Identifiez la citation qui vous semble la
plus pertinente pour indiquer le nom du
pays.
4
On vous demande d’identifier le sujet de la
conversation qui anime les personnages.
Le sujet d’une conversation qui reste impli-
cite s’identifie grâce aux redondances et aux
champs lexicaux qui reviennent tout au long de
la conversation. Il faut prendre en compte aussi
la réaction des personnages qui ne participent
pas forcément au dialogue pour comprendre le
non-dit.
1. Identifiez les différents champs lexicaux
qui sont répétés dans le dialogue.
2. Recherchez le personnage qui semble la
cible de cette discussion.
3. Vérifiez que votre conclusion est en ac-
cord avec la question qui suit.
5
On vous demande d’expliciter la situation ac-
tuelle d’Eilis et le projet qu’elle a abandonné
pour deux raisons.
Faites attention aux formes verbales :
– Présent simple (is) pour parler de la situation
actuelle ;
– Prétérit (didn’t carry out) pour parler de la
situation passée ;
– Plus-que- parfait ou passé antérieur (had in-
tended) pour parler d’une action antérieure à
une autre dans le passé.
1. Identifier les deux passages dans le texte
qui traitent a) de la situation actuelle
d’Eilis et b) du projet avorté.
2. Repérez les deux raisons qui expliquent
l’abandon du projet.
3. Rédigez vos réponses en respectant la
forme verbale utilisée dans la question
chaque fois.
6
On vous indique qu’Eilis était sur le point de
rire de nervosité. Vous devez expliquer la rai-
son de cette nervosité et ce qu’elle entreprit
pour l’éviter.
Le texte ne correspond pas forcément à la for-
mulation précise de la question. Réfléchissez
aux différentes formes grammaticales dérivées
de la même racine : nom : laughter, verbe :
laugh, adjectif : laughing.
1. Repérez les différentes phrases qui
contiennent une référence à laugh-.
2. Analysez le texte en amont et la phrase
elle-même pour identifier la réponse aux
différentes parties de la question.
3. Formulez votre réponse en reprenant la
question partie par partie.
7
Il s’agit de questions portant sur : a) la source de
revenus de Father Flood (son occupation pro-
fessionnelle), b) le motif de sa visite chez Eilis
et c) ses suggestions au sujet de l’avenir d’Ei-
lis. Pour la question c), il faut indiquer les ar-
guments que Father Flood avance.
25

Réfléchissez au sens du titre du visiteur. Quelle
différence de sens y a-t-il entre le domaine fa-
milial, social et religieux pour le mot Father ?
1. Identifiez le passage du texte qui répond
à chaque sous-question.
2. Répondez avec vos propres mots.
8
On vous demande ce que la citation nous ap-
prend sur le dénouement probable de cette vi-
site. Autrement dit, quel est le sort réservé à Ei-
lis.
Faites la distinction entre ce qui relève de faits
ou d’actions dans la phrase, et ce qui relève
d’impressions ou de commentaires de la part
des personnages ou du narrateur. Eilis felt like a
child signifie qu’elle avait l’impression d’être
un petit enfant. On fait un parallèle entre la vi-
site du docteur et la visite de Father Flood, en
suggérant que dans les deux cas la mère réagit
de la même manière. Vous ne connaissez pas le
sens de cowed, mais vous avez reconnu le nom
que cet adjectif qualifie : respect. Servez-vous
du contexte du passage, pour imaginer la na-
ture du respect de la mère : est-elle soumise ou
réfractaire ? Va-t-elle acquiescer ou bien s’op-
poser à la proposition de Father Flood.
1. Analysez le sens de la citation.
2. Réfléchissez à ce que cela suggère par
rapport au dénouement de la visite.
3. Rédigez votre réponse en évitant de re-
prendre le texte.
9
La citation parle d’un voyage remarquable. Les
quatre questions ciblent : a) le point de départ ;
b) la destination ; c) le but ; d) le moyen de
transport.
Tout n’est pas explicité dans le texte. Cepen-
dant, un élément culturel vous permet de situer
ce récit. Quel rôle jouait Ellis Island dans l’his-
toire des États-Unis ? Quel était le point com-
mun de toutes les personnes qui y sont passées ?
1. Repérez la citation dans le texte et cher-
chez les réponses aux questions à partir
de là. (Attention : il y a deux moyens de
transport !)
2. Utilisez vos connaissances culturelles
pour compléter les éléments manquants.
10
Il s’agit d’identifier le nombre de personnages
ayant participé au voyage ainsi que le lien de
parenté entre eux.
1. Repérez les différentes mentions des
personnages et identifiez ceux qui ont
embarqué. Combien sont-ils ?
2. Relisez pour trouver leur lien de parenté.
11
On vous indique que les longs cheveux des
filles posaient problème. Vous devez expliciter
ce problème et indiquer la solution trouvée.
26

Vous serez certainement gêné par un mot que
vous ne connaissez pas en lien avec l’inspec-
tion des cheveux : lice. Utilisez votre connais-
sance générale (et peut-être votre propre vécu à
l’école primaire par exemple) pour deviner ce
que l’on recherchait dans les cheveux.
1. Identifiez le passage qui correspond à
l’histoire des cheveux des filles. (Atten-
tion : le passage est assez long.)
2. Repérez en quoi cet examen des che-
veux posait problème.
3. Recherchez comment les personnages
ont résolu le problème.
4. Rédigez votre réponse avec vos propres
mots et en faisant attention au nombre
de mots.
12
Il s’agit d’identifier le lien de parenté entre les
personnages principaux et le narrateur.
Lorsqu’il y a un lien de parenté entre les
personnages et le narrateur, en règle générale
celui-ci raconte un récit autobiographique dans
lequel il utilise le pronom personnel « I » pour
s’identifier. Attention, ne vous contentez pas de
réitérer le lien de parenté entre les deux voya-
geurs : vous devez expliciter le lien de chacun
avec le narrateur. (Les deux mots figurent dans
le texte.) N’oubliez pas que l’on utilise le géni-
tif pour indiquer le lien de parenté : the narra-
tor’s ......... .
1. « Balayez » le texte à la recherche de
l’utilisation du pronom « I » associé
à chacun des deux personnages.
2. Rédigez votre réponse en faisant atten-
tion au sens : avez-vous trouvé le lien de
parenté du narrateur ou des voyageurs ?
13
Il s’agit d’expliquer les nombreuses répétitions
de la même phrase dans le texte. Cette explica-
tion doit être assez longue.
Le texte raconte le récit d’un des personnages
en présence du narrateur qui nous relate le tout
de son point de vue. Il y a donc interaction entre
ces deux personnages. L’analyse du temps de
récit (I would exclaim... He would go on... I
would ask...) nous indique que l’on nous pré-
sente une habitude dans le passé : cet échange
entre les deux personnages se reproduisait sous
le même format à chaque fois. La phrase citée
est répétée plusieurs fois, car elle est prononcée
par les deux, mais en exprimant des idées dif-
férentes en lien avec le rapport entre eux. (Re-
gardez bien la ponctuation !)
1. Repérez chaque présence de la citation
et analysez qui des deux personnages la
produit chaque fois.
2. Approfondissez votre analyse pour dé-
terminer ce que chacun exprime en pro-
nonçant cette phrase chaque fois. (Quel
sentiment expriment-ils chaque fois ?)
3. Rédigez votre réponse sans citer le texte.
27

› Questions on documents A and B
14
Vous devez montrer que vous êtes capable de
prendre du recul par rapport aux deux docu-
ments et de les comparer.
Pour répondre il faudra exprimer :
Le contraste :
– whereas/ while + Sujet + Verbe ;
– contrary to/ unlike + Complément
La similitude :
– similar to = different from
– the same as
– likewise = in the same way
– both + Nom pluriel + Verbe/ Sujet + both
+ Verbe
1. Intéressez-vous aux idées générales :
thème, personnages (liens de parenté,
nationalité), géographie, histoire, plutôt
qu’aux menus détails.
2. Exprimez vos idées de manière simple,
mais claire.
1
Identifiez la nature de la production (une
conversation) et le contenu (échange entre Eilis
et sa mère avant son départ à l’étranger).
Le format d’une conversation :
– Chaque interlocuteur s’exprime à tour de
rôle. On passe à la ligne pour chaque nou-
velle réplique.
– Les propos tenus sont entre guillemets.
– Le lecteur est guidé dans le déroulement de
la conversation par des commentaires narra-
tifs indiquant qui parle et le cas échéant de
quelle manière. Pour être en cohérence avec
le document A, ces commentaires doivent se
rédiger au passé.
Le lexique pour commenter :
– les répliques : she said/ replied/ answe-
red/ asked/ added ; hesitantly/ firmly/ sadly/
with excitement/ with insistance
– le travail : find a job/ look for work/ earn
money/ save money/ work hard
– le retour en Irlande : come back/ visit/ write
letters
Le choix des formes verbales au sein des ré-
pliques :
– Pour parler de la visite de Father Flood : pré-
térit ou bien present perfect.
– Pour parler de la situation actuelle : présent.
– Pour parler de l’avenir : futur.
Attention toutefois : après when en tant que
conjonction de temps, on utilise le présent (et
non pas le futur) en anglais : I’ll write you a
letter, when I arrive in New York.
1. Réfléchissez aux idées principales de
l’échange et à la tonalité.
2. Rédigez votre conversation au
brouillon.
3. Contrôlez la correction linguistique
avant de la recopier au propre.
4. Comptez le nombre de mots, et
indiquez-le à la fin de la conversation.
28

2
Identifiez la nature de la production (un es-
sai) et le contenu (vos préférences en matière
d’histoires imaginaires et les raisons de ces
préférences). Attention : on évalue votre ni-
veau de langue. Plus vous utilisez une langue
riche et variée, meilleure sera votre note. Il
convient donc d’essayer d’élargir vos idées et
de limiter les répétitions. Si vous n’avez pas
beaucoup d’idées, essayez d’expliquer pour-
quoi les histoire imaginaires ne vous plaisent
pas. (Rappelez-vous : votre rédaction est ano-
nyme. Vous n’êtes pas obligé de dire la vérité.)
Le lexique en lien avec l’imaginaire et les his-
toires :
– imaginary/ fictitious/ make-believe/ mythi-
cal/ fantastic/ invented
– true/ plausible/ real-life/ believable/ realis-
tic
– story/ tale
– novel/ short story/ plot/ storyline
– film/ scenario/ chain of events
– character/ hero/ heroine
– genre : romance, science fiction, fantasy,
Gothic, social realism, historical, manga,
comic strip, thriller, detective story, comedy
Les structures qui vous permettent d’exprimer
vos raisons :
– Cause : because/ as/ since + Sujet + Verbe/
because of / on account of + Complément
– But : to/ in order to/ so as to + Verbe
– Goûts : like/ love/ enjoy/ prefer + V-ing/ dis-
like/ hate/ loathe/ can’t stand + V-ing ; pre-
fer X to Y
Les mots de liaison et expressions qui per-
mettent d’articuler les idées dans un essai : on
the one hand (d’une part), on the other hand
(d’autre part).
1. Mobilisez vos idées sur la question (de
préférence directement en anglais, pour
éviter le calque depuis le français) : les
histoires que vous aimez : points com-
muns + exemples ; pourquoi l’imagi-
naire vous plaît (ou pas).
2. Rédigez votre essai au brouillon en
changeant de paragraphe pour chaque
nouvelle idée.
3. Chaque fois que vous faites une affir-
mation, essayez de l’illustrer avec un
exemple commenté.
4. Contrôlez la qualité de votre travail
avant de recopier votre essai au propre,
en indiquant le nombre de mots.
29

1 Father Flood, Eilis, Eilis’s mother and Rose
(Eilis’s sister).
2 Old Hatchethead is mentioned, he is Father
Flood’s uncle, his real name was Seamus
Rochford.
3 They live in Ireland.
4 The main topic of the conversation is Eilis’s
future and her possible emigration to the US.
5 a) She is working in a shop/at Miss Kelly’s
and is being humiliated on a regular basis. She
is not well paid.
b) She had intended to go to England before Fa-
ther Flood’s visit.
c) Her brothers told her not to come, they told
her that she would only get factory work. They
also said that these weren’t good times. Her
mother had been opposed to her going to En-
gland.
6 She was close to nervous laughter because
her mother used a nickname for Father Flood’s
uncle, which she found very funny so she pre-
ferred to leave the room in order to calm her-
self.
7 a) He is the Parish priest in Brooklyn.
b) He wants to convince Eilis to emigrate to the
United States.
c) He told her that her future would be brigh-
ter in the United States. He told her that if she
came to Brooklyn she would get an office job
easily and that she would be well paid.
8 It suggests that Eilis’s mother accepts Father
Flood’s proposal that Eilis should emigrate to
Brooklyn and that Eilis will obey.
9 a) From Lwow.
b) To America.
c) To settle in America.
d) By train from Lwow to Rotterdam, then by
boat to America.
10 a) Two characters made the ”remarkable
trip”.
b) They are brother and sister.
11 a) The girls’ long hair was a problem be-
cause before taking the boat the passengers had
to be inspected to make sure they didn’t have
lice in their hair, and as the girls had long hair
it took quite a long time for them to be inspec-
ted.
b) To solve the problem the grandfather, who
was a boy at that time, yelled ”Fire ! Fire !”
which created a panick and confusion and they
took advantage of that to get on the boat more
quickly.
12 The main characters are the narrator’s
grandfather and great-aunt.
13 The phrase is repeated several times be-
cause it is the main point of the story, and it is
what creates suspense and what makes people
who listen to it ask the question for an explana-
tion and what captures their attention and they
wish to know more about it.
14 Similarities : Both documents deal with
a story of emigration to the USA.The charac-
ters in both documents include members of the
30

same family. Both passages focus on an event
before the arrival in the USA.
Differences : In document A, the character has
not yet emigrated whereas in document B, it
was a long time ago. In document A, the pro-
tagonists are Irish, while in document B they
come from Eastern Europe, probably Poland.
1 ”You’ll be careful, won’t you ?” Eilis’s mother asked.
”Of course, mum.” Eilis replied.
”You should contact Father Flood as soon as you arrive in Brooklyn. He said he would find you a
job and somewhere to live.”
”I know mum. I’ve got the address of his parish and I’ll go straight there.”
”You should also pay attention to what you eat once you’re there.”
”Don’t worry mum. I’ll come back for Christmas if I’ve managed to save enough money by then.
And I’ll write to you every week.”
”You’re such a sweet girl. I’m scared of what may happen to you but at the same time I’m sure
that you’ll be successful in America. And I’m sure Father Flood will take good care of you.”
”I’ll do my best to get a good job and I’ll work hard. I want you to be proud of me.”
2 In general, I like detective stories whether they are books or films because they are full of
suspense and present a mystery which the reader or the viewer has to sort out to identify the
murderer. Furthermore, these stories are always entertaining and thrilling. On the one hand, they
are the perfect reading or entertainment when you want to relax. You have the pleasure of playing
the part of the detective if your reading or viewing is particularly active, or you can wait until
the end to find out the name of the murderer if you are more passive. On top of that, the variety
of writers and of characters is very wide. What is interesting is the range of detectives you can
find in both novels or films. Each one has his own distinct personality. For instance Miss Marple,
Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes.
31

Sujet 3, Sujet national, juin 2013, séries ES, S, L, LV1
Lieux et formes de pouvoir
› Document A
From the first day he could walk Simon had always wanted to outdistance his rivals. The Ame-
ricans 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-5
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.10
”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 stop15
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 five20
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 first25
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 been30
offered a place here, was tragically killed in a motor cycle accident last month.”
”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
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.
32

on his desk, obviously enjoying the little cross-examination. He peered at the card in front of him.
”History,” he announced.35
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. After40
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 ?
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.5
”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 to10
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 care15
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 ?20
”Coach,” I said suddenly, remembering the nick-name. Morrie beamed. ”That’s me. I’m still your
coach.”
Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie (1997).
33

I. Compréhension du texte
From ”From the first day [...]” to ”How will
you manage that ?”
1 Which statement best corresponds to the si-
tuation 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.
2 Explain what determines his choice of uni-
versity ? Justify with a quote.
From ”Some fourteen days” 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 ..........
4 Which adjective best describes Simon as he
goes about his visits ? Give two quotations to
justify your choice.
HESITANT - DETERMINED - CONFUSED -
IMPATIENT
5 Does he succeed in getting a place at univer-
sity ? Justify with an element from the text.
6 Who are the characters present in the extract
and how do they know each other ?
7 The passage refers to two periods in the nar-
rator’s life. Which ones ?
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 ?” What did happen
to him ? Explain in a few sentences what he has
just realized.
10 What do we realize about the narrator’s
state of mind when meeting his friend ?
11 a) In your opinion what is the theme com-
mon to both documents ?
1. Absence of ambition
2. Failure
3. Success in life
4. Pride
b) Explain your choice of answer in a few sen-
tences.
34

Il faut traiter l’un des deux sujets. (150 mots pour chaque partie)
1 a) After meeting Alan Brown, Simon writes to his mother in order to keep her informed. Write
his letter.
b) Simon has decided to run for President of the University’s Student Union. Write his first cam-
paign speech.
2 a) Is it possible to reconcile your dreams with a professional life ?
b) ”I once promised myself I would never work for money,” (document B).
How easy is it to stick to such a decision ?
35

From ”From the first day [...]” to ”How will
you manage that ?”
1
Il s’agit de sélectionner l’affirmation qui cor-
respond le mieux à la situation dans la première
partie du document.
a) Simon vient de quitter le lycée. Il rêve d’al-
ler soit à l’Université d’Oxford ou bien à Cam-
bridge.
b) Simon est étudiant à l’université d’Oxford.
Il a rejeté une offre de l’Université de Durham,
puisqu’il rêvait d’aller à Oxford.
c) Simon est au lycée. Il veut absolument aller à
l’Université d’Oxford et rejette donc toutes les
propositions des autres universités.
2
Vous devez expliquer ce qui détermine son
choix d’université et justifier votre réponse en
citant le texte.
From ”Some fourteen days” to the end.
3
On vous demande de recopier le court pa-
ragraphe en complétant les blancs. (Un
blanc = un mot).
’until’ = jusqu’à ce que
4
Il s’agit de sélectionner l’adjectif qui corres-
pond le mieux à l’attitude de Simon pendant ses
visites. Vous devez citer deux phrases du texte
pour justifier votre réponse.
5
Vous devez dire si Simon réussit ou non à ob-
tenir une place à l’université en citant le texte
pour justifier votre réponse.
6
Il s’agit d’identifier les personnages présents
dans l’extrait et d’expliquer comment ils se
connaissent.
7
On vous demande d’identifier les deux pé-
riodes de la vie du narrateur dont il est question
dans l’extrait.
8
Pour chaque affirmation, vous devez dire si elle
est vraie ou fausse et citer le texte pour justifier
votre réponse.
a) Le narrateur gagne beaucoup d’argent.
b) Cela fait un certain temps que les deux per-
sonnages ne se sont pas vus.
c) En tant qu’étudiant, le narrateur avait beau-
coup d’idéaux.
d) La visite lui fait réaliser qu’il est satisfait de
sa vie actuelle.
9
Il s’agit d’expliciter ce dont il vient de se rendre
compte par rapport à ce qui lui est arrivé.
36

10
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
Vous devez sélectionnez le thème qui vous
semble commun aux deux documents et justi-
fier votre choix en quelques phrases.
failure = success ; pride : amour propre
1
Il s’agit de productions créatives et imaginaires
à partir de la situation dans le document A.
a) Vous devez rédiger la lettre que Simon
adresse à sa mère pour la tenir informée après
sa rencontre avec Alan Brown.
b) 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 une lettre personnelle, il convient de res-
pecter 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.
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)
1. Réfléchissez aux grandes lignes de votre
production.
2. Rédigez la conversation au brouillon.
2
Dans les deux cas, il s’agit de prendre position.
a) Est-il possible de concilier ses rêves avec une
vie professionnelle ?
b) Dans quelle mesure est-il possible de respec-
ter l’engagement de ne jamais travailler pour de
l’argent ?
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 argu-
ment et annoncer votre position personnelle
dans la conclusion.
Les expressions d’opinion :
– to my mind/ in my opinion/ from my point of
view/ as far as I’m concerned
37

cours :
more
yet
– Préparez vos idées : des arguments pour et
contre.
– Rédigez votre réponse en respectant la struc-
1. introduction (reformulation du sujet)
2. 1er
paragraphe = « thèse » (Exemple : le
rêve et un métier sont compatibles parce
que...)
3. 2e
paragraphe = « antithèse » (Exemple :
ils ne sont pas compatibles parce que...)
4. conclusion (rappel du sujet et votre avis
personnel circonstancié)
– Contrôlez la qualité de votre anglais.
38

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 fol-
low to fulfill his dream.”Future Prime Minis-
ters aren’t educated at Durham”, ”How about
Cambridge ?”, ”No political tradition”.
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 ac-
cepted in/ taken.
4 DETERMINED
”[...]until his question had been answered posi-
tively by a resident Tutor for Admissions”. ”On
a trestle table in the corner of the lodgings he in-
tended to make permanent [...]”. ”Alan Brown
was the twenty-second don Kerslake had visi-
ted in four days”.
5 Yes he does. Quote : ”Mrs Kerslake was not
surprised when her son went on to be President
of the Oxford Union”.
6 Morrie and the narrator are present.
The two characters used to be close friends
when they were at university/ during their col-
lege years.
7 The two periods of time covered by the ex-
tract are the past and the present day. The past
period refers to the university years, when the
narrator was a student with Morrie, still drea-
ming about what he would become later. The
present day corresponds to the day of the mee-
ting with Morrie whom he has not seen for a
long time. He is 37 years old, working as a jour-
nalist specialised in sport events maybe.
8 Right or Wrong ?
a) Right : ”I traded lots of dreams for a bigger
paycheck”
OR ”rich people like me”
b) Right :”[...] Morrie talking of our college
years as if I’d simply been on a long vacation”
c) Right : ”I once promised myself I would ne-
ver work for money that I would join the Peace
Cops, that I would live in beautiful, inspiratio-
nal places”
d) Wrong : ”[...] I never realized I was doing it”,
”What happened to me ?”, ”[...] I remained [...]
unsatisfied”.
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 frustra-
ted.
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.
› Questions on documents A and B
11 Success in life. Doc A : the narrator’s idea
of being successful is to become Prime Minis-
ter, and so be accepted in Oxford University
which he manages to do at the end of the ex-
tract. Doc 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.
39

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
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 communi-
cator. 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.
40

b) Is it possible to work without any financial incentive ? In other words, to work simply for plea-
sure 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.
41

Sujet 4, Sujet inédit, séries ES, S, L, LV1
L’idée de progrès
› Document A
Nancy had arrived in England six months ago, and had invited Victoria to a coffee morning with
Philly Bingham, a fellow mother at the school where Nancy had recently enrolled her son, Connor.
All three women had sons in the same class. Alex and Philly’s son, Rufus, were old friends, but
Connor was becoming popular with his classmates on account of the hundreds of electronic toys
and state-of-the-art computer games that filled his enormous bedroom. Also, he had a home cinema5
in the basement with all the latest films. And Nancy Masters served fabulous teas with real chips
and American burgers followed by tubs of expensive ice-cream. Philly Bingham was attempting
to stare discreetly around the room, taking in the sound system, the television and the acres of
mahogany furniture. Philly, thought Victoria, would probably describe herself as an old-fashioned
Englishwoman from an old-established English family. Philly’s own drawing room consisted of10
good but shabby furniture, a few faded rugs and a Labrador. On no account would Philly allow
into her house a television the size of the one Nancy possessed. But, then, Philly couldn’t afford
one. She and her husband had inherited their house from Algy’s father, and although Algy had a
prestigious job valuing paintings for London’s smartest auctioneers his salary barely kept them in
pasta.15
There followed a stilted attempt at conversation.
”So, Nancy, how are you settling into London ?” asked Victoria politely.
”Weeell, I’m finding my feet. I’ve located the American library, signed on with an American
doctor. Of course, the US school was full so we had to put Connor into the local one.”
Nancy was really getting into the English way of life, then.20
”And Hayden ?”
”Weeell, he’s kinda busy at work. They’ve been doing a big takeover 1
. The cab comes for him at
six.”
Philly sounded bright. ”Oh, that’s not too bad. I know these banks can demand the most ghastly 2
hours. So he has the evening with you ?”25
Nancy looked nonplussed. ”I mean the cab comes at six in the morning. To go to Canary Wharf 3
.
He’s up at five. He gets home most nights at around eight.”
”Gosh.” Philly was aghast. ”How does he keep going ?”
”Oh, he’s pretty health conscious. I watch his diet and I don’t let him drink alcohol in the week.
And we go jogging at the weekend, that kinda thing.”30
Wow, thought Victoria, life was a bundle of fun for Hayden Masters.
”But I still have some things to sort out,” continued Nancy. Philly seized deftly on the opportunity
to make some suggestions. ”Maybe we can give you some pointers. Algy and I have been here for
ten years so we know virtually everyone.”
1. takeover : (here) taking control of a company.
2. ghastly : frightening, bad and unpleasant.
3. Canary Wharf : large business and shopping development, in the London Docklands.
42

Nancy seemed doubtful. ”I’m kinda hoping to find a decent hairdresser. I find the salons here a35
little... dull.” Her eyes took in Philly’s chubby face and her lank brown hair, pushed back for the
occasion with a velvet Alice band. ”You see, I need volume in my hair, but I cannot find anyone
here who can really backcomb.”
Victoria thought that Nancy’s hair was immaculate already, platinum blonde with the ends curled
neatly outwards. But she knew just the man to take her on. ”Jean-Pierre. He’s excellent. I’ll write40
down his number for you.”
”Is he American ?”
”French.”
Nancy looked disappointed, but evidently decided to change the subject. ”Let me pass you some
biscuits.”45
Jane Elizabeth Varley, Wives and Lovers, 2003.
› Document B
Ravi is meeting his cousin Sonny who is flying in from Bangalore at a London hotel
”Flying to Frankfurt tomorrow,” said Sonny. ”You know Meyer Systems ? They’re relocating to
Bangalore, to our very own Silicon Valley − these tekkies, they have their heads screwed on,
they all want a piece of the action. You wouldn’t recognise the place, yaar, you know how much
software we’re exporting ? We have the satellite links, we have the know- how...” He counted on5
his fingers. ”Motorola, Texas Instruments... The world’s shrunk, my friend...”
Ravi’s temples throbbed. Outside an ambulance sped by, its siren wailing. Today he had failed to
revive a cardiac arrest. Asthma attack, a young man with newborn twins.
The drinks arrived. Sonny was still blathering on. Ravi took a sip of orange juice and put down
his glass.10
”Sonny,” he said. ”I’m having a terrible time.”
That he confided in his cousin of all people, a man not overly interested in others, took him by
surprise. Once he started, however, the words gushed forth.
”Pauline’s father’s come to live with us, we can’t get rid of him and I’m going out of my mind.
Last week he set fire to the kitchen. He was boiling up his revolting old hankies in my Le Creuset15
saucepan, nearly burned the house down. I can’t tell you how disgusting he is.” Ravi’s voice rose.
”He strains his tea through the fly-swat , he never lifts a finger to help, he drops biscuit crumbs
everywhere, I can’t stand him, I can’t get any sleep, Pauline and I are quarrelling all the time,
sooner or later I’m going to have to move out, I can’t stand it any more, I think I’m cracking up.”
Deborah Moggach, These Foolish Things, 2005.
43

1 Nancy Masters, Philly Bingham and Victo-
ria are the three main female characters. Alex,
Algy, Connor, Hayden and Rufus are male cha-
racters. Each of them is related to one of the
three women. Say in what way.
2 How did Alex, Connor and Rufus get to
know each other ?
3 Where is the scene set (country, city) ? In
whose house ?
4 How long has Nancy been living there and
where did she use to live ?
5 What does her home reveal about her stan-
dard of living ? Explain in your own words.
6 a) What do we learn about Nancy’s husban-
d’s working hours ?
b) ”I mean the cab comes at six in the mor-
ning.” Why does Nancy feel the need to insist
on ”morning” ?
7 How does Nancy make sure such working
hours have no consequence on her husband’s
health ? (30 words)
8 ”Wow, thought Victoria, life was a bundle of
fun for Hayden Masters”. Explain in your own
words what Victoria really thinks of Hayden’s
life. (30 words)
9 Has Nancy adopted the culture and way of
life of the country she is now living in ? Ans-
wer in your own words (25 words), then quote
at least four elements to support your answer.
10 Explain what Sonny means by ”the worl-
d’s shrunk”. Give three examples, using your
own words.
11 a) Is Ravi paying attention to Sonny’s
words ?
b) What is he doing ?
c) What is Ravi’s job ?
12 What does he decide to do at the end of this
passage ? (10 words max.)
13 Does Ravi’s decision come as a surprise to
the reader ? Quote one element to justify your
answer.
14 a) Two other members of Ravi’s family are
mentioned. Among them, which one is Ravi’s
main concern at the time of the story ?
b) Choose four adjectives from the list below
which best apply to that character and justify
each chosen adjective with a quotation from the
text.
dangerous - desperate - caring - dirty
- uncooperative - friendly - intrusive - rich
c) What incidence does that character’s attitude
have on Ravi’s mood ? (10 words max.)
15 Explain in your own words what these two
documents suggest about progress.
Do they both convey the same message ?
Choose subject 1 (a + b)
or subject 2 (a + b).
1 a) ”Connor was becoming popular with his
classmates on account of the hundreds of elec-
tronic toys and state-of-the-art computer games
that filled his enormous bedroom.”
Does popularity depend on what you have ?
(150 words)
44

b) ”Algy had a prestigious job valuing pain-
tings for London’s smartest auctioneers.” What
is your idea of a prestigious job ? (150 words)
2 a) Ravi comes back home and decides to
talk to Pauline’s father. Imagine their conver-
sation.
b) To what extent have new technologies chan-
ged the world ? Give examples.
45

1
On vous demande d’indiquer le lien de parenté
entre les personnages féminins et les person-
nages masculins.
Il ne faut pas reprendre la structure ‘is related
to’ pour répondre. Au contraire, il faut expli-
citer ce lien de parenté : mother/ father/ wife/
husband/ son/ daughter
2
Il s’agit d’expliquer comment ces trois person-
nages ont fait connaissance.
3
Vous devez situer la scène en indiquant à qui
appartient la maison et dans quelle ville et quel
pays elle se trouve.
4
On vous demande de spécifier depuis combien
de temps Nancy y vit, ainsi que son ancien lieu
de résidence.
Il faut reprendre la question et bien respecter
les structures :
She has been living there... for + durée
She used to live in...
5
Il s’agit de décrire le niveau de vie de Nancy
avec vos propres mots.
Vous aurez besoin de synonymes pour :
expensive : costly/ extravagant/ lavish
state-of-the-art : ultramodern/ the latest/ re-
volutionary
rich : wealthy/ affluent/ well-to-do/ prospe-
rous
6
Vous devez expliciter :
a) les horaires de travail du mari de Nancy.
b) la raison pour laquelle elle souligne ‘du ma-
tin’ quand elle parle de l’arrivée du taxi.
7
On vous demande d’expliquer comment Nancy
s’assure que les horaires pénibles de son mari
ne portent pas préjudice à sa santé.
8
Il s’agit de montrer comment vous pensez qu’il
convient d’interpréter les pensées de Victo-
ria. Est-elle sincère ou bien sarcastique ? Que
pense-t-elle de la manière dont Nancy s’occupe
de son mari ?
Vous aurez besoin d’exprimer l’approbation ou
son contraire :
(to) approve of/ think well of/ admire/ go along
with
(to) disapprove of/ condemn/ frown on/ take a
dim view of
9
Vous devez expliquer dans quelle mesure
Nancy s’est assimilée à la culture et au mode
de vie du pays dans lequel elle se trouve.
46

10
On vous demande d’expliciter le sens de la ré-
plique « le monde a rétréci » et de donner trois
exemples sans reproduire le texte.
Vous aurez besoin d’exprimer :
L’habitude dans le passé : used to + Verbe
La notion de progress : advance/ development/
breakthrough/ evolution/ improvement
software = computer programme
link = connection
11
Il s’agit de/d’ :
a) dire si Ravi est attentif ou non au discours de
Sonny.
b) préciser ce qu’il est en train de faire.
c) expliquer ce qu’il fait comme métier.
12
Vous devez dire ce que Ravi décide de faire à
la fin de l’extrait.
13
On vous demande si cette décision vous sur-
prend ou non. Vous devez citer un élément du
texte pour justifier votre réponse.
14
Il s’agit :
a) d’identifier par quel membre de sa famille
Ravi est particulièrement préoccupé.
b) dechoisir les quatre adjectifs qui décrivent le
mieux la personnalité de cette personne et de
justifier chaque adjectif avec une citation du
texte.
c) d’analyser l’incidence qu’a l’attitude de ce
membre de la famille sur l’humeur de Ravi.
L’idée de dépression nerveuse : nervous break-
down
L’idée de ne plus supporter : can’t stand/ can’t
put up with... any longer
15
Vous devez expliquer l’idée principale des
deux documents par rapport au progrès en ex-
plicitant si ces idées convergent ou non.
L’enthousiasme : enthusiastic/ ardent/ whole-
hearted/ committed
Le soutien : endorsement/ approval/ support
1
a)
Il s’agit de disserter sur le lien entre la popula-
rité de quelqu’un et ses biens. La citation donne
l’exemple du jeune américain qui est plébiscité
par ses camarades de classe en raison de tous
les jeux électroniques et jeux vidéo nec plus ul-
tra qu’il possède. En 150 mots, il est difficile de
construire un essai argumentatif avec plusieurs
47

paragraphes. Il convient donc de prendre posi-
tion d’emblée et de justifier celle-ci avec des
exemples précis.
Vous aurez besoin de synonymes de :
popular : well liked/ admired/ in demand
materialistic : consumerist/ capitalistic
values : spiritual qualities/ moral principles
friendly : companionable/ sociable/ sympa-
thetic/ well-disposed/ good-natured
b)
On vous demande d’expliquer quel type de mé-
tier selon vous est prestigieux. En 150 mots, il
est difficile de construire un essai argumentatif
avec plusieurs paragraphes. Il convient donc de
prendre position d’emblée et de justifier celle-
ci avec des exemples précis.
Vous aurez besoin de synonymes de :
prestigious : impressive/ important/ imposing/
powerful/ glamorous/ well-paid
important : valuable/ useful/ beneficial/ es-
sential/ indispensable
famous : celebrated/ great/ grand/ outstan-
ding
(to) sacrifice : devote/ commit/ give/ dedicate
2
a)
Il s’agit de rédiger une conversation entre Ravi
et son beau-père (qui lui rend la vie insuppor-
table à la maison par son manque d’égards pour
son entourage).
Une conversation nécessite l’utilisation de
l’anglais oral :
Formes contractées (it’s/ don’t...)
Impératif (tell me.../ don’t worry)
Formules idiomatiques :
– you’re driving me crazy/ I’m fed up to the
eyes with all this.
Chaque personnage joue un rôle précis dans la
conversation :
pour Ravi, il espère convaincre son beau-père
de changer :
– I hope (that).../ Please tell me that...
pour son beau-père, il nie peut-être :
– this is ridiculous/ how can you suggest such
things ?
ou bien s’excuse en promettant de changer :
– I’m so sorry.../ I didn’t realise.../ I promise
things will change...
1. Réfléchissez à la situation de la ren-
contre (où ? quand ?) et aux grandes
lignes de la conversation.
2. Écrivez une phrase d’introduction pour
exposer la situation, puis rédigez la
conversation au brouillon.
b)
On vous demande d’expliquer dans quelle me-
sure les nouvelles technologies ont changé le
monde. Vous devez donner des exemples. En
150 mots, il est difficile de construire un es-
sai argumentatif avec plusieurs paragraphes. Il
convient donc de prendre position d’emblée et
de justifier celle-ci avec des exemples précis.
48

Des exemples de nouvelles technologies : In-
ternet/ television/ telephone/ computers/ ta-
blets
L’expression de changement positif : (to)
change/ modify/ revolutionize/ improve
L’expression de changement negative : (to)
lose/ destroy/ harm/ reduce
Le comparatif : adjectif court + suffixe -er
(faster) ; MORE + adjectif long (more compli-
cated)
49

1 Nancy Masters has a son named Connor and
a husband called Hayden. Philly Bingham has
a son called Rufus. Victoria has a son named
Alex and a husband called Algy.
2 The three boys got to know each other since
they attend the same class in the same school.
3 The scene is set in England in a well-off dis-
trict in London, at Nancy’s place.
4 Nancy has been living there for 6 months
and previously lived in the USA, in Dallas,
Texas.
5 Her home reveals she belongs to a high class
of the social ladder since she can afford very
expensive furniture and all the last technologi-
cal gadgets as well.
6 a) Nancy’s husband Hayden works a lot
since we learn that a taxi comes to fetch him at
6 a.m. in the morning and that he comes back
home at about 8 p.m.
b) Nancy insists since Philly thinks Hayden
gets back home at 6 p.m. whereas he leaves
home at 6 a.m.
7 Nancy feels very concerned about her hus-
band’s health as she is very careful about his
diet, she makes sure he doesn’t drink alcohol
during the week and they go jogging together
at weekends.
8 Through this sentence, we clearly unders-
tand that Victoria thinks that kind of life is not
pleasant and funny at all as Hayden works for
hours and he’s surveyed by his wife who allows
him nothing but only a very strict diet on heal-
thy food. Moreover she kind of obliges him to
practice sport at weekends. Victoria is critical.
9 Nancy has not adopted the culture and way
of life of the country at all. On the contrary she
clings to her American way of life and culture.
She has :
– ”located the American library”,
– ”signed on with an American doctor”,
– ”the US school was full so we had to put
Connor into the local one”,
– ”I’m kinda hoping to find a decent hairdres-
ser. I find the salons here a little [...] dull”.
10 Sonny means that the technological ad-
vances that used to exist only in the Wes-
tern World and more particularly in the United
States are now readily available in Bangalore.
Indeed this Indian town now has its own high-
tech industrial site, like Silicon Valley in Cali-
fornia. It produces and exports computer pro-
grammes, and it has its own satellite connec-
tions.
11 a) Ravi is not paying attention to Sonny’s
words.
b) He is thinking of his day at work.
c) He is a doctor.
12 He decides to tell his cousin about his pro-
blems.
13 Yes, Ravi’s decision comes as a surprise to
the reader, as Sonny is not portrayed as being
particularly sympathetic : ”... a man not overly
interested in others...”
14 a) Ravi’s main concern is his father-in-law.
b) dangerous : ”... he set fire to the kitchen.” -
”... nearly burned the house down.”
dirty : -”... boiling up his revolting old han-
kies...” - ”I can’t tell you how disgusting he is.”
- ”He strains his tea through the fly-swat.” - ”...
he drops biscuits crumbs everywhere...”
50

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