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Compréhension écrite 4e
Lis attentivement le texte sur les sœurs Brontë et réponds aux questions suivantes en français.
1 – Où sont-elles nées ?
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2 – Que s’est-il passé en 1820 ?
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3 – En quelle année leur mère est-elle morte ?
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4 – Combien d’enfants y avait-il dans la famille ?
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5 – Comment étaient les conditions de vie au pensionnat où quatre des filles furent envoyées ?
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6 – Que faisaient les sœurs Brontë et leur frère pour s’occuper ?
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7 – Pourquoi les sœurs Brontë ont-elles dû utiliser des pseudonymes ?
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8 – Quels sont les titres des premiers romans de Charlotte, Anne et Emily ?
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9 – Comment était considéré le roman d’Emily quand il est paru ?
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10 – Comment est-il considéré maintenant ?
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11 – Quels problèmes avait Branwell Brontë ?
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12 – Que s’est-il passé en 1848 ?
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13 – Que fit Charlotte en 1854 ?
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The Brontë sisters
The sisters were born in Yorkshire, England. In 1820, their father, Patrick, became the Anglican
vicar in a small village, Haworth.
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In 1821, their mother died, leaving six children under the age of six. To make things easier,
four of the sisters went to a new girls’ boarding school 2. It was horrible. It was cold. The girls didn’t
have enough food or clothes, and discipline was severe. Maria and Elizabeth developed tuberculosis
and died.
The four surviving Brontë children – Charlotte, Emily, Anne and their brother Branwell continued their education at home. They didn’t have other children to play with, but they had
fabulous imaginations. They created fantasy worlds, Angria and Gondol, and wrote and illustrated
miniature books about them.
In 1846, the three sisters decided to try to have their poems published. They couldn’t 3 use
their real names, because no one considered women could be authors. So they used the male
pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. The poetry book wasn’t a success, but then each published
a novel. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, and Anne’s Agnes Grey were big successes. Their publisher in London
wanted to meet them. Imagine his surprise when Anne and Charlotte arrived !
Emily’s Wuthering Heights was considered scandalously sexy, but today it is considered one of
the best English novels.
The sisters were beginning to become famous, but their brother was alcoholic and addicted to
opium. He soon died of tuberculosis. The same year, 1848, Emily and Anne died too.
Charlotte continued writing, to distract herself, publishing Shirley and Villette. In 1854, she
married her father’s assistant. They were a happy couple and Charlotte soon discovered she was
pregnant 4. But the baby was never born : Charlotte Brontë died on March 31st 1855, at the age of 38.
Anglican vicar : vicaire anglican (« prêtre » de la religion anglicane)
boarding school : pensionnat
3 could : prétérit de can (pouvoir)
4 pregnant : enceinte
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