BACCALAUREAT GENERAL
ANGLAIS
JANVIER 2016
LANGUE VIVANTE 1
Série ES et S : coefficient 3
Répartition des points
Compréhension de l’écrit
Expression écrite
10 points
10 points
Faire sur deux copies séparées la partie compréhension et la partie expression
écrite.
Lisez les documents A,B et C
Document A
Dear Diary,
I feel like I finally have a purpose in this class and in life. That purpose is
to make a difference and stand up for a cause. Ms. G showed us a video during
Black History Month, about a group of Civil Rights activists, in the 1960s, who
were inspired by Rosa Parks. They decided to challenge segregation in the
South. Rather than boycott buses, they took their challenge a step farther. They
integrated their bus and traveled from Washington, D.C., through the Deep
South.
There were seven Whites and six Blacks on the bus, most of them college
students. They were called the Freedom Riders, and their goal was to change
segregated interstate travel, along with everyone’s life forever. The Freedom
Riders had faith that what they were doing was right, and they wanted the world
to know that change was necessary and that being tolerant of each other is good.
I can picture myself on the road with that bus. I can visualize pulling into
the bus station in Montgomery, Alabama, to discover the unsettling quietness.
Even though they didn’t expect a warm welcome, no one was to be seen at the
station, not even the attendants. All of a sudden, Ku Klux Klan members were
everywhere.
Hundreds of them surrounded the bus, some carried bats or metal poles,
and others held vicious German shepherds, growling and ready to attack these
unarmed people. The mob was just waiting to get their hands on the riders. The
Freedom Riders were barricaded on the bus. The mob, armed and hungry to
attack, was just waiting for their first victim to step off that bus.
By choice, the seating arrangement on the bus was integrated : Blacks sat
by Whites, and vice versa. They were breaking a law that had been established
in the South. This was unheard of Jim Zwerg, a white man, stood up from the
back of the bus. He wanted to be the first person to step off, even though he
knew at the other side of the door was a mob of bigots drooling for a victim.
What was he thinking ?
He felt this was his chance to fight back, nonviolently, and show his
feelings to others. These strong feelings put his life at risk. Jim took that first
step off the bus, and the mob pulled him into their grasp. It was as if he had been
swallowed up and disappeared, like bees on honey. Jim was almost beaten to
death.
The Freedom Writers Diary, The Freedom Writers*, 1999
*They are a group of students from a high school in California and their teacher
Erin Gruwell. (Ms G)
Document B
It was a creed written into the founding documents
That declared the destiny of a nation, yes we can
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists
As they blazed a trail toward freedom, yes we can
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out
From distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward
Against an unforgiving wilderness, yes we can
It was the call of workers who organized
Women who reached for the ballots
A President who chose the moon as our new frontier
And a King who took us to the mountaintop
And pointed the way to the Promised Land
Yes we can to justice and equality
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity
Yes we can heal this nation
Yes we can repair this world
Yes we can.
Will.i.am and other artists (adapted from Barack Obama’s New Hampshire
primary night speech), Yes We Can, 2008.
Document C
My mother met me at the door.
“They B-beat m-me,” I gasped. “They t-t-took the m-money.”
I started up the steps, seeking the shelter of the house.
“Don’t you come in here,” my mother warned me.
I froze in my tracks and stared at her.
“But they’re coming after me,” I said.
“You just stay right where you are,” she said in a deadly tone. “I’m going to
teach you this night to stand up for yourself.”
He went into the house and I waited, terrified, wondering she was about.
Presently she returned with more money and another note; she also had a long
heavy stick.
“Take this money, this note, and this stick,” she said. “Go to the store and buy
those groceries. If those boys bother you, then fight.”
was baffled. My mother was telling me to fight, a thing that she had never done
before.
“But I’m scared.” I said.
“Don’t you come into this house until you’ve gotten those groceries,” she said.
“They’ll beat me. They’ll beat me,” I said.
“Then stay in the streets; don’t come back here!”
ran up the steps and tried to force my way past her into the house. A stinging
slap came on my jaw. I stood on the sidewalk, crying.
“Please let me wait until tomorrow,” I begged.
“No,” she said. “Go now! If you come back into this house without those
groceries, I’ll whip you!”
Richard Wright, Black Boy, 1937.
I. COMPREHENSION (10 points)
Document A
A. Present the document. (nature, title, author, date)
B. Who is the narrator ? Justify your answer with a quote.
C . Where did it take place ?
D. What impact had the Freedom Writers on the narrator ?
E. Who were the Freedom Riders ?
F. What did they decide to do ?
G. What happened to them ?
H. Can you guess what Black History Month is ?
Say if the following statements are true or false. Justify using your own
words.
a. The narrator took part in the Freedom Riders.
b. When The Freedom Writers Diary was published, segregation was still
legal.
c. The Freedom Rideers were involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
d. Jim Zwerg was not injured.
Document B
A. Present the document. (nature, title, author, date)
B. Guess on which occasion did he deliver this speech ?
C. The following elements are taken from the text, what do they refer to ?
(l.1) ‘founding documents’
(l.6) ‘pioneers who pushed westward’
(l.10) ‘A president (…) new frontier’
(l.11) ‘A King’
D. Quote three elements related to the American Dream.
E. Quote three elements showing progress in American society.
F. Why is Barack Obama’s entitled ‘Yes We Can’ ?
Document C
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Present the document.
Who is the narrator ? Justify your answer.
Where did the incident take place ?
When did it take place ?
Who are the different characters ? Present them.
F. What does the pronoun ‘they’ (l.2) refer to ?
G. What does the narrator want ?
H. How does he feel ? Choose the most appropriate adjective and justify with
two quotations.
HAPPY
FRIGHTENED MOODY TIRED
SURPRISED
Documents A, B, C
1.- What is the common point between these three documents ?
2.- What is the main difference ?
3.- Use the three documents to show the evolution of the situation of African
Americans.
II. EXPRESSION (10 points)
Choisissez un des deux sujets :
A. You are Jim Zwerg and a school has asked you to come over and speak
about your experience. Explain the reasons why you got involved in the
project and the problems you were confronted with. (250 mots + ou –
10%)
B. Write down a scene where a little black boy confessed what it was to be
an African American living in Alabama in the 1960’s.